Review: TrangoWorld Skin Micro Lite Sleeping Mat

Therm-a-Rest, Exped, Multimat. Some of the first names that might come to mind when thinking of sleeping mats. Then perhaps Alpkit, Mountain Equipment, Vango. Maybe even Snugpak, Outwell or Coleman. What about TrangoWorld? Probably not.

For those who have never heard of TrangoWorld (I hadn't before embarking on my sleeping mat quest), they are a Spanish outdoors company with a history stretching as far back as the 1920's, and if their website is to be believed in the 70's and 80's they had a 40% market share of camping goods. So they've been around. In the UK today they may be best known for their trekking/mountaineering trousers which have become highly regarded.

One thing that's evident when looking at TrangoWorld's substantial line-up is that they put some effort in. These aren't just mats that are picked up from some Chinese OEM manufacturer and then a name slapped on, there is research and design involved, with materials and technologies consistent throughout the range. Their sleeping mat catalogue covers both inflatable and self-inflating mats, in full and 3/4 lengths.

The Skin Micro Lite is their top model of self-inflating mat, and gains its name, one assumes, from its fairly low 540g weight*, and its "skin" covering. This "skin" is their ArtiStretch polyurethane material, which is extremely thin and no doubt helps to keep the weight down to a minimum. This also means you are closer to the foam inside.
Another of their technologies, ArtiStop, is a coating (or something in the PU mix) that creates a non-slip surface on the mat, and I have to say this works a treat- once I'm on the mattress I stay on it.

 Photo courtesy of TrangoWorld

The Skin Micro Lite is 30mm thick, which offers a 20% increase over the 25mm that is common amongst its competitors. And while it isn't like sleeping on a memory foam mattress, its thick enough to not feel like you are sleeping on the floor. It packs down to a reasonable size, and the included stuff sack is for once just the right size, rather than being slightly too small as most manufacturers of anything that goes into a stuff sack seem to prefer.

Now, for anyone who doesn't know how a "self-inflating" mattress actually works, here's a little explanation: Self-inflating mattresses are essentially foam with a cover on. When the mattress is rolled up and put away, the foam is compressed and air that sits within its structure is forced out through a valve. This valve is then closed. When the mat is unrolled for use (and the valve re-opened), the foam expands and draws air in though the valve, which is then closed to stop it escaping when you lay on the mattress. It is normal to have to give a couple of blows into the valve to "top up" the mattress. And this leads me to my only criticism of the Skin Micro Lite:

It does not self-inflate. Not at all. When I first got it I left it a full 24 hours and it was still flat as a pancake. Neither has this improved with use- every time I use this mat I have to blow it up myself. That said, I'm talking maybe 4-5 good blows- certainly better than blowing up an air mat, and with all the added bonus of foam insulation- so it really isn't a big deal.

Talking of insulation, the TrangoWorld has an R-value (the rating for thermal resistance often quoted in sleeping mat specs) of R= 3.41. The trouble with R values is there are two formulas for calculating them- imperial and metric. American companies and those with something to hide use the imperial method, which gives a higher value, so unless you know by which method an R value has been calculated it is impossible to compare them. With TrangoWorld being Spanish, one would assume that they use the metric calculation which means 3.41 is a very good figure indeed, but it seems almost too good to be true for a mat of this weight and price, so they may indeed be using imperial measurements.

There is a lot of competition in the sleeping mat market, and far too many for me to start listing competing products, so suffice to say that when I bought this mat a few months ago, at the price I paid (about £30), it was hands-down the best mat when taking the four factors of weight, thickness, insulation and price into account.  

2021 UPDATE: Having recently been asked by a friend to spec them a hike/camping kit, it's incredible to find that in the six years since I wrote this review no-one has come close to touching the Skin Micro Lite in this price range. There is literally nothing that compares to it (even the Decathlon Quechua A100, which came a close second to the shorter version of the Skin Micro Lite, has been discontinued - see my original review here). Even Therm-a-rest's brand new 2021 Trail Scout mat - which will hit your pocket for about 50% more than the Trangoworld - is thinner, heavier and a few centimetres shorter, even if it does match the R-value.

NOTE: In 2020 the way of measuring R-values was standardised across the industry, making comparisons between mats a lot easier now.




*The mat's advertised weight is 540g, however mine weighed in at 600g in its bag and 570g out of it. I've heard this is a common issue with self-inflating mats for some reason- that they vary considerably in weight and manufacturers take an average for their product specs.


TrangoWorld Skin Micro Lite