The Flextail Zero Mattress R05 is good value for money – but with some cold spots!
The Flextail Zero Mattress R05 is an impressively compact inflatable sleeping mat for the price point, coming in only slightly bigger and heavier than some of the premium mats on the market but at half the price.
Steph Wetherell’s verdict
Overall, it is a warm mat and the comfort, weight and size of the mat are great for the price point.- price for comfort and weight
- not as warm as advertised
| Quick specs |
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| Price: $139.99 / £109 (available from Flextail) Weight: Mummy (542g), Regular (710g) Type: Air Materials: 20D Ripstop Nylon Dimensions: 65 x 183cm (regular), 55 x 183cm (mummy) Thickness: 10cm Rating: R value 5.6 (regular), 6 (mummy) Sizes: Regular, mummy, regular plus, mummy plus flextail.com |
I found it a comfortable mat to sleep on, with the baffles running lengthways down the mat and slightly larger outside baffles that helped to keep me centred on the mat. The disappointment for me was the warmth. The mummy option I tested claims an R value of 6, which was incredibly high for the weight and packability that this offers. Sadly it didn’t meet that expectation. This may be because the insulation inside the mat doesn’t cover the outer two baffles. I imagine this is for weight/size reasons, but it seems like a strange choice in a mat with this high an R rating.
Depending on your sleep position and size, this may not be an issue, but I found parts of my body were often coming into contact with these outer two baffles and I woke up feeling these cold spots more than once (especially that time that I was camped on a bit of a slope!).
The valve is basic but functions well enough. It’s easy to inflate/deflate, but tricky to do fine adjustments on. This is compounded by the valve being on the underside of the mat – in my one person tent I found it awkward to get the air volume right without letting out lots of air and having to re-inflate.
Overall, it is still a warm mat – I’m a cold sleeper and this would still work for me for all but the coldest months – and the comfort, weight and size of the mat are great for the price point.
Testing conditions
Steph tested her camping mats across hills and valleys in South Wales during winter and spring. She is plus-size and 5’10 tall so prefers a wider mat and sleeps cold so tends to opt for higher R-value mats. This review was published in the December 2025 issue of The Great Outdoors.
