Therm-a-Rest Ultralite Cot

I am an AT hiker and a disabled vet. Several back and hip surgeries. This cot is what will keep me on the trail. Hard to imagine a cot made any lighter but I am adding 3 lbs to my base wait. Well worth it.UPDATE; after several uses the cross bars remain bent and leave you on the ground with cross bars in your ribs. I but an air-mattress over the top to compensate hoping it would work but all I achieved was carrying an extra 3lbs of useless weight. Disappointed cuz I really needed this to work. Next attempt is a closed cell foam pad and a therm-a-rest, uberlite. Down to 14oz for both and a 2.3R. This worked OK with a klymit mattress. The uberlite is 2.5 inches thick… high hopes that this will work.

I really wanted to like this cot because I find it much more comfortable than a sleeping pad. However, after only about ten nights of use, the crossbars now retain slight bends and there is a small tear in the fabric at a seam. I found the Large to be barely adequate for my 5'11" frame (a few more inches would be nice), and at 210lb I do not touch the crossbars when I sleep (although my midsection is within a fraction of an inch of them with all of the legs and double crossbars in the middle). I treat it very delicately and always gently lower my weight mid-cot, never resting on the edges. However, on a recent trip, I sat up and put some weight near the seam, and the fabric immediately tore for several inches right along the stitching. Other reviews show images of very similar tears. While I am definitely not petite, I'm more than 100lbs below the maximum load of 325 lb 3 oz. (3 oz.?!!!).Pros:- Very lightweight and compact- Setup and breakdown is reasonably straightforward (as with most things, it gets easier with practice and I highly recommend a few iterations at home)- Surprisingly comfortable for a back sleeper (while I also sleep on my side, I don't find side sleeping to be comfortable on this cot)- Sleeping above the ground is drier and cleaner. I hadn't considered this until I was caught in 36 hours of relentless rain while camping. My rainfly failed and my tent floor was soaked, but I was comfortably above the water. Those two dry nights may have justified the price of the cot!Cons:- Overly fragile. Mine broke even though I treated it gingerly, so I can't imagine it would survive someone heavier or with kids around- Hard to imagine this would be comfortable for someone much heavier than me (210lbs), which is well below the max load (325lbs 3 oz)- The legs may tear through tent floors, particularly if there are rocks below the tent. While they sell small 'coasters' for the legs, they are expensive and carrying 12 of them seems egregiousBottom-line: buyer beware, as this cot may leave you without a place to sleep if it tears mid-trip.

This is a pretty well made product that packs very thin and light, and that does the job well if you take some time to dial in how you set up the supports to meet your needs and preferences. It took me about four tries to find the arrangement that I liked and then it was great. Basically, there are multiple locations underneath the cot to attach the legs, and you can set the legs in two different ways to change how much tension they apply to the cot, so you can effectively make one part of the cot firmer or softer by changing around the configuration. The manual shows you two setups, one that it says is good for up to 175 lbs, and one for more or less maximum load. I tried the maximum load setup first despite being a bit under 175lbs and it made the cot far too stiff. Then I tried the lightweight setup and found that when I rolled to my side I would sometimes touch the ground with the side of my hips. I rearranged the support locations a bit so that there were two light supports at hip level, one under torso, one under head, one under feet, and have been happy with it since. If you're shorter or heavier in one area or another, you need to take a few minutes to adjust accordingly.I used this in the high desert and on mountains over 8000 feet, in temperatures below 20F and it did its job well.

I got this about a month ago to try out in place of my Xlite for warmer temp trips when my pack is lighter (not carrying winter gear) and I can afford a little extra weight penalty. I'm small at ⁵'5" and only 118lbs. I can get by with only using 3 cross bows making the cot sub 2lbs. It's very comfee, keeps me off the ground and I slept great on it on a 3 day AT trip in North Ga. The only thing I used with it was a 1/8 closed cell pad and my Alphalite 900 quilt. It's easy to assemble, very light for what it is and the comfort it offers. It packed down super small only using 3 cross bows and fit in the side pocket of my pack. Highly recommend, especially for smaller people. I might even take just the material for a tent rug in the winter to offer more insulation from the ground and also if I bring my dog to protect the inside of my tent floor. It's very durable as well. I love it!! ❤