Sleeping mats for curvy side sleepers

April 2, 2018 4:41 AM

Curvy campers - what do you sleep on? I'm looking at doing more camping, backpacking and bikepacking, and I'm to work out if a sleeping mat that accommodates curves is actually a thing.

I've slept on a couple of different NeoAir's before and while I can see how some love it, I hated it. I have hips and a butt, but small shoulders (I generally buy size S tops and L bottoms) and find that the mat itself is not as thick as the difference between my hip and shoulder so I'm always angled down. The same goes with my butt for lying on my back. I know that camping is not luxurious, but you know, sleep without killing my back is also nice. Deflating the mat a little helps, but I find that it negates the warmth benefits of the nasty because I end up too close to the ground. I have a great air mattress for car camping but that's not exactly portable.

My understanding of women's mats is that they are engineered to be warmer in certain places and for a more petite frame (not that I'm petite), but not other anatomy. I'm not going on week long walks, so I'm not looking to save a heap of weight if it allows sleep.

Where should I look? What should I be looking for? I will spend the money for good gear. Am in Australia, but have to be in USA a couple of times this year so will probably shop there.

posted by cholly to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (18 answers total)

Hey - I haven’t seen any mats that do what you’re looking for. But they do make 3/4 mats. What if you go with a two mat, three strap system, where you fold mat #2 overtop mat #1 and strap it down so it doesn’t unfold on you in the night? I was picturing folding the extra mat down the middle, so that you had half in front of the main mat and half behind.
posted by mercredi at 5:51 AM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

Get a camping cot. They weigh maybe 8-10 pounds and they are worth the space/extra weight in your pack in exchange for quality sleep.
posted by padraigin at 5:52 AM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

Also, something like this thermarest sheet could keep the two pads lined up : rei link - universal thermarest sheet
posted by mercredi at 5:55 AM on April 2, 2018

Keep using your slightly deflated pad technique, but add in a thin foam pad underneath to keep the heat in. Or just throw your backpack or maybe just a bag of clothes under the pad under your your shoulders.

How do you solve this problem at home?
posted by gregr at 6:32 AM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

I'm a side and stomach sleeper and a frequent camper, backpacker, river runner, etc... Last summer I slept outside over 30 nights. The best most comfortable pads I've had are the inflatable Big Agnes Pads. I currently have this one. They are light, pack small, and give you the most cushion.
posted by trbrts at 6:35 AM on April 2, 2018 [4 favorites]

Try these two things:

1. Try stacking two camping mattresses. I use one cheap foam one under a nice Thermarest air mattress.

2. Use your pack and clothing stuff sacks as extra pillows to create a comfortable position. When you're packing, choose a few stuff sacks in a variety of sizes to create comfortable options for yourself. Basically, you'll be filling in any gaps between your body and your mat, which helps relieve pressure.
- If I'm sleeping on my back, I put my biggest stuff sack under my knees, my pack under my feet (elevating my feet feels lovely especially if I've been hiking all day), and then I use smaller stuff sacks as necessary to adjust the height of my head pillow. I have found this stretchlying technique to be particularly helpful when I'm sleeping on something that's not a comfy mattress.
- If I'm sleeping on my side, I put a small stuff sack between my knees, another under my waist, and maybe another under my head to give my shoulders more room.
posted by ourobouros at 6:45 AM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

I also came in to recommend Big Agnes pads – remarkable comfort for their weight – but for bikepacking and other situations where you’re not prioritizing low weight & compact size, I actually suggest you try your normal favorite pillow. Can make a world of difference in alignment and comfort.
posted by kalapierson at 6:58 AM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

If you're in a place where you can dig a little hole for you hip to go in, and you're sure enough it won't rain, that might be helpful. Google "hip hole" and you can find some people discussing the idea. In a lot of places though, digging a hole isn't a good idea. A hammock is another idea.
posted by smcameron at 7:25 AM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

I am not curvy myself, but do prefer to sleep on my side. One thing I do when when I don't care as much about weight is bringing along my Crazy Creek chair, which doubles as an extra 3/4 pad to add underneath my sleeping pad. I have the original hex chair but there are lots of options, and as a bonus, it is wondrously luxurious to have a comfy place to sit during the evenings.

And since it's somewhat related, I also have to sing the praises of the Nemo pillow. I'm a very weight-conscious hiker generally but as I've aged, these two things have added so much comfort to backpacking.
posted by veery at 7:26 AM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

Also sometimes you can situate your tent over some natural depression in the ground that will work as a hip hole if you aren't permitted to dig one for whatever reason (e.g. national park back country.)
posted by smcameron at 7:27 AM on April 2, 2018

I am a lady whose shoulders are wider than her hips, so I don't have your exact problem, but I am a backpacking side sleeper. Here's how I do it:

1) The all-season NeoAir -- if you've only tried the thinner, mummy shaped ones, try a warmer/thicker one in the store and see if it helps at all. This alone made it possible for me to sleep on my side without bruising my hip.
2) I also have the thin foam pad that gregr mentions, though I got that more for protecting the NeoAir from pokey desert bits than for warmth. If I'm snow camping, I use a knock-off Z-Rest (the folding, close cell foam pad). I got it for $20 at Dick's Sporting Goods.
3) If it's warm enough at night that I don't need extra layers, I usually end up stuffing my clothes or down jacket between my knees (I sleep with a body pillow at home).
4) I used to my clothes or my puffy in a stuff sack as a pillow. That was the one part that didn't really work for me -- I recently got a little blow up camping pillow that folds down to nothing, but I haven't had a chance to use it yet.

The other greatest thing I did for my backpacking sleep was ditch the mummy bag in favor of a quilt. I'm a restless, warm sleeper who switches between my sides and my stomach all night, and I was always getting tangled and/or overheated in the mummy bag. The quilt solved those problems for me.
posted by natabat at 7:45 AM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

I don't backpack, so my solution is bulkier, but I've been successfully camping in my van and outside by sleeping on outdoor cushions from a patio set. In the summer months I keep them stashed in my minivan for drive-in excursions, and have accepted a few last minute outdoor festival invitations because the cushions give me a comfortable rest.

The other solution that DOES work for backpacking, if you're in a wooded area and willing to invest in the extra padding and insulation that makes it truly warm, is a hammock.
posted by annathea at 7:52 AM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

My partner and I camp a lot together and he bought this pad last summer. It folds like an accordion and straps down on a pack easily. I’ve slept on it several times and love that you can fold segments up for extra cushion wherever you want, so I usually put double thickness under my head for a makeshift pillow, the mat itself is comfortable enough by itself under my hips. You could do the same for your hips/shoulders as needed to add support in the right spots?
posted by Snacks at 8:39 AM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

A camping hammock would be a great option. I put a narrow thermarest in mine, and a sleeping bag on top. You can use stuff sacks or clothes to fine tune your sleeping position. I use a Hennessey, which has a built in bug screen. It's super comfortable and lightweight.
posted by ananci at 8:40 AM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]

I am not a curvy woman, but I do sleep outside 40-50 nights a year with the boy scouts :-)
I am a side sleeper while camping, and after going though a TON of mats, I have settled on https://www.bigagnes.com/Q-Core-SLX
It's light enough for me to backpack with easily, and the way it's constructed with the QCore vs the straight beams, it seems to give me more support on my hips where I need it.

That being said, I also once used to use an ultralight cot, that was backpackable easily and pretty comfortable. I only moved off it because I didn't like the setup it needed. This is one of them, but I had a knock off that cost $40 or $50.
https://www.moosejaw.com/moosejaw/shop/product_Therm-a-Rest-UltraLite-Cot_10334741_10208_10000001_-1_
posted by niteHawk at 10:56 AM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

+1 for a hammock.

Also, I know one side sleeper who claims to be able to sleep on her back if she puts her pack underneath her legs so that her calves and back are horizontal but her thighs are angled upward. Apparently her problem is that her butt protrudes rearward enough to lift her lower back off the ground in an uncomfortable, unsupported arch. Not sure if that makes sense, but it's worth a try if you don't like hammocks and can't dig a hip hole.
posted by d. z. wang at 5:09 PM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

I'm a curvy, heavy bike camper who is a side sleeper at home. I've learned to become a stomach-sleeper when camping.

Things that help some, but not enough:

- A foam sleeping pad to go underneath my Thermarest: It works, but I hate carrying it around on the bike
- The Big Agnes sleeping pad already mentioned by others: It works OK, but again, PITA to carry on the bike
- Sleeping on top of my sleeping bag, with a light blanket over me: Only works when I'm camping in perfect weather in places where it doesn't get too dewy overnight

Other curvy campers I know swear by hammocks, but I don't always camp hammock-friendly places, and I've never managed to make anything but back-sleeping work on one of those--and back-sleeping is the least-OK option for me (and for anyone attempting to sleep within earshot, as the snoring, it is epic).

So I just kinda forced myself to get used to stomach-sleeping while camping, and considering it part of the adventure. I bring a compressible pillow that de-compresses to a decent size, and use that and a warm dry outer layer under my head so I can kinda wrap my arms around the whole thing, which somehow makes sleeping in that position more comfortable for me.
posted by rhiannonstone at 6:36 PM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

I use a mat and pad combo, with the mat on top of the pad. The mat is a fairly standard egg-carton accordion-folded one you can get almost anywhere and the pad is an inflatable that matches it in size. They are both lightweight and easily packable.
The mat distributes my weight across the inflatable pad so that my hips and butt don't end up on the ground. To keep them from shifting in the night, they are velcro-ed together, but I might rethink that, as the velcro is noisy.
posted by domo at 9:56 AM on March 7, 2019