Now, if there's something the Finnish army can do right, it's the sleeping-related gear. Our kip mat is the best one we've ever seen, to be honest. These are made by the official army contractor, Savotta. You can see from the price you've got quality coming.

Admittedly, traditional sleeping pads are OK, especially for the price. If you appreciate durability and field-worthy features, do read on. The Savotta FDF Sleeping Pad is refined through experience and a deep understanding of the needs of the end-users in Nordic environments.

Features

The thick closed-cell foam provides comfort and insulation to prevent heat loss into the cold ground. This is not much different from the norm.

The special thing is the cover. The lightweight, waterproof cover does a lot of things: It protects the cell foam from punctures, tears, and abrasion. It adds some insulation as it traps air inside it. Perhaps most notably, it offers a small personal groundsheet as the sides of the cover extend 25 cm on both sides, providing you with a 100 cm wide, clean surface. Pads side-by-side form an effective groundsheet under a tarp or marquee tent.

The cover used to be removable but this is no longer the case: if you want to switch the cell foam pad to something else, it's possible but requires undoing some seams and sewing them back together.

A rubberized friction surface prevents sliding around and the integrated elastic loops provide an easy, hassle-free packing solution as well as hanging points among other uses.

The benefit of a closed-cell foam includes reliability: these won't go flat on you because of a tiny hole. Also, it's always ready to be unrolled or packed when you stop and go without time to waste.