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We are going to take a closer look at Kelty's PDa sleeping pad. That A signifying air chamber.
This is an inflatable sleeping pad. It makes it light weight. It makes it very packable,
so really ideal for warm weather back packing.
The full dimensions of the PDa pad are 20 inches wide at its widest point, 72 inches
in length. It does taper a bit at the feet and actually a tiny bit at the head, too.
Keep in mind weight savings approaches being employed here knowing that this is really
built for backpackers. It comes in at a weight of 14.5 ounces, so you are underneath a pound
with two inch thickness of comfort provided by the eight inflatable chambers.
50 D micro rip stop polyester fabrics being used here on this pad. It strikes a nice balance
between weight and durability. Kelty does throw in a field repair kit, so should you
have a puncture in the field, you will have what you need to patch that up and still have
a comfortable night of sleeping.
As we mentioned, this is an air pad. It is an inflatable pad. So you do need to blow
up the pad manually. Because of that, it packs down light weight and small, but you still
are looking at a little bit of work.
The valve, as soon as I open it you can hear air escaping it. It is very easy to inflate.
And that narrow design, that cutaway on the dimensions does make this inflate pretty quickly,
fairly easily. When you are sleeping on that pad at night, you have blown this up to where
you want it. You lay on it. You find out, oh, it is a little bit stiffer than I want
it to be. I would rather sink into a little bit. You can always just reach over your shoulder,
open that valve a little and let a little bit of air out, sink into it and close that
valve. So a little bit of easy adjustment that can be made there during the night.
Showing off the stuff sack here on the PDa pad and nice and flat, squared off in such
a way that this is a much more obvious and convenient fit inside a backpack than most
sleeping pads are. Just a slick thought with the backpacker in mind.
Kelty PDa pad, again, just a really nice option. It doesn't have a heavy R value. You are not
talking about an insulated pad. It is just air that is in there. So I wouldn't suggest
it for three or four season use unless you are coupling it with another pad, perhaps
a closed cell foam pad. But for that warmer weather packing, backpacking, just a really
nice light weight packable option.