On any human-powered adventure where you’re carrying all your own gear, such as trekking, long-distance hiking, bikepacking or alpinism, you’ll want to keep the weight and packed size of your equipment to a minimum. After all, every gram counts. And in warmer temperatures, you can get away with super-compact and ultralight kit. So, for summer trips, pack one of Exped’s Ultra 1R sleeping mats. Comfortable and supportive, with 7cm thick air-cushioned chambers that run from head to toe, it offers an unrivalled night’s sleep. It comes in a range of shapes and sizes to suit your needs, from medium mummy to long and wide rectangular profile. It’s sustainably built yet durable too, being made from recycled ripstop fabric and certified carbon neutral.
| M | MW | LW | |
| Dimensions | 183 × 52 × 7 cm | 183 × 65 × 7 cm | 197 × 65 × 7 cm |
| Packed Dimensions | 23 × 9.5 cm | 27 × 10.0 cm | 27 × 10.5 cm |
| Weight | 395 g | 450 g | 490 g |
The Exped story started in the early 1980s, in a basic log cabin deep in the Canadian wilderness. That might seem strange for a brand that is Swiss through and through. But it starts to make sense when you hear founders Heidi and Andi Brun talk about their wanderlust as young, twenty-something dreamers.
They built the cabin with their own hands and survived through the harsh winter by learning essential outdoor skills. Day-to-day existence relied on what nature provided – teaching them to live sustainably and with minimal impact. It also demonstrated clearly and simply that the most valuable thing to take into the great outdoors is knowledge, not equipment.
Their fledgling company started out as a distributor, bringing iconic outdoor brands to Switzerland. But soon, they became dissatisfied with other companies’ products. They felt they could do things better. So, they did, transitioning from distributor to manufacturer in 1997. What followed was a slew of pioneering products, from robust backpacking tents to down-filled sleeping mats. Generations on, many of those products are still part of the current Exped range – more refined, yet still built to work in the wild.
-Denise, Verified Buyer
