Backside Line
The Gossamer Gear Thinlight Foam Pad is an ultralight different for backpackers who’d by no means take into account 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.
Positive, it’s not probably the most snug seat in our information to the most effective 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, maintain your ft off the snow/grime with it, stretch on it, and so on. 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.
When you’re a minimalist on the hunt for a light-weight and versatile camp pad, the Thinlight ought to be excessive in your listing.
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 subject whereas evaluating it to the competitors.
Fast Specs
Gossamer Gear Thinlight Foam Pad
Versatile Foam Pad
CleverHiker Ranking:
3.8/5,0
Value:
$32
Weight:
3.3 oz.
Weight Restrict:
N/A
Seat Top:
1/8 in.
Execs
- Reasonably priced
- Ultralight
- Compact
- Handy
- Versatile
- Massive sufficient for yoga or sleep pad
- Sturdy
Cons
- No again help
- Pretty skinny
- Much less snug than traditional chairs
Consolation
The purpose of the Gossamer Gear Thinlight Foam Pad is to make it simpler for backpackers to take a seat 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 be able to bump as much as about ¾ of an inch by holding the pad fully folded. That’s not sufficient to make a rock or log really feel like a featherbed. However it can make these pure chairs – or the naked floor – somewhat extra tolerable for a lunch break, nap on the saddle, or just a few arms 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 an enormous 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 little thing by way of the skinny foam. Whereas it’s much less efficient at cushioning our our bodies, the pad supplies a skinny buffer between our butts and the grime, sand, snow, and pine needles. Thus, its most important plus is holding us cleaner, hotter, and drier.
Measuring 73.5 x 19 x .125 inches absolutely prolonged, the Thinlight is a viable sleeping floor. When you’re into yoga, naps, or stretching routines, that’s a possible consolation plus. Nevertheless, the pad’s width wasn’t sufficient for our male tester, whose arms and broad shoulders hung over the sting of the pad. You received’t confuse the Thinlight with a real sleeping pad, comfort-wise.
If consolation is your greatest concern, you need to give attention to 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 burden is negligible – and never noticeably heavier than competing sit pads.
The Thinlight measures 73.5 x 19 x 0.125 inches, however it’s nonetheless extremely packable. The simplest approach to carry this pad is strapped to the highest or backside of your pack. Nevertheless, we might additionally sneak it inside a medium-sized backpack.
In brief, this is likely one of the lightest, most packable choices in our information to the most effective backpacking chairs.
Stability
Strictly talking, the Thinlight Foam Pad can also be probably the most steady “backpacking chair” we examined. When you “fall off” the thinlight, that’s a you downside, homie. It’s robust to tip over once you’re solely an ⅛ inch off the bottom until you go to sleep sitting up.
On the identical 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 danger of dropping your stability and tipping over.
Ease of Use
Strictly talking, the Thinlight Foam Pad can also be probably the most steady “backpacking chair” we examined. When you “fall off” the thinlight, it’s a you downside. It’s robust to tip over once you’re solely an ⅛ inch off the bottom until you go to sleep sitting up.
On the identical 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 danger of dropping your stability and tipping over.
Ought to You Purchase the Gossamer Gear Thinlight Foam Pad?
The Thinlight foam pad is a small funding that will yield massive dividends for ultralight backpackers who don’t wish 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 help out of a pad this skinny. Nonetheless, it solely weighs 2-3 ounces and makes pure surfaces somewhat extra hospitable at camp. We suggest the Gossamer Gear Thinlight for minimalists, backcountry yogis, and backpackers who wish to defend and complement their inflatable sleeping pads.
What Different Backpacking Chairs Ought to You Take into account?
To see our full slate of suggestions, please see our information to the most effective backpacking chairs, together with these promising alternate options:
Therm-a-Relaxation Z-Seat Overview: The opposite ultralight sit pad we suggest, the Z-Seat is lighter, smaller, and barely cushier than the Thinlight Foam Pad.
REI Flexlite Air Chair Overview: When you want 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 Overview: For a barely cushier foam chair with a backrest, the Loopy Creek Hex 2.0 is a consolation improve to the Gossamer Gear Thinlight.
