Therm-A-Rest Neo Air XTherm Sleeping Pad Review

A few years ago I was on a backcountry trip at 9200' and we had a few unexpectedly cold nights, as low as minus 8 Fahrenheit.  I spent these nights wearing multiple base layers, 2 pair thick wool socks, a balaclava shivering in my lightweight 15 degree bag on a Big Agnes AXL Air inflatable sleeping pad.  They call this an insulated pad but don't give it an R value, just say 32 degrees.  I needed a much warmer setup for these situations.  

I looked at a lot of pads and tried a few including the Therm-A-Rest ProLite, rated at R 2.4, but was not warm enough (or comfortable enough with the ProLite).  I finally received the Neo Air XTherm with an R rating of 6.4 (the newest version is 7.4) and have been using it over 2 years.  

This seems to be a more durable pad than I've been lead to expect by other reviewers and by the performance of my ProLite pad.  It has been used directly on the ground quite a few times with my floorless ultralight set up and the pad has not leaked and looks like new.  It is very comfortable but does have a little bit of crinkling sound when you move around.  This can be a little irritating until you get used to it.  But the pad is warm, very warm.  During the 2023 elk season I used a 15 degree bag with this pad in an open floorless shelter.  The lows were below 20 every night with one morning dipping to 16 degrees and slept warm and snug.  I have used this bag in similar temps with the Big Agnes pad and was very cold, this demonstrated to me the value of a top quality high R value pad.  

Normally I can find plenty of negatives for any piece of gear I own, this has fewer than most but they are there.  The first thing I noticed was the weight, this thing weighs a full pound on my electronic scale, and right after that is the size.  It isn't giant but expect it to take up a good bit of volume in your pack.  The biggest annoyance is the stuff sack connection.  I have other pads that use a stuff sack for inflation with no issues but the Therm-A-Rest proprietary connection is very difficult to use.  It takes a great deal of force to connect it and when disconnecting the stuff sack I worry I am going to tear the valve off.  When I contacted customer service about this they said it would get easier with time, but two years in it is as stiff as when I purchased it.

Overall this is the best sleeping pad I have ever used, hands down.  It is a little porky, a little crinkly and very clunky when using the stuff sack for inflating but the warmth and comfort easily overcome these drawbacks.  If you like sleeping comfortably this is a great pad!