NeoAir Thermarest - Equipment Review - Bedding - Mattress

Equipment:
Thermarest Neoair inflatable mattress.

Review:
The main reason for purchasing this was to replace my leaking Denali mattress which has lasted me for 2 years. Seeing what was currently getting good reviews the Neoair caught my eye.
The Neoair is a very lightweight hiking mattress and folds up much smaller than any other mattress I've owned. 
The mattress and carry bag are sold separately.  I bought the regular size mattress for $A220 on ebay which included the carrybag.

It would be pretty hard to loose this mattress with its limegreen/yellow colour on one side.  Its so bright I thought I might need sunglasses to be able to sleep. The other side is silver which has a R factor like a roof batt of 2.5 so this keeps you from losing bodyheat into the ground.

Unravelling the mattress my initial thoughts were how long it would last as the material is very thin.
It folds up to a size similar to a half height 1.5 litre bottle and with its weight of 410g this will be great for multi day hikes.
The mattress is not self inflating and takes a few minutes to fill.  It inflates to a thickness of 5cm which keeps the body off the hard ground especially for a side sleeper like me.  I didnt really have a great sleep on  my intial test of it as I had forgot to pack a pillow so I'll have to rate it next time.

Vango Helium 200 - Equipment Review - Tent -

Equipment:
Vango Helium 200 2 man tent.

Intro:
The hybrid tunnel design, ease of pitching and watertight seams make the 2 man Helium 200 a welcome shelter at the end of a day on the hills. TBS® Pro and pre-bend poles offer exceptional stability, end vents allow for a through flow of air reducing condensation build up and its light weight and compact pack size make the Helium ideal for short trips without compromising comfort.
The main reasons for purchasing were for a very lightweight tent at a reasonable price.
At 1.3kg for $A329 on ebay this is about as good as you can get weightwise for the price.
I now have the flexibility of a spacious 1-2 man tent to go with the Exped Sirius 2-3 man tent.
                   
Features:

• All in one pitching
• TBS® Pro Tension Band System
• Protex® 5,000HH SPU ripstop nylon 20D
• NEW 40D breathable ripstop inner tent
• HD nylon groundsheet
• Force Ten FlexLite poles
• Flat pole sleeves
• NEW Dyneema guylines
• Pre-angled poles
• O shaped inner door
• Flysheet door can be opened as a vent
• Rain stop flysheet door
• Multiple reflective points
• NEW flysheet vents with mesh covering
• Part mesh inner door
• Lightweight stuffsac

Review:
Tested the Vango tent on the Freycinet Peninsular / Wineglass Bay / Bay of Fires hike.
Easy to carry, nice and small so easy to put virtually anywhere in the pack.
Need to practice some more on setting it up, couldnt get it as tight as I liked especially since it was likely to be wet overnight on the first night.
Overall was a little bit disappointed with it. I like a bit of space both inside and in the vestibule to protect your pack and other items that dont need to be inside. The Vango vestibule only just covered my 60L pack with boots and bottles.
I am 6ft tall and couldnt really sit up straight without my head touching the roof, there is no flat ceiling area inside, just a peak at chest level laying down and the roof slopes its way down at about a 60 degree angle to the feet where its about a foot tall in the middle apex.

Theres not much height to stick items at the feet end without them getting wet from any condensation off the ceiling overnight.

 I had condensation in the morning both in damp and dry conditions even though there seems to be plenty of ventilation. The sacrifice for extra few 100 grams of weight for the lack of that extra space probably isnt worth it.

Exped Sirius II Extreme - Equipment Review - Tent

Equipment:
Tent - Exped Sirius II Extreme

Intro:
The Exped Sirius II Extreme in the Terracotta Colour.
I bought this tent much cheaper online (-$150) from the New Zealand store http://www.bivouac.co.nz/ than I could find anywhere in Australia.
I enjoy having space when I go hiking and I wanted a tent that was flexible in any conditions thrown at me. 

There were 3 main factors in my purchase

• Price to weight ratio had to be reasonable. It had to be lightweight for its size but not overly priced.
• It had to be very good in all weather conditions (so a 4 season tent)
• It had to be able to fit 3 adults incase of emergency. (on one hiking expedition this was used to fit a 3rd person in)

Review:
Plenty of room for 2 people with room to spare to store your essentials inside. I'm 6ft and it has good head height for sitting up in.

The door has a flyscreen and fly, both can be zipped up independently allowing for as much or little airflow as desired. Its very stable under blustery and rainy conditions.

The vestibule can be zipped up. You can buy a footprint for this as theres probably a bit too much air space between the walls and grass, so its protected but not as much as I'd like.
The tent can be setup pretty quickly.
It has a few cute things like a rope along ceiling to hang a lamp from, pocket in the walls to store valuables off the floor,  illuminations on guy ropes so you can see them at night as well as pockets to wrap the guy ropes into.  I still tend to take this on solo hikes rather than the smaller tents I have.

Specifications:
Capacity: 2-3 adults

Weight: Minimum*: 5.8 # / 2.65 kg;
LightPackers: 4.6 # / 2.1 kg; fly, poles and footprint(sold separately)
UltraLight Packers:3.5 # / 1.6 kg; fly, poles
Packaged: 6.6 # / 3.1 kg

Area: Floor: 31.5 ft2 / 2.925 m2
Vestibule: 15 ft2 / 1.43 m2

Materials:
Rainfly: silicone coated ripstop nylon; untaped seams
Canopy: UV-resistant, flame retardant ripstop polyester
Floor: PU-coated, taffeta nylon
Poles: DAC Featherlite NSL 9mm TH72M aircraft grade aluminium

Packed size: 16x6’’ / 42x15 cm

Setup time: 10 minutes

Colors: Green and Terracotta