Sleeping Mat: Ajungilak / Mammut D-Luxe Pump Mat
19th Mar 2009
My favourite sleeping mat yet. Apart from the semi-amusing farting noises that accompany the inflation process, I can’t fault it. It is effectively a cross between a Thermarest and a Lilo, with some sleeping bag thrown in for good measure. There is no getting away from the fact that a 4 inch thick air-bed is one of the most comfortable sleeping arrangements known to light-weight campers. The problem with such mattresses, or lilo’s as they’re generally known, is that when it gets cold the big air pocket beneath your body doesn’t act as much of an insulator. Ajungulak have filled the thing with synthetic down which means that the insulation properties increase massively. However this has meant a nifty but of sideways thinking to avoid dampening the down with moisture laden breath when inflating the thing. To avoid getting moisture into the main compartment, and thus risking rotting the stuff inside, they have put a couple of one way valves, and some self expanding foam in the pillow section. All you have to do is roll out the mat, undo a couple of one-way valves in the pillow, let the foam in the pillow expand, and press the pillow down with both hands (or feet), squashing it as you would a sponge. This expels the air through an internal one-way valve into the main compartment. Air then finds its way into the pillow section from the outside, the foam then expands, and you repeat the process perhaps 10 or 15 times depending on how big your hands are. Each time you do this the air passing from the pillow into the main compartment sounds distinctly like a whoopy cushion which is amusing the first few times, but actually a little bit embarrassing if you arrive at a campsite at 2 in the morning! It takes about 15 to 20 seconds for the pillow to fill each time, so can take a good few minutes to blow the whole thing up (a lot longer than a Thermarest for example). In the morning, when you want to pack it away again there are a couple of releasable valves in the foot end which you use to expel the air, rolling it up and wrapping it in a Velcro strap that comes sewn-in. The storage bag is plenty big enough to pack it into and the whole thing s about 13 inches long and 5 inches in diameter. It weighs 890g and retails at £110. Not cheap, but can you really put a price on f a good night’s sleep? I’ve slept on it a couple of dozen times and don’t have a single complaint.
Reviewed by Matt Heason on behalf of planetFear