User Review: Klymit Inertia X Frame

vote up

vote down

September 28, 2012
updated Oct 1, 2012

Badass Outdoors
182 reviewer rep
RETAILER

Rating:
Source: bought via a "pro deal"
Price Paid: $60?

Summary

This pad is designed to go INSIDE the sleeping bag! I never roll off this pad!! At 9.1 ounces, this pad disappears into my sleeping bag stuff sack until called upon to insulate my chilled core. The pad is built with gaps where the body does not contact the ground, these gaps allow the insulation in ones sleeping bag to sustain full loft, keeping the body warmer!

Pros

used within the sleeping bag
inflates in 3 breaths
comes with hand pump
excellent for hammock use
can be deflated and stuffed while still in sleeping bag
not just ultralight, but ultra compressible

Cons

requires some thinking/experimenting
not ideal for bigger people

The last thing I want to do after mile 10 is to huff and puff into my sleeping pad. I mean, I am huffing and puffing anyway, but mostly just to remain conscious. I have several sleeping bags that, when used at high elevations, after an exhausting day, and with chapped lips, the mouth-to-valve connection is beyond my abilities.

Not so with the Inertia X Frame. This 9.1 ounce beauty inflates with just three breaths, really, three! What is better is that those breaths can be fairly relaxed, as they need only supply the bulk of the air. Once the valve is tightened the user simply turns to the other top corner of the pad, inserts the ball pump, gives twenty or so squeezes, and the pad is perfectly firm for those extra cool evenings or extra hard shelter platforms.

Even better, after that midnight tinkle, once you return to your cozy sleep system and find that the air has condensed during the night, just click the ball pump in place again, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, and ta da, the pad is once again firm without removing it from the bag, leaning over to huff and puff, or disturbing your tent mate with other pad adjustments.

The pad has lasted me through years of trips in and around the high desert of Arizona. It continues to serve me well here, in New Hampshire. As the pad spends all of its time in my sleeping bag, during use and while in storage, it is never subject to puncture or abrasion.

The pad does not offer three inches of loft. It is not filled with Primaloft, feathers, or magic. It simply holds air which keeps the ground from stealing all of my hard earned heat. For that purpose, the Klymit pads are exceptional! -MK