Crash pad

First crash pad recommendations? Wanting to get one but nothing really understand all the different ones out there and what makes which one better for what person! 

What's your budget range? Any space limitations on the car you will carry the pad in? Also do you have friends that you boulder with AKA are you supplementing their pads or relying on your own pads only?

Also presuming you live in the US? If you are in US or Europe will affect which brands are available.

I am mostly a casual boulderer (about 1/4 to 1/3 of my outdoor climbing is bouldering) but in my experience, there is not a huge difference between brands and types of bouldering mat, at least that a beginner would notice. Get the largest pad you can afford, or that pops up for sale second hand.

I haven't seen foam quality or construction prevent or cause an ankle injury... I'm sure it makes a difference, but it's down the list compared to pad placement, spotting, awareness when falling, and cautious judgement and the willingness to abandon a problem if you don't like the fall or top out.

You will eventually come up with your own preferences for strap style, folding style, managing gaps etc, but for most people these are ultimately minor things.

A Mad Rock R3 is heavy enough to condition your body while walking down the trail.  Also cool because of the baffle construction that allows it to be flexible while leaving no open space in between areas of foam. Downside would be the weight to ground coverage ratio is dismal. 

Organic pads are the "coolest" widely available pads with the added customization afforded via their website. I own the organic blubber pad, and think that its a good addition to a quiver of 3 pads. 

Then we have the workhorse of my quiver which would be the Metolius session/ll, this is easily my favorite pad I own, because it is the cheapest as it was purchased on sale, and because its light, and simple, which is what I find makes bouldering the most enjoyable. 

From my personal experience from the pads I own and use I'll say this: if you want to work, get the R3 and reap the other benefits, if you wanna look hip get an Organic simple/big pad 4", and for a simple workhorse get metolius' session/ll.

I have owned most of the popular crash pads on the market and even some more obscure ones. 

I think if you are always planning to boulder with several friends in your group that also have crash pads, just get a standard size pad (~ 48" x 36") to contribute to the pile. If you plan to go on solo missions or with only one other person, then look into getting a larger pad and/or one that can strap another pad to it (i.e. Mad Rock Duo, Organic Big Pad, Mad Rock Tri-fold, etc.). 

In my experience, the boutique small independently owned brands offer higher quality, longer lasting foam and stronger shell fabrics (Organic, Kinetic, etc.) vs. those from larger companies that utilize manufacturing from overseas (Black Diamond, Metolius, Mad Rock). They all do the job, but the boutique brands tend to last longer. Like anything else, you get what you pay for.

Overall, I think if you're in this for the long haul and plan to boulder outside often, invest in a nice pad from Organic or Kinetic. A Simple Pad from Organic is not that much more than one of the big company offerings and you get to choose your own colors. The USA manufactured foam will last a long time.  

But if you're just looking to save money, get a Mad Pad, Evolv Cap, or Black Diamond Circuit. Or buy slightly used locally.        

Well this turned out to be an essay, but I love scrolling through pad selections and trying to find a budget friendly black horses.

If one lives in Europe, then ocun pads are worth looking into. The sundance (also known as kava on bergfreunde) or moonwalk will make a decent starter pad, IF one has friends who already have bigger crashpads. If climbing alone or looking for a bigger pad then I'd look into the incubator. A great pad, although a bit thin. It also packs down to way smaller than other similarly sized pads, for example the mad rock triple fold requires a large trunk.

The dominator is a good pad, but for a first pad I would prioritize area instead of thickness. Most ocun pads seem to have durable cover materials. Also they have triple layer foam which is great.

For other brands Psychi/Mad rock seem to make pretty much equal models. Both are great at first, but after ~4 years of use, my first psychi has become quite soft. The newer version of the psychi is triple layer foam instead of dual, so it should last longer. I'm working on replacing parts of the foam on the old one to get extra life out of it.

Friends of mine also have BD & Snap pads, both of which are pretty good. AFAIK all BD pads are also dual layer foam, so they'll probably go soft sooner than eg ocun pads. However one can add an extra layer of closed cell foam to the bottom to harden them up & add extra life. Overall I wouldn't go much smaller than the mondo for a primary pad.

Snap pads have quality surface materials, but the foam of the smaller pads felt a bit soft to me (dual layer). However some of the larger ones (guts etc?) offset the softness by being thicc boys. Also they have some kind of air pockets to limit the rate of compression on higher falls.

Mark J. D wrote:

 A Simple Pad from Organic is not that much more than one of the big company offerings and you get to choose your own colors. The USA manufactured foam will last a long time.  

But if you're just looking to save money, get a Mad Pad, Evolv Cap, or Black Diamond Circuit.

I've found this as well. An Organic pad only costs about 20% more than one from the big companies (at retail prices) and the product you get is a lot more than 20% better in durability and landing quality. If you can spend the extra bit of money up front, it's worth it in the long run. And if you ever change your mind in the whole bouldering thing, Organic pads are in demand and retain good resale value.

That said, if you have a hard cap on your budget, then just buy the pad you can afford. The big retailers seem to all have the BD Circuit pad on sale for $120 now, which is about as cheap as you can get a new pad for. But you will get the durability you pay for; BD pads are known for poor quality foam that turns soft and useless in a few seasons.