That’s why we reckon they’re ideal for festivals, for budget campers or for sleeping on rocky ground (as they can’t puncture). Anyone looking for a seriously comfy sleep in a campsite should splash out on Sea to Summit’s comfort deluxe mat, while wild campers will love the lightweight but seriously warm Nemo tensor. We have double sleeping mats, self-inflating mattresses for even more comfort and compact and lightweight mats that take up very little space. While it isn’t quite self-inflating, despite its name, it does only take a few puffs to get Snugpak’s XL mat ready, and a foam layer adds welcome comfort and warmth as well as protecting you if you stretch out on rockier terrain.

Designed with a stylish, soft-touch flocked finish top and durable non-slip base, the luxurious Comfort 10cm Double self-inflating sleeping mat offers unrivalled comfort and convenience. A self inflating mat or mattress, also known as a SIM in camping, is a lightweight and easily compressed foam mat. With the right sleeping bag and a good quality camping mat, you can look forward to a comfortable and restful night. The valve acts like a vacuum, so your mat can be compressed tightly and fit into a carry bag - just make sure you close the valve when you are finished. Sleeping mats also provide better insulation, as they offer a solid layer between your sleeping bag and the ground, rather than air alone.

Moving to the present day and there’s now an extremely wide variety of camping mats and camping mattresses on the market – some of them self inflate (the topic of this article) whereas others require pumping – either via a hand pump, pump bag (a simple way of filling a bag with dry air which can then be squeezed into the SIM via a valve) or electric pump.

We found that it gave excellent isolation in our tent in February when we used a decent down sleeping bag on top. Self-inflating camping mats may not be the lightest or most packable, but they save effort and can offer more comfort.Broadly, an R-value below two is best for summer use, two to four will suit three-season use, and winter campers should look for four or above.

If you would rather a more compact single mattress then carry on reading, because a couple of Shangri Las will take up nearly all of your car boot space! In fact it’s a little too eager to please because it can be a bit of a difficult job to get air out of when packing up.We tested our review unit in the summer and so were unable to use it directly on cold ground, so please bear this in mind. Fully-inflated dimensions are 201 x 132 x 10cm and so it can cater for somebody up to 6ft 7 in height. The main job of a good camping mat is to keep you insulated from the cold ground, and the higher the R-value, the more insulating it’ll be.

It was more comfortable than I thought it would be but, as other reviewers noted and as advertised, it is only 53cm wide so I did find it challenging to remain on the bed when turning over at night.Here at Winfields Outdoors, we have a fantastic selection of camping mats from top brands like Vango, Kampa, Outwell, and more. Robens make some very robust and sensibly-designed camping gear (we love their tipi tents, for example). Packed size and weight is crucial and this is where the new improved Version 2 of the Shangri-La beats Version 1 handsomely. Berghaus is a name synonymous with quality outdoor gear, and we love their tents, waterproof jackets and overtrousers especially. At Decathlon, you'll find a hand pump and foot pump, and if you want to make inflating your air bed as easy as possible, you can also go for an electric air pump.