Gossamer Gear Thinlight Foam Pad Evaluate

Backside Line

The Gossamer Gear Thinlight Foam Pad is an ultralight different for backpackers who’d by no means think about carrying a 1-2 pound chair into the wild.

It’s a sit pad, and it isn’t attempting to be a real backpacking chair. However in order for you only a little bit of cush with out taking on pack house/weight, this little magic carpet scored excessive for weight, packability, stability, and ease of use. 

Certain, it’s not essentially the most comfy seat in our information to one of the best backpacking chairs. But it surely solely weighs 2-3 ounces and affords all kinds of use instances and flexibility. Sit on it, sleep on it, preserve your ft off the snow/dust with it, stretch on it, and many others. It lends itself to a number of makes use of for resourceful campers and backpackers. We prefer it not solely as a low-maintenance camp seat and backrest but in addition as a yoga mat, canine mattress, and inflatable sleeping pad protector. 

In case you’re a minimalist on the hunt for a light-weight and versatile camp pad, the Thinlight ought to be excessive in your checklist.

How We Examined

We toted the Thinlight Pad into the New Mexico wilderness to check it alongside 10 different camp seats. We evaluated its consolation, weight, packability, stability, and ease of use within the discipline whereas evaluating it to the competitors.

Consolation

The objective of the Gossamer Gear Thinlight Foam Pad is to make it simpler for backpackers to sit down on a rock, lean in opposition to a tree, or sprawl out on the bottom. Its cushion is minimal – solely ⅛ of an inch – which you’ll bump as much as about ¾ of an inch by conserving the pad utterly folded. That’s not sufficient to make a rock or log really feel like a featherbed. However it would make these pure chairs – or the naked floor – a bit of extra tolerable for a lunch break, nap on the saddle, or a number of fingers of Euchre across the campfire. 

After we examined the folded model of the Thinlight within the backcountry, it made a small contribution to consolation – not a giant one. We use it folded as a sitting pad and unfolded as a backrest in opposition to a tree, log, or rock wall. It softens the tough edges of rocks, tree bark, and uneven floor, however we nonetheless really feel every thing by way of the skinny foam. Whereas it’s much less efficient at cushioning our our bodies, the pad offers a skinny buffer between our butts and the dust, sand, snow, and pine needles. Thus, its most vital plus is conserving us cleaner, hotter, and drier. 

Measuring 73.5 x 19 x .125 inches totally prolonged, the Thinlight is a viable sleeping floor. In case you’re into yoga, naps, or stretching routines, that’s a possible consolation plus. Nonetheless, the pad’s width wasn’t sufficient for our male tester, whose arms and broad shoulders hung over the sting of the pad. You gained’t confuse the Thinlight with a real sleeping pad, comfort-wise. 

If consolation is your greatest concern, you need to concentrate on heavier, scoop-style backpacking chairs. As its title suggests, the Thinlight prioritizes weight and packability over consolation.

Weight & Packability

Weighing simply 2.7 ounces (rolled) or 3.3 ounces (folded), the Gossamer Gear Thinlight Foam Pad is a minimalist choice for the gram counters amongst us. It can save you a pound or two of pack weight by choosing the Thinlight over a real backpacking chair. The load is negligible – and never noticeably heavier than competing sit pads. 

The Thinlight measures 73.5 x 19 x 0.125 inches, nevertheless it’s nonetheless extremely packable. The best option to carry this pad is strapped to the highest or backside of your pack. Nonetheless, we might additionally sneak it inside a medium-sized backpack.

In brief, this is among the lightest, most packable choices in our information to one of the best backpacking chairs.

Stability

Strictly talking, the Thinlight Foam Pad can also be essentially the most steady “backpacking chair” we examined. In case you “fall off” the thinlight, that’s a you drawback, homie. It’s robust to tip over while you’re solely an ⅛ inch off the bottom until you go to sleep sitting up.

On the similar time, this skinny strip of froth doesn’t add any stability to your physique, both. So, on this occasion, a excessive rating for stability isn’t as related for this seat as it’s for conventional backpacking chairs, the place there’s extra threat of shedding your steadiness and tipping over.

Ease of Use

Strictly talking, the Thinlight Foam Pad can also be essentially the most steady “backpacking chair” we examined. In case you “fall off” the thinlight, it’s a you drawback. It’s robust to tip over while you’re solely an ⅛ inch off the bottom until you go to sleep sitting up.

On the similar time, this skinny strip of froth doesn’t add any stability to your physique, both. So, on this occasion, a excessive rating for stability isn’t as related for this seat as it’s for conventional backpacking chairs, the place there’s extra threat of shedding your steadiness and tipping over.

Ought to You Purchase the Gossamer Gear Thinlight Foam Pad?

The Thinlight foam pad is a small funding which will yield massive dividends for ultralight backpackers who don’t need to carry a real backpacking chair. Its weight, packability, and stability all stand out, and resourceful hikers can milk this foam pad for a number of makes use of, too. 

Simply don’t count on to get a lot cushion or again assist out of a pad this skinny. Nonetheless, it solely weighs 2-3 ounces and makes pure surfaces a bit of extra hospitable at camp. We advocate the Gossamer Gear Thinlight for minimalists, backcountry yogis, and backpackers who need to shield and complement their inflatable sleeping pads.

What Different Backpacking Chairs Ought to You Think about?

To see our full slate of suggestions, please see our information to one of the best backpacking chairs, together with these promising options: 

Therm-a-Relaxation Z-Seat Evaluate: The opposite ultralight sit pad we advocate, the Z-Seat is lighter, smaller, and barely cushier than the Thinlight Foam Pad. 

REI Flexlite Air Chair Evaluate: In case you desire a real backpacking chair to a sit pad, the Flexlite is the lightest, most packable scoop-style chair we examined. 

Loopy Creek Hex 2.0 Evaluate: For a barely cushier foam chair with a backrest, the Loopy Creek Hex 2.0 is a consolation improve to the Gossamer Gear Thinlight.