Advnture Verdict
A wonderfully warm and comfortable camping mat for four-season adventures when you’re not trying to travel too light.
Pros
- +
Deep, thick and supportive
- +
Generously wide and long
- +
Good next-to-skin comfort
- +
Self inflates
- +
Stays put overnight
Cons
- -
Bulky
- -
Heavy
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Vango Comfort 7.5 Grande: first impressions
New from British camping brand Vango, the Vango Comfort 7.5 Grande is a big, fairly thick, versatile sleeping solution and a comfortable crash pad for all sorts of scenarios (except hiking – because it is a sizeable beast of a bed, and you don’t want to be hulking it over the hills). For car camping trips, canoeing escapades, festivals, overnight garden adventures and sleepovers, though, it is excellent.
The Comfort Grande comes with a carry bag and a repair kit. Features include a polyester “Peach Top” upper fabric and 75D non-slip polyester base fabric, which means the pad will stay in place on a tent (or other) floor during the night. There’s an easy-to-use cyclone valve, which you simply flip open to start letting air in, and close to seal. Additional puffs can be added to improve the firmness.
But how did it fare under test conditions for our best sleeping pad buying guide? Read on to find out…
• RRP: £90 (UK) / Not currently available in the US
• Style: Self-inflating air mat with insulated foam
• Weight: 3.2kg / 7lb
• Variants: One size
• Dimensions: 200cm x 76cm / 79in x 30in
• Thickness: 7.5cm / 3in
• Pack size: 77cm x 20cm / 30in x 8in
• Warmth value: 13
• Compatibility: Four-season car camping, festivals, garden and inside use
Vango Comfort 7.5 Grande: in the field
I tested the Vango Comfort 7.5 Grande out in a range of scenarios over fall, winter and spring, and I was impressed with the mat’s thermal properties and comfort levels. The 7.5cm thickness of the insulated foam mat provides plenty of padding for even the most sensitive pea-hating princes and princesses out there, and I didn’t experience any cold spots.
The Comfort 7.5 Grande self inflates reasonably rapidly, without any major need to top up the air levels manually. And, in the morning, the cyclone valve means you can squeeze the air back out of the mat quite quickly, and it’s easy enough to roll away neatly and wrestle it back into the supplied carry bag.
The “Peach” top fabric on the upper side of the mat has a flocked finish and manages to feel both warm to the touch and comfortable to sleep on. The mat seems reassuring robust, and I didn’t feel the need to be especially precious with it.
It is too big, heavy and cumbersome for backpacking adventures, but I would happily use this sleeping pad for all-year-round canoeing and car camping escapades, when space isn’t at such a premium.
