If you have ever suffered from that light headed hyper ventilated feeling when inflating a sleeping mat, you can imagine how excited we were to try out the Alpkit Dumo.
By dint of a built in foot-long piece of foam that acts as a pump, you simply lean on the end of the mat while closing the valve with the palm of your hand. Release your hand to allow air to be drawn in, and repeat. Okay, this has to be done around a hundred times to get it inflated, but I would choose that over a prolonged dizzy spell any day. It also means you aren't breathing damp air into your mat every time you inflate and, as we all know, dampness is a Bad Thing.
Once inflated it is around 10cm thick, more than enough to soak up undulations in the ground, and 60cm wide by 192cm long. It all feels luxuriously large once inflated and dropped onto the tent or bothy floor, and we have rarely had a more comfortable sleep outdoors. A nice touch is the supplied puncture repair kit too, so all in all a superb bit of gear - slightly larger and heavier than the Thermarest alternatives but that little bit tougher, and that built in pump is a neat addition. Also, did we mention it is less than half the price?
