Carpet mat: types and reviews. Karemat - what is it?

There is a whole list of things without which it is impossible to imagine a hiking trip. This is a tent, a backpack, a sleeping bag, a map, a compass. When a group of tourists stops for the night and breaks up their temporary camp, this process can not be carried out without using a special rug called karemat.

Karemat - what is it? Required element of any tourist's equipment. Without it, a night's sleep or rest in nature can turn into real flour. Without a tourist mat, the traveler risks earning a sciatica or other unpleasant ailments.

The variety of names and the origin of the word "karemat"

Carpets in the everyday life are called differently. Isomat, foam or just a rug - all this, in fact, means the same thing. In English-speaking countries it is referred to as a sleeping pad, in Germany - isomatte.

It is interesting and the origin of the term "karemat" is not completely understood. What kind of word is it and what does it mean, it has not been possible to find out so far. Foreign tourists, in particular Americans and Europeans, do not call their rugs.

The most plausible version of the origin of this word is the following. Once, one of the British firms produced tourist rugs under the strange English name karrimat. It is this word, according to some researchers, migrated to the Russian language. According to another version, the term comes from the word care material, which in translation means "care material".

Types of caremates

According to the peculiarities of production, the carets are divided into:

• Inflatable;
• From foamed polymers.

In both versions, the insulation of the rugs provides air, but in the second case it is contained in the polymer in the form of bubbles.

The size of the carets are:

• Standard (width 50-60 cm, length 180-200 cm);
• Shortened (used in mountaineering).

According to the design features, the caremats can be:

• Rolled (more common option);
• Folding (in the form of "accordion").

In addition, the mats differ from each other in thickness and in the rigidity of the material used.

Tourist car mats and features of their application

Tourist carriage - what is it? What are its features? This is a special dense mat that fits on the bottom of the tent, directly under the sleeping bag of a tourist. Its function is to provide the most comfortable rest for the traveler in extreme natural conditions and to protect the sleeping bag from moisture and cold.

Most often in tourism use light and cheap rugs made of polyurethane foam. However, they are very cumbersome, bulky, which makes it difficult to transport them. Inflatable mats, in turn, are more compact, but, on the other hand, they are more weighty.

What ways of transporting a tourist rug exist?

With rugs in the form of "accordion" questions do not arise - they simply add and put in a backpack. Resourceful tourists figured out how to transport the roll car. It is simply folded and laid inside the backpack in such a way that a skeleton is formed. However, with this laying, up to 10% of the useful volume is lost.

Other tourists, in order to keep the inner space of their backpack untouched, prefer to attach the rug to it outside (rear or side). However, in this case, the carpet can be very quickly damaged on the branches, the ledges of the rocks or completely lose.

Returning from the hike, tourist karemat must be dried in its unfolded form during the day. Over time, this rug loses its thermal insulation properties, so it needs to be changed periodically. How often this should be done depends on how intensively the tourist goes on hikes.

Choosing a carriage for a hike

In order to properly choose a karemat, you need to focus on four main criteria for choosing:

• Heat-insulating features;
• Weight of the rug;
• the size;
• Comfort.

The thermal insulation properties of the karemat are usually expressed numerically, in the form of a so-called R-factor. The higher it is, the more "warm" is the material of a particular rug. So, the carpet with R-factor 2 provides a comfortable sleep at a temperature not lower than 0 degrees Celsius. For stable minus temperatures, it is necessary to apply mats with a higher R-factor (R-factor 5 - for temperatures up to -20 degrees, R-factor 9 - for temperatures up to -50 degrees).

Important parameters when choosing are the weight and size of the carriage. Obviously, you need to choose the most lightweight mat (karematy weighing more than 1 kg are used in special training campaigns). From its size, too much depends, in particular the safety of the tourist. The overall car will be an obvious hindrance to hard-to-reach areas or on steep mountain slopes.

For a comfortable sleep and rest it is important to assess the condition of the surface of the mat. It should be soft and not cause discomfort during tactile contact with it.

It is worth noting that the quality of the product does not always depend on its value. The karemat, the price of which is very high, does not necessarily prove to be high-quality and reliable. To date, the cost of such rugs is very different: from 200 to several thousand rubles. They can be purchased at specialized tourist shops or ordered via the Internet.

So, according to reviews of many travelers, the most popular for today is the so-called Izhevsk karemat. What is this rug and what is its special feature? It is of high quality, some tourists use it for ten or more years. At the same time, the cost of the Izhevsk Karemata is quite acceptable.

How to make a karemat with their own hands?

Experienced tourists claim that the karemat can be made without problems and with his own hands. To do this, you need a practical and flexible material - foam polyethylene. It does not leak moisture and does not need additional skin.

For work it is necessary to take five sheets of polyethylene foam in the size of 50 to 40 cm. At the same time, the thickness of each of them should be not less than 8 millimeters. These sheets are laid tightly to each other, and then securely sewn with nylon ribbons. Stitching is necessary so that the karemat can ultimately develop as an accordion.

To produce the rug by hand, you can take a solid tape of foam. However, such a carpet must be rolled up during transportation.

Thus, a tourist rug (or karemat) is an indispensable attribute of every traveler. It will provide a healthy sleep and a comfortable rest on the halts. Varieties karematov today there are many, but the prices of this product range in a wide range. You can choose for yourself an expensive imported carpet or more affordable domestic production. And you can easily make a carpet and at home with your own hands.