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A guy at REI in Boise showed me how to test a sleeping pad in store, and I have been doing it backwards for years
I was at the REI in Boise two weekends ago and this older guy working the floor asked if I wanted to try the pad before I walked out with it. I said sure, and he told me to lay on it on the hard floor, not on the carpet, and stay there for a full five minutes. I always just pressed it with my hand and squeezed it once. He said your hand does not tell you where your hip or shoulder digs in, only your body weight over time does. He also said to bring my actual sleeping bag and pillow, not just try it in jeans, because the pad reacts different to the fabric and how you move at night. I tried the pad his way, and after four minutes my hip was already telling me it was too firm for side sleeping. That is a $180 pad I would have bought blind. Two months ago I came home with a pad that felt great for ten seconds and killed my back at 9,000 feet near Stanley Lake. If you are shopping in person, do you go all in and lay there like a weirdo for five minutes, or do you just trust the squeeze test?
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