Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

Canoe camping...which Thermarest model, thickness do you like?

If you want light too....I'd check out Big Agnes and get a 2.5 insulated core pad. very nice. I just bought a dual core pad for my bag.

I've switched from the thickest thermarest to the 3" Paco Grand Pad and can already tell its going to be very hard to go back to anything thinner...

Exped Synmat 9 Deluxe Air Pad. 26" wide, 3.5" thick and insulated. Not the lightest but packs down pretty small.

I've got the Cascade Outfitter Silverbacks x 2. Depending on when they were made, I think they vary in comfort. Most folks love them, me on the otherhand...fine in the van, but I absolutely hate lugging them around, as they are heavy and bulky even when compressed. Two of them take up a lot of canoe cargo room, thats why I'm on the quest for a compromise.

4 inch Jacks Plastic welding Paco pad, Last years, maybe decades, weigh a lot and take up space, but man are they comfortable. You can unroll this pad on solid rock and still sleep like a baby.

I tried the 4 inch cascade silverback years ago and it failed after a couple years. the foam just lost its comfort and my hip bones were hitting the ground. Called Jacks Plastic Welding to complain and was told Cascade Silverbacks came from overseas and the foam often failed. JPW at one time made Silverbacks for Cascade, but stopped making them altho Cascade kept the Silverback name. Jack's Plastic Welding Paco Silverbacks use American foam that is heavier and holds it's "loft" for years. I ordered a JPW Silverback on the spot and have never looked back. It lives in the back of my camper shell and gets abused yet still feels like new. Maybe Cascade now has better foam and maybe not, but I'll never buy a pad from Cascade again.

I also have a 3 inch JPW paco pad. Rolls up a lot smaller than the 4 inch. Comfort is good, but not as good as the 4 inch. When I need to conserve space I use it. It is not a backpacking pad but does give me a good nights sleep.

I'm starting to get old enough to be a wuss but so far I still do OK on my thermarest brand closed cell foam egg crate lookin accordian style foldin pad. I think it's call Z-rest, wow that was so much easier to say

Okie, I had the same experience with a Silverback... It's in my shed, if anybody wants it! I replaced it with the 4"Paco Pad (alright, it is my wife's) and have also never looked back! But, we're mostly hauling it down rivers on rafts, so weight is not so much of a problem...

Thank you Crane, so I'm not crazy...? Dave, have you ever used the 2" pads? For the price, I don't want to go wrong twice..., or would that be four times?

I have a 2"... I use my bride's 4"... maybe a 3" would work, but....

Matter of fact I have slept on a 2 inch paco pad on a commercial trip.

I was very skeptical of them, but for the most part I slept ok on them. Not as good as a 3 or 4 inch Paco, but OK. If I had one I would use it primarily to pad out the top of my cooler on rafting trips. I can do this with my 4 inch Paco, but it is a bit inconvenient to fold around things.

I think you are taking a needless chance on buying the 2 inch JPW Paco pads. True, they are probably the best and longest lasting 2 inch pads around. But not as good as the big 3 or 4 inch Paco pads for rafting and car camping.

My recommendation is to take out a bank loan (just kidding, but the prices are really hi now as compared to when I got my Paco Pads years ago) and get the 4 inch silver back if you want the best nights sleep on a camping trip that you have ever had, or the 3 in Paco if you want good sleepin second only to the 4 inch paco.

On rafting trips, I used to race everyone to find a flat, soft looking spot for my bed roll. With the 4 inch silverback paco, I just leisurely unload my stuff and If the weather is good just roll out the Paco on rocks, gravel or what ever is close by the landing area. I cannot say enough good things about the 4 inch Paco when it comes to good sleeping.

Prices for petroleum based products are going to get even higher. Since JPW Paco pads are made from genuine raft material and genuine long lasting foam - these babies are gonna get more expensive every year.

Buy one now and save money over waiting till you have to have one. After a few year's use of your Silverback Paco - you will be glad you did.

I went thru this same discussion with Bob Stout, on a lot of raft trips he and I will sleep under the stars, I would be snoring away and Ole Bob would be waking me up rolling around b*itching attempting to find a more comfortable spot free of rocks and sticks. Finally, he took the plunge and got a 4 in SilverBack Paco pad. Now he sings the praise of a comfortable nights sleep whether on a gravel bar or root bed.

PS: My 3 inch Paco will roll up small enough to fit perfectly under the cross bars in my Blue Hole Sunburst, fits nicely in the bow as well.

Silverback weighs 16 pounds. That is where i stopped. co$t too. If I used it months of the year like you guys.....

Clif, I cannot argue with your logic. I use my Paco pad just about every month of the year and in certain months several weeks at a time.

So, it is worth the cost for me. and the weight issue as well.

I still have several of my old Thermarest pads around, but rarely use them.

Paddling, like life, is mostly a compromise... and, hopefully, a series of successive corrections... If you buy the wrong one this year, in a few years you can rationalize making a better choice.

Well,,,, those Paco pads do seem a bit extreme at first. 16 pounds and the size of a thrawt? However they are worth it. Not for backpacking mind you, but for canoe, raft or car camping they are the bomb. JPW Paco Pad, Grande is my choice.

Rob, the 2" ThermaRest basecamp may be your compromise. 4 pounds, 6" in diameter, 30" wide and 100 bucks each. I have backpacker friends that swear it is the best four pounds they have ever lugged around. Plus you can get the chair kits for a ThermaRest.