This is by far the most comfortable sleeping mat I have ever used. It's really luxurious, just like sleeping on a mattress at home. Seven centimetres of down is amazingly warm and soft and because it's sealed in an air-flied cover, the down doesn't compress as it does in a sleeping bag. However the mat is also heavy and bulky and the width means it won't even fit in some small tents. You need space to pump it up too. This is done with the ingenious stuffsack, which plugs into a valve on the mat. The stuffsack is filled with air and then closed and compressed to drive the air into the mat. This needs to be repeated around 10 times to fill the mat - it can be as soft or firm as you like but will insulate better if its firmer The stuffsack is double layered and has foam in the bottom half to help it expand when filling with air. It's quite heavy at 133 grams but also essential as blowing into the mat could dampen the down, reduce its performance and allow mildew to form. The down is kept in the channels of the mat by baffles as in a sleeping bag. The surface of the mat is textured so the sleeping bag doesn't slide off. The quality of manufacture is excellent. I wouldn't use a mat this big and heavy for backpacking. However there is a much more portable Down Mat 7 Short (£80) that weighs 680 grams including the stuffsack. This still has the 7cm loft and measures 120 x 52cms. If you don't like down, Exped also makes a microfibre synthetic-filled mat, the SynMat, the lightest version of which weighs 950 grams with stuffsack and also costs £80. I've tried the SynMat and it's warm and comfortable but not as luxurious as the down mat.

Here's a review in the Summer issue of Wavelength Magazine - THE Pacific Coast paddling resource…
10.07.2007

EXPED DOWNMAT 7
Exped is a company based in Zurich, Switzerland that produces a range of outdoor gear. Their wares are distributed in North America by Outdoor Research of Seattle, WA. From their tents to their
sleeping bags, Exped typically demonstrates a .air for innovative design, and their sleeping pads are no exception. Rather than the Therm-a-Rest style, self-in.ating mattress that uses an open cell foam laminated into a nylon sheath, the Exped pad is a more traditional air mattress, but with a few important differences. If you’ve used conventional air mattresses in cooler climes, you’ll know that they do not insulate well—I’ve frozen my buns off on frosty nights sleeping on an in.atable mattress. Exped solves this problem by loading its mattress with goose down. It’s an elegantly simple solution: the down lofting within the mattress keeps you warm and yet compresses really well when the mat is rolled up. Light foam barriers within the mattress prevent the down from escaping out the valves or migrating between the baf.ed chambers, eliminating cold spots. The down also stays dry because it’s sealed within the airtight and waterproof mattress. So what about the moisture introduced when you blow the mattress up by mouth? Well, you don’t blow it up by mouth—you use a pump. Then what about the extra weight and bulk of the pump? Enter innovative design solution number
2: the pump is the stuff-sack. The stuff-sack that the mat comes in is basically a drybag with a roll-top closure and a oneway valve on the bottom of the bag. This valve plugs onto the mattress’s valve, and by .lling the stuff sack with air and then compressing it, you force air into the mattress. While it’s not the fastest pump in the world, it does work, and is beautifully compact. With practice, it typically takes about 9 or 10 stuffsack compressions to fully in.ate the mattress, which requires approximately 3 minutes work. A repair kit is also included. In.ated, the DownMat 7 is 70" x 20" and a whopping 2.75" thick. Packed, it measures a compact 13"x 5.5" and weighs just under 28 ounces. Its R-Value is 5.9 and cold from the ground was never an issue. Sleeping comfort is an incredibly personal thing, and while I’m very happy on the DownMat, I was surprised to hear one or two people say that they preferred the .rmer support offered by much thinner pads. For me, the DownMat 7, while pricey, is a winner. It’s only slightly larger when packed than the Prolite 4 and is almost twice as thick, as well as providing more insulating value from the cold ground. In fact, it has actually
replaced my Therm-a-Rest to become my sleeping mat of choice—something that I didn’t think would ever happen, and ultimately that’s probably the greatest recommendation that I can give it.

Outdoor Magazine (Germany, August 2002) “Tested on Tour”

Exped DownMat
Price Rating : good
Performance : very good
Overall rating : very good

You can’t get more comfort!

An ingenious idea made reality by Exped. Instead of filling mats with open cell foam, Exped
uses 700 cu-in down in their new “Down Air Mattress”. The result is astounding: The 3.5in thick mat insulates, according to EMPA (Swiss gov. material testing laboratory), three times better than comparable selfinflating foam mattresses of similar weight. This at a mere 29 oz and a packed size as small as lightweight foam mats. The best thing about it, it’s extremely comfortble! The mat can be pumped up with the included pump stuff sack, which prevents humidity from entering the mat, something you wouldn’t want happening with foam mats eigher. Handling with the pump sack is only anoying inside a tight tent, but the pleasant anticipation of lying on the mat lets one forget quickly.

Down Mat - field reports
Hello Exped Team,
As an avid seakajaker I always look forward to good night's sleep after a long tour. Since my present mat was too big and no more comfortable enough, I looked around for an alternative. I then settled for a Downmat 7. I can tell you that it has become my favorite piece of equipment. Never before have I woken up so relaxed in the mornings. The low weight and small packed size are impressive, both very important criteria for me as a kajaker. Can it get any better ??????
So thanks a lot - You have a new fan.
Regards from the sun island Usedom
May 2005, Karsten Ohlert

"I am in N.Alaska near the Brooks Range. It is -35^oC and your Downmat 9 is GREAT! The wolves are howling and the N.Lights are dancing. It is very beautiful!
January 2005, Larry Amkraut

“In 20 years I have tested numerous mats. But never, ever was the warmth as high as in the Down Air Mattress
of Exped.”
April 2002 - Christof Hagen, Wilderness-Survival-Expert and founder of Survival-Outdoor-School SOS (www.goSOS.com)

“That mat was really warm; almost sinfully comfortable for a Himalayan expedition!” says Jean Troillet after his Everest expedition, who has climbed numerous 8000m peaks.
April 2002 - Expeditionist Jean Troillet, at the end of his Everest-Expedition

“but the very best are the Down Air Mattresses of Exped! High camps are mostly rocky terrain, and therefore cold and uneven. These mats level out the site, and you think you are home in your own bed! We could have sold our Down Air Mattresses numerous times for good money to other climbers, but hey, no way!”
August 2002 - Pascal Gnädinger, Huyana Potosi, Bolivia

“We always slept right on the rocky ground, and for weight reasons we took only the Venus outer tent. But with the Down Air Mattress, we slept in fantastic comfort and warmth! And, we never experienced any puncture as we had with other mats!”
August 2002 - Mountain Guides Sebastien and Claude-Allain after 50 days and 250 summits on a 400 km trip along the border of the Swiss state, Wallis

“Finally - a warmer mat with less weight! In extreme conditions, I experienced that a warmer mat was far more critical than just a warmer sleeping bag,”
states Erhard Loretan, 3rd man to climb Earth’s 14 8000m peaks. As further testimony, Erhard equipped all members of his latest team with Exped Down Airmattresses for their planned scaling of the Jannu North Wall!