Big Agnes  Air Core Insulated Sleeping Pad

I have been a thermarest customer for years but I took a chance on this pad because it was on sale ($15 off list), a buddy said it was a great product and it was very light. Very, very. On the first back country trip, I had to inflate it every hour on the hour. I don't sleep great when I'm on a backpacking trip but to be wakened every hour because I'm laying on the cold, hard ground is insane. I could have saved my money and gotten the same performance had I just bought a cheap pool floatation device. Am now looking for another lightweight pad that stays inflated. Might just have to suck up the extra weight and get another thermarest. Better than sleeping on the ground.

My wife and I each use these. We've had each of them replaced twice now; BigAgnes is pretty good about their warranty and ability to replace these. We've never been malicious to our pads and always keep them out of harms way (whether sleeping in deep snow in the mountains or high Sierra desert), yet we continue to have trouble keeping these pads inflated throughout the night. After submerging in the bathtub, it seems that there are microholes throughout the whole pad, allowing air out slowly throughout the night. As long as BigAgnes continues to resupply us with new pads, we'll keep using them, but overall it's become quite a hassle over the past 5 years that we've committed to these pads.

I used this pad for 14 consecutive nights in a tent car camping. I inflated and deflated the pad every night with no issues. It held its air for the entire night every time. It takes me (5'11 M) 30 full breaths to inflate the wide version. Deflating and rolling this thing is the reason I give it 3 stars. Air does not want to come out of it with the valve open. I would have to roll it up several times to get the air out. Eventually I just folded it in half and threw it in the back of my car. I got sick of blowing it up every day but at least I didn't have to roll it up. It packs up very compactly and weights little. It's just tedious to use.

Good for the price. Very comfortable and I found it easy enough to inflate. I never liked inflatables before for fear of being way out there far away and springing a leak from a sticker and then freezing from the cold ground unless one could find a lot of leaves to lie on. But I like this. Comes with a little patch kit. A little bit slippery so if you are stuck sleeping on an incline could be a bit tricky to stay on but haven't tried that. On a flat surface is fine. I will say for someone really big and wide, better get their 25" wide other model but this 20" wide is ok for me at 6 ft and 180 lb.

I used this on a cross-country bike tour and it kept me SUPER warm on chilly nights. It's really comfy and good for the price. BUT not only myself, but a few other cyclists as well who had it got slow leaks that were impossible to detect or patch. After a few mornings of waking up with a flat pad, we called Big Agnes and their customer service was INCREDIBLE! They shipped us out brand new pads, no questions asked and they've been great since. All in all, a great pad but it has its downfalls. Thankfully Big Agnes' customer service is so dynamite it makes up for it.

I am a fussy sleeper while backpacking, and never could get a good night's sleep on the ground with a closed cell or self-inflating pad. Decided to try this pad, as Big Agnes products are generally good, and the weight and size were perfect, and it felt so comfy in the store. The first three nights were utter bliss, and on the fourth night out, I woke up on the ground about once an hour and had to re-inflate. Returned this for another, thinking it was a fluke. Did a section of the AT, and, again, woke up on the ground the second morning. In both cases, it appeared to be a slow leak from the valve area. Took this back and got a Nemo instead, which is holding up well. After reading other reviews, this appears to be a common problem. You'll get an amazing night's sleep until it fails.

I've had this pad for close to 4 years now and have used it on multiple camping trips each summer, or when staying the night at someones house. After reading all the other reviews I feel lucky to say mine hasn't leaked on me yet but I do remove it from the stuff sack and hang up when storing it. My only complaint is that it is darn slippery, I am a side sleeper and I tend to slide all over the thing. Now I use a thermarest z-lite on top of it which helps out a little. All in all I would recommend this product since I (fingers crossed) haven't experienced any leaks or malfunctions over the past few years. I also love how small the thing is when in the stuff sack which makes it convenient to take on any trip where you may not have a bed for a night.

I absolutely loved this pad for about a year and used it around Colorado and Utah, until a backpacking trip to Channel Islands National Park. Our first night, my pad deflated and I was left on the cold, hard ground. I assumed I had a small puncture hole somewhere, since that is what happened to my husband's Big Agnes pad, and we were easily able to fix it with the included kit. Upon returning home, I put my pad in the bathtub to look for a hole, and was surprised when there wasn't one place leaking bubbles, but small bubbles seemed to be coming from all around the pad. After looking on here, I see I am not the only one with this problem. It is sad that this pad has such structural integrity issues, because it is so comfortable!

After 6 months of owning this pad and using it over 5 different nights it began leaking. The leak was extremely slow, to the point where I would inflate it when going to sleep and ~3 hours later I'd wake up and the pad would be 90% deflated. I spent 4 nights waking up and re-inflating this pad every few hours. The leak is undetectable due to how slow it is. I believe it may be coming out the seams on the sides of the pad as there are no punctures. The leak is far too slow to be from a cut/puncture.

I've used this on 2 car camping trips and a backpacking trip last week. I love that it rolls up into a compact shape. It really is roughly the size of a nalgene, a little larger, but small enough that you can keep in your pack. It is a bit narrow so if you toss and turn you may end up off the side. I used it to sleep under the stars and is quite sturdy considering I just used a ground cloth and then the sleeping pad with some sharp plants off to the side, I sprung no leaks. The price is a bit steep, but so far seems well worth it for such a sturdy sleeping pad.