My wife and I spend about 20-25 nights per year in the backcountry. Our favorite has been the Thermarest Neoair Xlite, short version. Used to weight cca. 8 oz. We went through a few, each lasting cca. 6-7 years. Noise was never a problem. (Winter: regular-sized XTherms.)
Problem is, Thermarest discontinued this. Currently, their lightest mattress weighs 12 oz. They also discontinued their Uberlite series (cca. 6.5 oz. for the short). I talked to them and they said people are upset, so they might bring back some short/light version next year.
Our latest Xlites wore our recently and we managed to get two of the last Uberlites. Can't say yet how well they hold up, we just got them a few days ago.
As for inflation, I always blow them up by mouth, takes about 10-11 breaths for the short mattresses. It's good breathing exercise. Never had a problem with molding or moisture accumulation.
Steven
