2011 Sneak Peek: Astro series sleeping pads

The design of Astro series sleeping pads stands on the shoulders of our current Cosmo Air sleeping pad. Through testing and customer feedback, we found that people were psyched about Cosmo's construction and features, but were willing to sacrifice some of the size for weight savings.

We trimmed up the overall width and length for Astro Air (regular version is 72" long and 20" wide, short version is 48" long and 20" wide), and took the integrated pump out to save weight. The orange version is the Astro Insulated, which uses a synthetic polyurethane foam insulation to stop convective currents. Weights are 1 lb 8 oz for Insulated, 1 lb 4 oz for Air, 14 oz for Short.

Here's a picture of the pack sizes below for regular and short versions.

More shots.

The final bit of insider info is pretty exciting. Of course, you can set up the pad by blowing into the valve -- that's standard. But we've developed a superlight pump that fits into the palm of your hand that will speed of inflation tenfold. At the end of a long day on the trail, you'll definitely be loving this.

-Connie