The Comfort Plus by Sea to Summit is a premium dual layer inflatable sleeping pad.  Whilst this is not a light sleeping pad, it makes up for it in comfort.

The sleeping mat weighs in at 820g on the scale in a regular without the stuff sack which is a little over the specified weight. The regular comes in at 183cm x 56cm and rolls up to a size of 12cm x 23 cm in the included stuff sack. You may want to dispense with the stuff sack and keep the pad flat against the back of the pack or, alternatively, in the sleeping pad holder if you use a Gossamer Gear pack.

Sea to Summit Comfort Plus Insulated

The sleeping pad is a unique design in that it incorporates air cells throughout the pad with the design comparison being similar to a coil mattress at home providing support across the body. The number of air sprung cells varies throughout the Sea to Summit range. A greater number increases comfort by allowing the mat greater sensitivity to your body. The regular size comes with 548 air sprung cells. This compares to 331 in the Comfort Light (620g in the regular size) and 181 in the Ultralight (480g in the regular size). The mat itself is 6.5 cm/2.5 inches thick which is the same as the Comfort Light but more than the 5 cm/2.0 inches of the Ultralight.

It is also unique relative to the other mats in the STS range in that it incorporates two separate air chambers for inflation. This provides two key benefits – redundancy in the event of a puncture and additional comfort.

The thickness of the Comfort Plus Insulated is 2.5 inches or 6.5 cm

As each air chamber is separately inflatable, you will not be left lying on the cold ground should the pad deflate overnight due to a leak. This enables you to get through the night without worrying about identifying the leak and repairing it. Thes best feature of the dual air chambers, however, is the ability to dial in the comfort to your personal preference. In many sleeping pads, deflating the pad slightly will result in a more comfortable night sleep at the expense of some loss of insulation and the risk of bottoming out the pad.

The best feature of the dual air chambers, however, is the ability to dial in the comfort to your personal preference. In many sleeping pads, deflating the pad slightly will result in a more comfortable night sleep at the expense of some loss of insulation and the risk of bottoming out the pad. In the Comfort Plus, however, you can fully inflate the bottom layer and then deflate the top slightly to dial in the comfort exactly to how you like it. This effect is similar to a pillow top mattress and makes the Comfort Plus outrageously comfortable.

The number of air sprung cells also really makes a difference to comfort in allowing the mattress to respond to and support the body better over the sleeping surface. This obviously comes at a price in terms of weight but for some hikers, this will be worth the extra weight.

Independent offset dual layer air cells

The valve design is also well thought through. It has a dual design in that the removing the top cap exposes a one-way valve which allows for inflation without any deflation occurring. Should you wish to slightly deflate the mat, however, to make it more comfortable you can depress the valve slightly and it will let some air out. This can all be done easily whilst lying on the mat. Around 3 seconds is good for me to get optimum comfort.

Innovative valve design

What circumstances would the Comfort Plus be a good pick? I can think of a few situations where this mat would be the one to take. The first one is for those who value comfort above all else. This is truly the most comfortable sleeping experience I’ve had on a sleeping mat intended for hikers. The weight could be worth it for some who can compromise on their base weight elsewhere. If you have a short trip for the weekend and aren’t carrying a lot of food and/or water it would also be worth it.  To put it into context, many hikers carrying a 1.5 kg tent and don’t think twice so if you’re using ultralight gear elsewhere you could perhaps consider it.

Overall, a great sleeping mat and innovative design by Sea to Summit.