Quick and Dirty
Cost: $20
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty (1-10): 1

What You Need
1/8 or 1/4 inch Closed Cell Foam (CCF) EVA Grade Foam Pad
Utility Knife / Exacto-Knife
Ruler / Measuring Tape

Usually when we head out to back country in the winter, we take insulated inflatable pads. Often times, the ground is so cold that the air passes through the pad.  Over time we learned that inflatable pads typically don’t provide a strong barrier against the cold ground in the winter.

Making a simple CCF sleep pad is an inexpensive solution to increase warmth of your current sleep pad, or as a stand alone pad for spring, summer, and fall. We used 40 x 80 inch EVA Grade CCF foam rolls from http://www.foamorder.com.  The size allows you to make two extra long pads or trim to your desired size.

The pads fold or roll easily for storage in your backpack and make perfect frame support for those using frameless packs.

Step 1:

Lay out your pad and measure to the desired length and width using a tape measure.  For our pads, we measured the 40 x 80 sheets in to 20 x 72 inch sheets.  20 x 72 inch is the  typical size of a standard rectangular sleep pad.

Step 2:

Using a yard stick or ruler as a straight edge, cut the pads to the desired size.

Step 3:

Have a beer and marvel that you just saved $20-40!

We made a total of four pads, two in 1/8 inch 20×72, and two in 1/4 inch 20×72.  Interestingly enough, our 1/8 inch pads came in at 4.05 oz and our 1/4 inch pads came in at 2.50 oz.

While the pads are sturdy and provide some comfort, they are foam pads.  Damaging and tearing of the pad is easy when they are mounted outside your pack.  It is best to fold it into your pack.