Exped Ultra 6.5R review: A genuine all-season sleeping mat

There’s no doubting that Swiss brand Exped make high quality sleeping mats – and the newly updated Ultra 6.5R is no exception.

It’s a warm, comfortable and well-designed sleeping pad with impressive raw stats: a winter-ready, 4-season-capable R-Value of 6.9, a relatively light weight of just 531g (mat only), and roomy dimensions of 183x65cm in the medium-wide rectangular version.

The downside is it’s pretty pricey at £190 and probably overkill for spring and summer only campers. But for anyone looking for a top-tier sleeping mat for year-round use, it strikes a lovely Goldilocks sweet spot between weight, warmth, packability, comfort and features.

Comfort

Inflatable sleeping mats tend to come in three main designs: horizontal baffles, vertical baffles or a gridded, quilted texture. All of these options feel slightly different when you’re lying on top of them. In my opinion, horizontal baffles are a bit more stable and supportive with a gently contoured, lightly dimpled feeling; vertical baffles feel more ridgy and wavy; while a gridded, quilted mat has a more “bobbly”, textured feel rather than ridged.

But comfort is massively subjective and will depend both on how you sleep (on your back, side or front) and your personal preferences (on softness, cushioning and flatness). So what I suggest is comfortable might not work for you. The best approach, as always, is therefore to try and test out different options in a shop and figure out what works for you.

That said, I’d suggest the vertical baffles of the Exped Ultra 6.5R will work for most people. During my limited testing, I found the pad very amenable, with a comfy surface. It felt pretty stable and supportive, yet soft and cosy – no complaints. The plush 9cm thickness also meant any lumps and bumps underground were nicely evened out.

Materials, shape and size

The Exped Ultra 6.5R comes in a few different sizes, all with different dimensions. In the standard rectangular version, the medium is 183x52cm, the medium-wide is 183x65cm, and the long-wide is 197x65cm. There is also a mummy version with a more streamlined, tapered profile.

I tested the medium-wide version, and it certainly had a broad silhouette, with loads of extra width. This added to the sense of comfort and spaciousness, which I enjoyed. But, of course, it comes at a higher weight, and the 65cm width might feel too broad and cramped for smaller tents.

In terms of materials, all of Exped’s Ultra mats are made from a 20-denier recycled polyester, which aims to provide a good balance between toughness and lightness. The polyester used is Bluesign-approved and PFAS-free for enhanced eco credentials, using “less water, energy and carbon during production”, according to Exped. Other materials used in the mat include a TPU polyether film laminate and recycled Texpedloft microfiber insulation.

Inflation and deflation

A lot of sleeping mat brands now use all-in-one valves, which have double caps over a single hole used for both inflation and deflation. This helps to keep weight down and reduces the number of components that can fail. Exped, however, has kept things a little more old school here, with two caps – one for inflation and another for deflation. This makes seems a little less fiddly and confusing, and arguably speeds up inflation and deflation slightly. Indeed, the Swiss brand confidently states that its FlatValves provide “industry-leading durability, reliability and intuitive performance”.

To blow up the mat, the Ultra 6.5R comes with Exped’s medium-sized Schnozzel Pumpbag UL (worth £31 if bought separately). This enables fast, moisture-free inflation and works as follows: simply open the “in” valve on the sleeping mat, attach the pump bag’s nozzle, scoop up air into the pump bag, roll down the rolltop closure straps, and then squeeze air into the mat to inflate it. I timed myself doing this, and it took me 55 seconds and four full bags of air. This felt very efficient.

The dedicated “in” port has a one-way diaphragm, meaning no air will leak out during the inflation process. It also has a tiny nodule-like protrusion you can press to release short bursts of air, if you want to micro-adjust the mat’s pressure once inflated. The Schnozzel pump bag, meanwhile, has a funnel-like channel at its base, which seems to target air efficiently into the mat. Using the pump bag is essential for longevity by helping to prevent mould or mildew growth inside the mat, and thus ensuring the internal insulation performs optimally during cold conditions.

The one-way deflation valve is quick too. I timed it on my stopwatch, and it only took me about 10 seconds to fully deflate the mat while using my body weight to expel the air.

Warmth and R-value

This mat delivers excellent warmth, providing a plush, thick, well-insulated level of protection from the cold ground below you. The mat is 9cm thick, which is nicely padded with good clearance, but the warmth comes more from Exped’s high-tech design approach than simply the thickness. The Ultra 6.5R mat features Exped’s proprietary SynMat Plus technology – an insulation system that pairs a heat-reflective layer with recycled Texpedloft microfibre insulation filling. The end result? You get a laboratory-tested R-value of 6.9, which will keep you warm in conditions down to -20 °C according to Exped.

The best part of the SynMat Plus technology, however, is that it doesn’t come with a big weight cost. Instead, the approach “maximises thermal performance while keeping the mat light, quiet and compact”. It doesn’t rustle or crinkle like many other foil-based mats, and the overall warmth-to-weight ratio is very impressive.

It’s worth noting that older Exped mats feature SynMat technology, but the brand has now introduced SynMat Plus – with the “Plus” referring to the new addition of heat-reflective foil. This design feature reflects your body’s heat back towards you, thus increasing warmth and thermal efficiency without adding much weigh

Weight and packed size

I've analysed the weight of every component of this sleeping mat using my own weighing scales. These are the results: the mat itself clocks in at 531g, the carry bag (with drawcord closure) is 11g, the Exped Schnozzel Pumpbag UL (medium) is 83g and a repair kit with patches and glue is 15g. That adds up to a total of 640g.

Depending on how you look at things, you could consider the overall weight cost of the Exped Ultra 6.5R at 542g, by discarding the repair kit (you probably won’t need it) and discounting the pump bag weight (because it doubles up nicely as a dry bag for other kit). At 542g, this is pretty impressively lightweight for an R-value of 6.9. For comparison, the Big Agnes Rapide SL Insulation weighs a heftier 607g for a 4.8 R-Value and the Sea to Summit Ether Light XR clocks in at 547g for a 4.1 R-Value. So, clearly, the Exped’s stats stand up to scrutiny.

That said, this isn’t an ultralight sleeping mat by three-season standards, and if you’ll only be camping in warmer climes, there are lighter-weight, less insulated options out there that might suit your needs better. If you like the look of the Exped 6.5R but worry it’s too heavy and warm, then it's worth checking out the Ultra 3R mummy.

The Exped Ultra 6.5R packs down pretty compactly to an official size of 27x11.5cm. That’s certainly not the smallest pack-away I’ve ever seen, but unless you’re an ultralight guru obsessed with space in your pack, you probably won’t notice the difference of a few centimetres here and there.

Features

There are a few other features to note. Exped’s “Cradle Comfort” side rails uplift the outer edge of the vertical air chambers slightly higher than the central baffles, thus creating a small “lip” which holds your body and stops you rolling off the mat overnight. This delivers a natural cradling effect, hence the feature’s name. For further enhanced comfort, the Ultra sleeping mat pairs excellently with Exped’s Ultra Pillow (sold separately, £35), while for added peace of mind, the mat has a five-year warranty.

Verdict

The Exped Ultra 6.5R is a genuine all-season sleeping mat that British backpackers and wild campers can rely on, whatever the conditions – but it’s not the cheapest.

About the author

James Forrest writes regular features and route guides for Trail and has been one of our main gear testers for the last few years. James is based on the edge of the Lake District, so when he isn’t off on his latest crazy adventure or challenge, he’s running around his local fells.