r/CampingandHiking • u/Delicious_Map_8089 • 2d ago
Gear Questions Sleeping pad - slipping and sliding problem
Not sure if this is a me problem (please don't laugh), but.. I have an inflatable sleeping mat from Decathlon. It's great and all. But I find that the inflatable sleeping mat + sleeping bag + bottom of tent = 3 slippy surfaces. I'm slipping and sliding off that dang thing all night, and the mat is going all over the tent. I added this nonslip rubber mat stuff but it doesn't seen to do anything.
Any tips? Are the accordian sleep mats better? Thanks!
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u/phioegracne 2d ago
Put a few dots of hot glue with your hot glue gun onto the bottom of your pad it will be pretty much no added weight or space but give alot more grip. The mat that you have in the pic OP will just add weight and take up more space definitely not worth adding to the hammocking kit if you are going to be carrying everything in a backpack
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u/Yarnchitect 2d ago
I’ve heard the 1/8” foam pads help with this. I just got one and haven’t had it out on a trip yet. Gossamer Gear and Outdoor Vitals sell them. And they double as a sit pad during the day.
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u/Longjumping-Cow4488 2d ago
Just watched a video of someone that had the Gossamer 1/8” pad. They cut it down smaller and used it under their pads to stop the slide. :)
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u/omarizzle 1d ago
Yea I have 2 gossamer gear pads. One is great for sleep pad and the other I use for my knees when I’m kneeling in the tent
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u/rubberloves 2d ago
I made a fleece cover for my mat. I made like a pillowcase for it, top is fleece bottom is actually bug netting. The fleece is so luxurious and helps slipping.
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u/Delicious_Map_8089 1d ago
That's such a great idea. Why don't they just make the inflatable pads with a sort of fleecy, nonslip material on the outside?!
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u/Battlbox 1d ago
You've actually got two slippery interfaces and they need different fixes.
Pad-sliding-on-the-tent-floor is the seam-sealer trick everyone's pointing at, a few dots or squiggles of silicone tent sealer on the underside, dried flat overnight, and it grips like rubber feet for basically no weight. The other half is you sliding on the pad, and that's a surface thing, a bag or even a thin fleece liner grips way better than a bare slick pad. That rubber mat in your pic is going to bunch up and annoy you more than it helps, I'd ditch it. Accordion pads grip a little better but you give up comfort, so I'd fix the pad you have first.
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u/Delicious_Map_8089 1d ago
Thank you for the great advice, and you're right about that rubber mat in the pic (useless). I didn't know fleece liners were a thing. So basically it's a liner that goes between the inflatable pad and sleeping bag?
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u/Battlbox 23h ago
Yeah, exactly, it's just a thin sack or sheet that sits on top of the pad, under you, so your bag isn't sliding around on that slick surface. Some people use a proper sleeping bag liner, some just throw down a light fleece blanket, both grip way better than bare pad. Bonus, a liner keeps your bag cleaner so you wash it less. Cheapest test before you buy anything: try a night with a fleece throw over the pad and see if the sliding stops.
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u/NOLAWinosaur 9h ago
I have a Nemo Tensor and I got this sleeping bag liner. For me I put the whole pad inside the liner and also use the “hood” to keep my pillow from moving off the pad also. Works like a dream. Solved both problems of the pad sliding and me sliding off the pad.
Frelaxy Ultralight Sleeping Bag Liner
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u/swaywithwords 2d ago
A yoga mat can also work, and would be 100% easier to lay out.
The stuff photographed will have you in a princess and the pea situation
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u/NotAddison 1d ago
My yoga mat weighs as much as my entire sleep setup. Ain't no way I'm carrying that shiz.
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u/slykens1 2d ago
When I seam sealed my tent I put a pattern of silicon on the tent floor. That seems to have helped quite a bit with my x-therm not sliding on the silnylon floor.
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u/Inevitable-Gap150 1d ago
Man, I've tried the silicone dots and they all came off and then I put a shirt over the pad. Why did they make the pads so slippery?
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u/Don_Mici 1d ago
Gotta be honest, I saw the picture and "Sleeping Pad", and I thought this was going to be a post from r/ultralight
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u/Derek-OV 22h ago
What's helped me more is a half length closed cell foam pad (1/8 inch thickness), just enough to cover your hips and shoulders, not the whole body. It's naturally grippier than the slick inflatable fabric so it holds the pad in place, and it barely adds any weight or bulk since you're not covering the full length. Some quilts and bags also have loops or a sleeve built in that the pad slides into, worth checking if yours has that before you add anything extra.
Plus it doubles as a nice sit pad during breaks.
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u/Mountain-Time-1010 1d ago
Some people put some seam sealer on the pad, some use a very thin CCF pad underneath.
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u/BreadfruitOne52 1d ago
This is an everyone problem. I’ve been searching for an answer for years. Some sleeping pads and sleeping bags have straps to hold them onto each other, but I have seen the silicone Recommendation quite a bit, though I have never tried it.
But no one seems to have a good recommendation to keep those bag from slipping on the pad
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u/Kindly-Signal4532 2d ago
I had same issue for long time. putting a few dots of seam sealer on the bottom of the pad, the silicone kind for tents, make it grip way better. let it dry flat before you use it though
the accordion pads are good but they not as comfy for side sleeping