Thread: Sleeping mat, insulated or not?

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

I always thought the trapped air inside the mat/lilo worked as insulation...

It does provide some insulation... but when that air is free to circulate it still transfers heat by convection. Insulation inside traps the air in little pockets so it doesn't move around, which means less heat is transferred from one side to the other. Its just the amount of insulation that varies.