Exped MegaMat Ultra

Comfort is where the Exped MegaMat Ultra earns its name, and a few design choices combine to make it exceptional.

The pad is advertised at 10 cm (3.9 in) thick, but once inflated it feels closer to 11.4 cm (4.5 in), partly because of its sidewall construction, which does not taper at the edges the way some pads do. That extra thickness means I am not bottoming out, and it leaves enough margin to let air out for additional pressure relief without ever feeling the ground underneath me.

The Exped MegaMat Ultra also uses vertical baffles, one of the most stable baffling systems on the market, paired with raised sidewalls that kept me centred on the pad. Whether I was shifting positions, moving toward the edge, or deflating the pad a fair amount, it never developed that rolling, balloon-like feeling. That stability matters most on a pad this wide, particularly in the 77 cm (30.3 in) width, where narrower pads without sidewalls tend to feel unstable near the edges.

The stretchy 20-denier top material is soft and lets me sink in slightly, and combined with the vertical baffles, it produces some of the best pressure relief I have felt on any pad. The Exped MegaMat Ultra also comes in three sizes, including a rare 77 cm (30.3 in) wide option, so it can be fit to a range of body types. The pad sleeps very well on my back, side, and stomach, and does not cause any arm numbness on my side.

Put together, this is the most comfortable pad I have used for backpacking, full stop. It is comfortable enough that I think it could potentially work as an all-round pad for both backpacking and car camping.

The Exped MegaMat Ultra is a reasonably warm pad considering its size. It has an ASTM tested R-value of 4.4, and it sleeps right in line with that number. The insulation is a synthetic fill welded to both the top and bottom of the pad, a construction I have seen work well on other Exped pads.

The thing working against warmth here is size. Because the pad is so thick and covers so much surface area, especially in the wider sizes, it loses more heat to the surrounding air than a smaller, thinner pad would. In practice, I have taken the Exped MegaMat Ultra down to just below freezing and stayed comfortable, but not much colder than that before the chill sets in. This makes the Exped MegaMat Ultra more of a 3-season pad rather than the all-season pad that Exped's scale would suggest. For a pad this large and this plush, that is a reasonable place to land. The only way to make it warmer would be denser insulation, and on a pad this size, that would add real weight.

This is a heavy and bulky pad when it comes to weight and packability, there is no getting around it. The Medium Wide size comes in at 880 g (1.9 lb), 30 g (1.1 oz) less than the advertised weight. While that is not outrageous, it is noticeably more than most backpacking pads. That weight is in exchange for comfort, and whether the math works out depends entirely on the trip.

The closest comparison in its own comfort-first category is the Therm-a-Rest NeoLoft, which weighs 833 g (1.8 lb), close enough that the two are really competing on comfort rather than weight. Pads built for a lighter approach, like the NEMO Eclipse All-Season at 558 g (1.2 lb), are a different category entirely, and that gap illustrates just how much weight the Exped MegaMat Ultra is asking a hiker to carry for its level of comfort.

Where the Exped MegaMat Ultra shines is as a crossover pad. It packs down smaller and lighter than a dedicated car-camping mattress while sleeping just as well. For shorter trips, group trips, or anywhere where lightweight is not the top priority, the weight is easy to justify.

Ease of use is improved on the Exped MegaMat Ultra thanks to its improved valve placement. The Exped MegaMat Ultra uses Exped's valve system, and it is easier to live with than on some of the brand's other pads. On several Exped models, the inflation and deflation valves sit on the bottom of the pad, which means flipping the pad over just to add or release air. On the Exped MegaMat Ultra, both valves sit on the sidewall instead, so there is no need to flip the pad after inflating, and air can be added or released throughout the night by pressing on the valve without rolling over. The pad includes a pump sack, although on a pad this large, it is a long process to inflate that way. I prefer to use a pad inflator pump, and the Exped MegaMat Ultra is compatible with most pumps on the market.

Because the Exped MegaMat Ultra is such a large pad, Exped added a third valve, a one-way deflation valve, and it works well. Opening the flap and rolling the pad up keeps air from sneaking back in every time I pause, which makes packing up a pad this size much less of a fight.

The tradeoff is that this is now a three-valve system with more parts and a bit more weight, and I would still rather see the main inflation valve placed on top of the pad, which remains the simplest setup out there. Sidewall placement is a real improvement over the bottom-mounted valves on other Exped pads, but it is not quite the easiest system on the market.

Durability is a strong point with this pad, with one thing to potentially watch out for. The Exped MegaMat Ultra uses a 20-denier polyester top and a thicker 30-denier polyester bottom, and that bottom material feels very durable. I have not had a single issue with this pad, and I have used it a lot.

The thing worth watching, here and on any pad with a stretchy top material, is how the welds hold up over time. I had a leak on my Therm-a-Rest NeoLoft that I traced to what I believe was a weld issue related to its stretchy material, and it is fair to wonder whether stretchy-topped pads share that risk over the long run. Exped had a reputation for weld failures five to ten years ago, but the Ultra line has resolved that issue, and I have not had a failure across any of the Ultra pads I have used. So far the Exped MegaMat Ultra has been flawless, but it is new enough, and getting enough use across enough people, that the long-term durability story is still being written.

Exped pads carry a 5-year warranty, and Exped has been known to repair or replace damaged pads outside the warranty period for free, though that is not guaranteed.

Exped does not make any specific claims about the pad's noise level, but nonetheless, the Exped MegaMat Ultra is one of the quietest pads I have used. The two components of a sleeping pad that usually lead to it sounding noisy are the internal insulation, since reflective film can sound crinkly, and the outer material, which can squeak against a tent floor. The shell and top materials on the Exped MegaMat Ultra are soft, and because the insulation is synthetic rather than a reflective film, there is no crinkle at all. No squeak, no rubbery sound, and no rustling when I roll over.

The Exped MegaMat Ultra is the most comfortable pad I have backpacked with, and that is the entire point of it. If the goal is the best possible night of sleep and the weight has been accepted, this is one of two pads worth pointing to. It is especially easy to recommend for shorter trips, group trips, or any outing where lightweight is not the priority, and it stands out as a possible do-both pad for car camping and backpacking.

It will not be for everyone. Anyone covering big miles or chasing a light pack will find better-suited pads elsewhere. Whether the Exped MegaMat Ultra or the Therm-a-Rest NeoLoft is the better fit comes down to body type and personal preference. But judged as what it is trying to be, an ultra-comfort pad that can still be carried, the Exped MegaMat Ultra is about as good as it gets.