Sleeping mat for a "giant"? Ideas

[frank_in_oz]

Received an email via Our Hiking Blog from a guy in the States seeking some advice:

Hate to have a grumpy 206cm - 136kg giant not get his beauty sleep....

Email as follows:
Thanks for offering your time to help me, I am having a tough time making a decision on a sleeping pad. I am going on a hiking trip in a few weeks to Glacier National Park, Montana USA and I need to get a good sleeping pad....

There seems to be 2 main categories; self inflating and blow-up pads. Here's my problem, I am 6' 9" 300lbs so that makes me unique compared to most people. I also like to sleep on my side, so that puts a very large amount of weight on my side. I'm not so worried about the length, most pad aren't going to be long enough for me anyway. What I am trying to figure out is which type of pad would be the most comfortable for the least amount of weight. After reading many reviews and looking at the specs, it seems like the blow-up pads might offer more comfort since they are thicker. But some say the self inflating pad will be better and tougher. Again, because of my size and weight, I can't really compare what "little people" say about a pad because they don't push the limits of the pad.

Do you know any large men that do a lot of hiking? Can you find out what pad they like? Please help me figure out which pad would offer me good comfort and not too much weight (around 2 lbs, maybe a little more). As I said, I am a large man and, it's not so good for me to be grumpy because of a bad night's sleep, I might end up throwing someone off the mountain!

Here are some that I am looking at (although some of these are more than I wanted to Spend):

Therm-a-rest TrailPro
Therm-a-rest Neo air (yellow)
Exped DownMats
Exped SynMat 7 Pump (2009)

Any advise you can give me would be very appreciated!!!

Any big people out there who have solved this problem??

[loric]

Exped Down Mat 9.

My wife uses one and loves it. (she is a side sleeper).

I use a Downmat7 and whilst super comfy, not as ridiculously comfy as the 9.
(but lighter!)

Both are awesome in the snow.

I also have a std thermarest and an thermarest ultralight. Both have been relegated as they are no where near as comfy as the downmat - even with the 200gm penalty.

[Ent]

Content deleted by poster

[loric]

The newer Exped downmats no longer have the bag pump, but the inbuilt pump.
My wife's old bag pump version inflates faster than my new inbuilt jobbie even tho mine's a 7 and hers is a 9.
Side 'bonus' is that the previous 'fragile' inflator valves are now simple rubber bungs.

[Humpo]

I have the new Downmat 7 and love it. Im 6'1 and 100kg.