NRS El Grande Paco Sleeping Pad

Our outdoorsman son has been looking at one of these for a long time, but held off because of the price. We surprised him with the 3" for his birthday and without a doubt, it will go down as one of his all-time favorite surprise gifts. He's already used it once on a weeklong camping trip and says it's comfortable, quiet and does exactly what it is intended to do. He's owned many sleeping bags, pads, etc and says this one is top of the line.

Love the Paco pad. Now use it for car camping in addition to white water raft trips

A little heavy, but sturdy and comfortable. When not in use, we keep it rolled up. Glad I purchased it.

Best sleep pad on the market. Durable. And probably sleep better on this than in my own bed.

One of the "best birthday gifts" ever for my white water rafting son!

Had to buy one for my girlfriend. Camping with only one paco pad has led to a few uncomfortable nights for me. I had to sleep on her crappy pad or face something more uncomfortable, an angry sleep deprived woman in the campsite.All is well now, dual pads make for one cozy night of camping. Thank You Jacks Plastic!!!

Too expensive and difficult to compress after filling.

I have been using Jacks Pads as long as they have been in production as well as many other sleeping pads while working as a professional guide for many years, but this Paco Grande is my favorite with the 3" of padding. The thinner one was fine in my younger days and the 4" one is wonderful if you have a sherpa to drag it to your campsite. Store them flat and lightly inflated to avoid eventual leaks midway along the sides from creasing the PVC. Jacks Plastic is great about supplying a cheap repair kit so after a decade or so of use, you can easily and cheaply make repairs. The lighter weight thermarest style pads are great for backpacking, but don't think you can just flop them down in the sand or rocks like you can with a Jack's Pad and expect to not have leaks or a good night sleep. The chinese made look alikes (aire and such) are not as good in my experience. The weak point on these, and reason for 4 stars, is the cheap valve. I have never stripped one, you gotta be careful and keep the channel lock pliers in the repair kit, just use you fingers and lightly turn the valve on and off. On river trips, always check to make sure the valve is closed before you rig them on a front deck or cooler, as if boats flips or even splash, you risk getting water and molds inside the pad. Let them self inflate, then just a couple of puffs to avoid breath condensation/molds inside pad as is true of all the self inflating pads. I would never use them as a pool or rapid float as you will get water inside them, they are sleeping and cooler pads, not toys.