Exped - Ultra 3R Duo
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Based on 1 year's data from Jan 28, 2026 How it works
Liked most:
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56
"I live in a 2700 square foot cookie-cutter tract house. First floor is laminate with an office that has carpet. Then there’s the stairs which leads to 5 carpeted bedrooms, two tile bathrooms, a laundry room, and a walk-in carpeted closet. I can get all of that done one charge."
"I'm almost certainly gonna go with the A329. I just learned that the 70mai A810 uses a battery and not a capacitor. Batteries are terrible for dash cams due to how hot the inside of a car gets in the summer here."
"It endured pretty intense weather and rain in alpine landscape without any problem"
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"I can take it down to like 25-30F very comfortably."
"Pads like the Xtherm (with good convective heat loss mechanisms) outperform pads like the Tensor XC (minimal convectove eat loss mechanisms) even though the Tensor XC has a higher tested rvalue. ... Stevens testing reinforces what I have also been seeing in the field while testing dozens of pads in every temperature possible. ... The other issue is that companies are designing to max the ASTM standard and "taking advantage of" the hole in the standard in order to push really high r-values that don't hold up when you're all of a sudden in air temps of -40."
"I slept on a simple switchback in 7°F weather last month on Hagerman Pass in Colorado... It was warm enough."
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"super comfy. ... And even me at 270lbs I can sit in my side and not bottom out (inflated a lot though)"
"definitely has improved our sleep quality a lot while camping ... boyfriend has back issues so a bad sleep set up is not really an option"
"I just put up with the pinholes and patching them on trail because I can't sleep better on any other pad. ... There's a huge difference in comfort depending on your body between the dimpled baffling of the Etherlight/Tensor and the horizontal baffling of the Xlite. ... I can't sleep on horizontal baffling despite all the good features of the Xlite. ... I'm a side sleeper and my arms and shoulders ache and/or fall asleep or go numb on the Xlite. For whatver reason I can only sleep on dimpled baffles (tensor, etherlight)"
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"It’s the first ultralight mat I’ve used that doesn’t sound like a bag of chips when I move around — no annoying crinkle from the heat-reflective foil. ... The outer fabric is also surprisingly quiet."
"My favorite part is that they're soooo quiet. No rustling or rubbed-balloon sound when you roll over."
"Insulation instead of reflective layer is quieter ... Can’t stand the crinkly noise produced by reflective layer models. ... I find they’re less noisy than the reflective pads. ... Overall, i find expeds less noisy."
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2
"I love my Exped Ultra 3R and 5R LW (77.6 x 25.6 x 3). I'm also 6'2", 225lb weight and they are perfect for me, confortable and lightweight. ... Yes, I generally side sleep. I the vertical baffles help prevent me from sliding off and i never find that I bottom out."
"Side sleeper. I use Exped. This is the main reason I haven't tried a Thermarest or Rab pad yet, no lengthways baffles. I love them and they can really help you stay on the pad if the ground is all over the place."
"Large side baffles (like the Big Agnes you linked, I think) keeps you from flinging yourself off the pad."
Disliked most:
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"battery died just months after warranty expired."
"The out of warranty repair cost was 75% of what a new one would cost so I chucked it."
"The screen burned out within a year"
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"I just ordered and received one and it's been the worst out of box experience I've ever had. ... The minimal quick start and lights on the device didn't match the documentation and it went downhill from there. ... It wouldn't connect to the app, then I eventually got it connected manually and it wouldn't play because it needed an update. ... Of course the update would fail to install every time. ... I spent an hour with support to learn that the battery needed to be at a minimum charge level to update. ... The device doesn't have a way to determine the state of charge without using the app, and won't connect to the app if the charge state is too low. ... In retrospect a simple "charge this device for several hours before attempting to setup and use" in the box would have solved all my issues. ... If it was just off and completely dead I would have figured it out quickly, but it actually displayed lights and gave the appearance that something was working at first and started to pair with the app for a bit. ... It wouldn't play the sound to identify the speaker so I had to manually enter the number as an alternative."
"can’t seem to get them to connect to my system. Keeps telling me they need to update and I get an error. I’ve been on the phone with support twice now doing all kinds of things to try and fix them. Apparently they are sending an email with info to return them within the next two business days."
"found it such a pain to set up"
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"Personally I was not able to sleep comfortably on the Exped MegaMat Lite, or its siblings (Dura/Versa/Ultra). ... A through-line in my testing of these is the vertical baffling: I regularly wake up and find my arm is numb. ... But in my adulthood I've probably maximum only got about two hours of sleep at a time on a design like these."
"In my opinion the Megamat vertical baffles don't help with comfort at all, though they might help with the feeling of support if thats what someone was looking for. Not for me."
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3
"the exped still makes noise ... the noise caused by the sleeping bag sliding around on the pad ... I turn over nonstop all night long and am insanely sensitive to noise."
"sooooooooo loud"
"(Exped backpacking style inflatable pad) not as quiet!"
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18
"decidedly not UL"
"I find the exped a little more comfortable to sleep on, but still always take the neoair because of the lighter weight, which is more comfortable in my pack."
"on 5+ nighter with a bear can, the bulk and weight would no longer be worth it for me."
AdeptNebula 1.0I got one years ago to try as a couples mat and it was way too small for us, but felt like a very nice one person mat. Great option if you really want to sprawl out in luxury and not have a car camping heavy mattress.
Exped Ultra is comfortable and ultralight. Pretty affordable, too. Give it a try.
kongkongha 1.0That is what I use . Works well
Mission-Calendar-372 1.0I had an Exped Ultra for many years, which was pretty comfortable, but wasn't a big fan of the vertical baffles. When it finally failed, Exped replaced it with a duo Ultra. Good customer service. Since then I've had the Thermarest nxt and a ZenBivy which I didn't find comfortable. I bought the Nemo Tensor Extreme last week from Backcountry for 20% off. I haven't really had it out, but I highly recommend it. Six foot, 200# side sleeper. I don't have to keep it rock hard.
I had an Exped Ultra for many years, which was pretty comfortable, but wasn't a big fan of the vertical baffles. When it finally failed, Exped replaced it with a duo Ultra. Good customer service. Since then I've had the Thermarest nxt and a ZenBivy which I didn't find comfortable. I bought the Nemo Tensor Extreme last week from Backcountry for 20% off. I haven't really had it out, but I highly recommend it. Six foot, 200# side sleeper. I don't have to keep it rock hard.
odinborn 1.0For car camping, my wife and I (and usually our chocolate lab) share this combo, and we all sleep super well: 1. CCF pad 2. Exped Duo Ultra 3R pad on top 3. Kelty Double-wide 20F The dog has her own pad and sleeping bag, but ours is much better I suppose. I could never sleep well on cots, and our entire sleep system can fit in a duffel bag.
SharpLanguage9026 1.0Great option for those that rock 2 person tents! Unfortunately the epxed duos won't fit in my 1p
z0hu 1.06'1.5" here at 250 pounds. I own an exped Ultra 5R LW, Ultra 3R Duo LW, Dura 5R Duo regular, and some Nemo roamers (like megamat). When solo I use the 5R LW. When I'm tent sharing with 1 of my kids, we share the 3R Duo. When I'm with 2 kids, Dura+ultra 5R. They all feel similar to me, kinda airy feeling mattress but they don't compare to the roamers which feels like my bed at home. I inflate them pretty much to their max also, I guess I'm used to a firm mattress, which isn't the case for everyone. Still feels good to me on my side. When I sleep on the Dura 5R regular my feet hang off and it's not bad but long term I would definitely prefer the longer pad, especially in cold or wet conditions. People here mention UL being ok with shorter pads but if you are considering this megamat ultra that's not the same realm haha. I used to use a short foam pad that just went under my shoulders and butt and it's definitely not comfortable, but was definitely ultralight. Tbh I get the megamat ultra market. People who wanna go backpacking with a nice mattress a step above these other ones, but it's all about how important that is to you. I could carry that on a one or 2 nighter probably as a luxury but on 5+ nighter with a bear can, the bulk and weight would no longer be worth it for me. But if it's the only way someone could sleep, then I can see it being an option.
After_Pitch5991 0.4I am an Exped Ultra 3R and 5R fan. I feel like they are highly underrated in the hiking community. My opinion is they sleep warmer than rated, are super comfortable, quite and cost less than a lot of pads. Just an FYI if you want another possibility/option. Edit: Sorry, I forgot this was Ultralight. I was thinking it was the Appalachian Trail sub.
Exped Ulrta 3R or 5R. It's my favorite. I only use the 3R and pair it with a CCF pad in cold weather.
I backpack a lot and have a lot of bad back issues. I always dial my gear in at home before going into the field. I like Exped Ultra pads, I mostly use the 3R. They are highly underrated and are super comfortable for me. I use the trekology pillow. I have expermented with two in the past but I am back to one. I have used sleeping bags and quilts. Bags are out for me. Quilts are more comfortable. This year I went with the Zen Bivy light bed and it is very comfortable. I flip and flop all night and love this quilt/half sheet so far. I can get into any position for comfort.
I use the Exped Ultra 3r and love it. Their pads are highly underrated.
Exped pads are highly underrated!
an_atomic_nop 0.4After most of a thru with a 3R it's the only sleeping pad I would ever want on the AT. Comes with great pump sack. Get in a bag on top of it for winter.
Cupcake_Warlord 0.4Totally agree on the Ultra, I've got an Ultra 3R currently that is my 3-season pad but the Elite is substantially lighter and isn't really a direct competitor, Uberlite was discontinued ostensibly because of the high failure rates and warranty claims/returns.
gijoe4500 0.4I have a Nemo Tensor, Thermarest NeoAir X-Lite, and an Exped Ultra. My favorite of the 3 is the Exped. I haven't used the Rapide, but I'd put it in the same class as the ones I have. At that point, they are all so similar, buy the one that is the most comfortable for you. $20-30 less or more at that price point isn't huge, and is 100% worth it for more comfort.
6'1, 260 lb side sleeper.... Exped Ultra 3R is my pad of choice for my climate, but they have some with much higher R-values. It's more comfortable, to me, than either the Nemo Tensor or Thermarest X-Lite.
I was that way until I found the right sleeping pad and pillow situation. I'm using an Exped Ultra 3R and an Exped mega pillow. It's amazing.
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