Every once in a while a piece of gear comes along that is unanimously considered to be indespensible. Kyle’s insulated sleeping pad of choice, the ProLite 4 from Therm-a-Rest (recently replaced in their line by the equally innovative ProLite Plus), is one such item. For years, Thermarest has led the market for backcountry sleeping pads, and their weight-to-warmth ratios remain unmatched by other manufacturers. Patented insulating technology and superior design prompt countless reviewers to tend toward the superlative, whether they’re calling Therm-a-Rest’s design team “impossibly ingenious,” or touting its products as pieces of “engineered masterpiece.” Regardless, the industry’s positive response to Therm-a-Rest’s lightest four-season mattress is born of both a tried and true comparison of warmth to weight ratios, and the pad’s simple, and classically user-friendly feel.
