Anyone that has used our ProLite Apex sleeping pad has experienced the performance that makes this pad a cut above. It’s why we named it the Apex, due to offering the balanced high-performance of warmth, weight, thickness and packability. With an unrivaled warmth-to-weight ratio, you might wonder what secret sorcery went into making the Apex?
Heritage of Self-Inflating Innovation
For those of you that aren’t familiar with our history, we have a habit for revolutionizing camp comfort. In 1972, our founders sought to create a better way to sleep under the stars during their mountaineering and backpacking pursuits. Their ingenuity and engineering background led them to craft the world’s first self-inflating sleeping pad.
The Apex Evolution
Our designers and engineers continue the pursuit of a better way to sleep under the stars. When looking at our self-inflating pads, they believed they could design a pad that added significant warmth and thickness without adding weight.
Like all of your gear and technologies that we develop, they thoroughly tested their designs in the lab and the field before unveiling the design behind the Apex’s performance: StrataCore™ construction.
StrataCore™ Construction
Yielding the best warmth-to-weight ratio of any self-inflating mattress, StrataCore™ uses a continuous layer of thermal foam nestled between alternating ridges of air and foam. This provides a thicker and warmer pad without adding excess weight.
Building An Apex
The first step in building a StrataCore™ pad is the delivery of an open-cell foam block called a bun. This is from a local supplier that also recycles our excess foam from pad production.
Next, the bun is sent through a high-efficiency foam cutter that maximizes the number of pad cores that can be cut from a single cube.
The specific StrataCore™ shape is cut by the three-dimensional cutter and the cores are taken to another production area where the face fabric will get sealed and a valve will be added.
StrataCore™ Construction Real-World Performance
Don’t just take our word for it. Read some of the reviews below to hear what others think about the StrataCore™ construction in their sleeping pad.
“My new favorite! This is the first self-inflating foam mattress I have been able to use as a side sleeper. The 4-season warmth is also great. A true all-rounder!”
– Dan“I’ve had high temperatures in Sweden and The Netherlands but almost freezing conditions in the mountains. If you are looking for one sleeping pad to cover (almost) all conditions? This could be the one.”
-Gijs
For those of you that are more comfort-conscious backpackers or frontcountry campers and are interested in StrataCore™ construction, stay tuned.
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