For the next month we will be featuring the latest technologies and featherlight gear in our “Light Is Right Series”  Look for features on tents, sleeping systems, cook gear packs and more!

Our first featured product was the Big Agnes Fly Creek 2 person tent– super light weight and roomy!  A nice compliment to the Fly Creek 2 is the Optimus  Crux Light stove, so small it fits in the palm of your hand.  This week our featured “light is right” product is the Neo Air Sleeping Pad from Cascade Designs.

The NeoAir mattress represents the world’s most advanced engineering in ultralight comfort. Beyond being the lightest air mattress available, Cascade Designs utilized two patent-pending internal technologies, making it up to three times warmer and far more stable than any other uninsulated air mattress available. And when it comes to space in your pack, you’ll appreciate that it’s no bigger than a one-liter water bottle. Revolutionary by design, the gossamer NeoAir mattress makes comfort one less thing you’ll need to compromise when traveling fast and light.

• Ultralight & Compact: Weighs just 14oz. and packs down to the size of a 1-liter water bottle.
• Unrivaled Warmth: Our patent-pending reflective barrier returns warmth to your body and reduces heat loss to the ground, keeping you three times warmer than any other uninsulated air mattress.
• Sleep Stable: When inflated, patent-pending Triangular Core Matrix technology creates an internal truss system, resulting in the most stable non-self-inflating air mattresses.
• Lasting Performance: Achieving thermal efficiency without down or fiber insulation means the NeoAir mattress can be inflated directly without the added weight of a pump, or worrying about exhaled moisture wetting insulation and decreasing performance.

Released in the Neo Air has gathered quite the collection of awards from the outdoor industry including:

One of the draw backs from inflatable pads is that you almost need an iron lung to inflate them.  All Therm-a-Rest air mattresses can be inflated manually without worrying about exhalation moisture wetting insulation, but inflating them with your god given lungs can also turn backpackers into light headed, red face, collapsed on the ground blobs.

Thankfully the folks at Cascade Designs have designed  the new featherweight Therm-a-Rest AirTap™ Pump.  This clever pump, can inflate any mattress effortlessly and without the hassle of extra baggage: Simply pierce the bottom of any air-tight plastic bag with the pointed end and connect it to the mat valve. To fill the mat you have to keep the bag filled with air and then roll up and thus squeeze the air from the bag into the mat. The AirTap is due to be released later this summer!

I’m getting super excited on putting this all of this gear together for our Light Is Right Series- and the Neo Air is no exception.  Compact and light is what this pad is all about!  The plan is to gather all of this equipment and do a fast packing trip to Pictured Rocks later this month.  Following the trip I will do reviews of all of the products we have featured here!

Please stop by and check out the Neo Air.  Not in town……no problem!  Stop by our online store and pick one up today!