Gossamer Gear Thinlight Foam Pad Assessment

Backside Line

The Gossamer Gear Thinlight Foam Pad is an ultralight various 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 if you need only a little bit of cush with out taking over pack area/weight, this little magic carpet scored excessive for weight, packability, stability, and ease of use. 

Positive, it’s not probably the most comfy seat in our information to the very best backpacking chairs. Nevertheless it solely weighs 2-3 ounces and presents all kinds of use instances and flexibility. Sit on it, sleep on it, hold 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. 

For those who’re a minimalist on the hunt for a light-weight and versatile camp pad, the Thinlight must 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.

Consolation

The objective 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 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 is going to make these pure chairs – or the naked floor – slightly extra tolerable for a lunch break, nap on the saddle, or a couple of fingers of Euchre across the campfire. 

Once 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 part by means 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 dust, sand, snow, and pine needles. Thus, its most vital 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. For those who’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 largest concern, you must give attention to heavier, scoop-style backpacking chairs. As its identify 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 possibility for the gram counters amongst us. It can save you a pound or two of pack weight by selecting 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. Nevertheless, we may additionally sneak it inside a medium-sized backpack.

Briefly, this is likely one of the lightest, most packable choices in our information to the very best backpacking chairs.

Stability

Strictly talking, the Thinlight Foam Pad can also be probably the most secure “backpacking chair” we examined. For those who “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 except 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 shedding your steadiness and tipping over.

Ease of Use

Strictly talking, the Thinlight Foam Pad can also be probably the most secure “backpacking chair” we examined. For those who “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 except 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 shedding your steadiness 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 anticipate 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 slightly extra hospitable at camp. We advocate 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 very best backpacking chairs, together with these promising alternate options: 

Therm-a-Relaxation Z-Seat Assessment: 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 Assessment: For those who 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 Assessment: For a barely cushier foam chair with a backrest, the Loopy Creek Hex 2.0 is a consolation improve to the Gossamer Gear Thinlight.