Exped Synmat UL 7 S Review

The Exped Synmat UL 7 S was my first inflatable sleeping mat. I liked that it was fairly light weight, had good reviews, and wasn’t too large.

Specs:

64x20x2.8 inches

Weight: 410g/14.5oz

R Value: 3.5 (my version says that appears the new ones are updated to 3.3)

Temperature Rating: -4C

Includes: Stuff sack (it appears they now include a pump to prevent the condensation that can arise from blowing the mat up with your mouth).

I was just getting into backpacking and didn’t yet know what kind of sleeper I was. I took it out on a couple over nights, before heading out for 10 days on the Cordiellera Huayhuash circuit in Peru.

Here I learned this mat was really not for me. Firstly the R rating wasn’t enough. It was only dropping to just freezing at night however even with my ZPacks 20 and wearing a puffy, I was cold! In the future I would add my NeoAir with this bag in colder temps and be fine.

Lastly I am a side sleeper, and I don’t feel this mat was helpful for me, sometimes my hip bone would stick through and poke the ground.

All in all I sold this one and moved on.