Flyer Cloud

Hybrid hero that offers both durability and comfort

Some outdoor gear innovations make you wonder why nobody thought of it sooner. NEMO's Flyer Cloud is one of those – a hybrid sleeping mat that nicks the best bits from both air pads (weightless cushioning) and self-inflating foam mats (plush durability) whilst conveniently forgetting their respective downsides. The clever bit involves removing nearly 60% of the foam through horizontal coring, which sounds counterintuitive until you realise it actually increases thickness whilst maintaining a higher R-value of 5.2. The pad self-inflates to 8cm of cushioning with ridged baffling that recovers faster than you do after a long day on the mountain. There's an air baffle running around the perimeter, allowing extra foam where it matters most – basically under your body rather than the bits hanging off into thin air. The Vortex stuff sack pulls double duty as a pump sack and dry bag, because why carry three things when one'll do? At around a kilogram depending on size, it's not ultralight territory, but when you're getting 8cm of actual comfort rather than pretending that wafer-thin inflatable is "fine really," the weight penalty's worth every gram.