DutchWare Folding Sit Pad

The Dutchware Gear folding sit pad is ultra lightweight, durable, multi-use, and cheap. It provides a lot of basic functionality -- at this weight, size, and price there’s no reason to not carry one.

This is a review of the Dutchware Gear folding sit pad. Dutchware sells mostly accessories for camping but also offers a limited selection of shelters, tarps, quilts, and hammocks. I am not affiliated with Dutchware Gear in any way.

For the sit pad I paid the current price of $6.75+shipping. Product found at: http://www.dutchwaregear.com/folding-sit-pad.html

This is a great piece of gear that checks off many boxes. It’s ultra lightweight, durable multi-use, and cheap. It weighs only two-thirds of an ounce (about 18 grams, less than the weight of four nickels). It unfolds to an accommodating 15x11" inches but folded up it’s just 7.5x5.75".

It’s made of closed-cell foam so it won’t absorb water and is pretty durable — even if you nick it here and there you won’t affect the functionality. The foam is 0.2" thick, but it’s made in an eggshell pattern of dips and peaks that gives it a feel of more cushion than you might expect from such a thin piece of foam.

Make no mistake, though, this is not a luxurious, cushy pad. It’s pretty minimalist in giving your butt and knees (and pants) protection and adding insulating warmth where needed. Color is listed as black, in reality it’s a dull gray.

I stick it in the front mesh pocket of my pack to have handy. It can be used many ways: 

• Sit pad for rest stops
• Knee pad for kneeling to get water, dig a cat hole, etc
• Doormat outside your shelter
• Set your pack on it at rest stops and at night in your shelter’s vestibule to protect your pack from abrasion and mud
• Pillow
• Supplemental sleep insulation – put it inside the foot end of your sleeping bag or quilt to keep your feet warm, pair it with a torso-length pad to extend your ground insulation length, or supplement any cold spot in your sleep system

Not much more to say. It provides a lot of basic functionality, and at this weight, size and price there’s no reason to not carry one. Oh, I can add that shipping is pretty low-priced as well, I bought two of these sit pads along with a few other accessories and my shipping was under $2.50 for the whole order.

Folded size – next to a standard CD jewel box for comparison:

And unfolded:


Here is the thickness folded and unfolded:

Using it as doormat, saves my knees (and my pants) getting in and out of the shelter: