I think the sleeping pad deal is a racket. It's akin to the great shaver debacle. Why the heck do replacement blades to shave cost so much money? I digress. My dad has a Thermarest ProLite 4 which is supposed to self inflate, it does not. All in all, I guess I am not that impressed with the the uber high end matresses. I used a ProLite 3 for a while a year or two ago and I just did not see any major advantage other than bulk over the cheaper pads.

Thermarest is apparently coming out with a newer line of "self inflators" in January or so I have heard. Maybe something in their new line will sway me. Since I don't hang out on glaciers and would rather spend my money on knives and other quality gear, I have gone back to the Z-Rest foam pad (the orange and gray ones).