compressed foam for sleeping mat?

How much do those synmat 7 weigh? 2 mats are a good idea if your snow caving or such for extended periods, but if its just a night I prefer a cold bivvie and light pack

Yeah, got it at that Outdoor Action site. They don't seem to have a lot of stuff, but they did have this mat, which to me stacks up well. Of course, I will let everyone know how it performs as soon as I've tried it out.

I understand that the closed cell foam mats are more insulating than the standard thermorest inflated mats. I've read that if you're sleeping in snow, it is better to put the thermorest on the bottom and the closed cell foam mat on the top directly under you. This goes against the idea of comfort but is better for warmth. Quite intrigued with all these modern mats but at this stage for me weight is triumphing over comfort though maybe warmth should triumph over weight a bit? And maybe if I'm warmer, I can take a lighter sleeping bag so there'll be no weight difference anyway...hmmm.

even bubble wrap will insulate and the more closed and smaller the bubbles are the more insulation you get. A close cell mat doesnt weigh more than 100g so I cant see them rating in the gram wars and they happily travel outside the pack so no issue with space. What I cant figure out from the days I used these mats was that they could stay on the outside of the pack through all weather river crossings etc but still be dry to sleep on when you get there but a self inflatable in a bag will be wet and sweat all night. You are correct about needing the snofoam on top for best effect but if you sleep like me the snofoam or thermorest will be somewhere else in the morning probably on top of your tramping partners bag. Its more likely to stay put the other way round

Geeves they are 'closed cell' foam which means they can't absorb moisture etc thats why they don't get wet, like a piece of plastic. The biggest issue with these old things IMO is the encumbrance factor not weight, especially in dense bush, I have come across multitudes of these things on the track after they have been ejected from some punters pack! Even found a tent once :)

Never found a whole snofoam but have seen many little pieces. Even mine looks like its leftovers from snack time. But also found many water bottles and enough lolly wrappers to fill a council rubbish bag. Non had lollys in though. The thing about the mats though is the inflatables were pvc plastic which is also waterproof but the surface is clamy. Did you find a good tent?

Please forgive my ignorance, but what's snofoam??

closed cell foam

The original brand was called snow foam. It was a shiney white much like a skifield surface with a thaw freeze cycle or 2. Only came in one colour. I first ran into it mid to late 70s where the owner had spent a lot of money (as much as it costs today) buying it overseas. We were all sleeping on fern leaves under a groundsheet.

@geeves sorry, I don't know what type of tent it was, I just left it where it lay on the track. Figured if it was missed by its owner, it was best left where they may return to look :)