First things first: the Lepton is a fairly specific bit of kit. And despite the versatile nature of this pad and its relatively low price tag, it is aimed at experienced boulderers, and users who, most likely, already have at least one “main” crash pad. Basically, is not designed as an entry-level product. With that established that, let’s get down to what makes this a very interesting and unique crash pad.
 

Design Ethic

This pad was conceived to fulfil a number of criteria:

A)    To be a lightweight companion pad but with a full size coverage zone.
B)    To be attachable to any other full size pad for carrying purposes.
C)    To offer complete zip closure, for the purposes of storing and carrying gear.
D)    To function as a singular pad when necessary – i.e. for circuiting etc.

Obviously, when you design and conceive a product to fulfil a set of criteria, it is not always the case that the finished product lives up to your original ideals. With this in mind the following is my analysis of the Lepton’s performance, having now used the product in the field, so to speak, for over 6 months.

To keep things simple, I’ll work through the various design specs highlighted above and endeavour to give my verdict on whether the particular idea was achieved successfully:

A - Lightweight companion pad but with a full size coverage zone.

To this end the Lepton works really well. The idea was to provide a product that would allow a single climber the ability to take the coverage of two full size pads to a crag with a long walk-in, without having to carry the weight and bulk of two full size pads. Obviously you could argue that you don’t have the impact protection of two large pads, however, it is often the case that one of your pads ends up being a means of covering various low-level jutting nasties, and thus a full thickness pad is not required. Plus the lower profile Lepton allows more of a clearance zone from nearby trees, blocks or under low roofs, whilst the larger surface area also means the pad grips the terrain better and stays put. Something that cannot be said for many other smaller secondary pads, which are sometimes next to useless for anything other than keeping your feet dry.

B - To be attachable to any other full size pad for carrying purposes.

I must admit to being slightly sceptical, to whether or not the mechanism we came up with for solving the issue would prove satisfactory. Essentially, the pad comes with two simple 2.3m long straps which are adjusted via a Duraflex buckle (basically like an oversized chalk bag belt). These are then threaded through two pairs of stitched loops, located on either side of the folded Lepton. The straps are then in turn wrapped around your main pad clicked shut and tightened as required. It turned out that in use the system actually functioned better than I expected, meaning you ended up with a solid relatively stable (depending on how much kit you stuffed inside the Lepton) unit to carry to the crag. The only slight downside is the straps are loose, and as such it is possible to lose them if you’re not careful. We did consider attaching them, however we decided for those not wanting use this feature it may prove a hindrance.

C - To offer complete zip closure, for the purposes of storing and carrying gear.

Again, this worked really well and is a feature that would, if the price where not so prohibitive, be a useful feature to have on all crash pads, particularly for the purposes of travel on aeroplanes, as it allows you to store kit inside your pad much more securely. The zip closure of the Lepton, combined with its thinner foam profile, means you can store loads of gear in it – at least 90l – whilst the loop at the zip’s termination means you can also secure it shut with a lock or some cord. For more mundane usage, the zip closure also means the pad is useful for carrying a fair bit of kit to your local crags, without fear of it falling out of the bottom of your pad.  

D - To function as a singular pad when necessary – i.e. for circuiting etc.

I felt this feature of the Lepton was really quite handy, and this was confirmed by a friend of mine who now pretty much exclusively uses his Lepton for days out with his family in Font and the like. Whilst I’m not much of a circuit boulderer myself, I think for those who are, this simple, lightweight and fully featured pad is ideal.

Downsides

Having now used the pad for some time and in numerous situations, the only real area I feel the pad could be improved, is by making it fractionally smaller (just a few centimetres along either axis), so that it would fit more easily inside a standard sized crash pad, however this is a fairly minor issue.

Summary

Overall this a good secondary pad and well worth considering if you are in the market for such a product. Thanks to its versatility, it is extremely useful in a multitude of situations, ideal for travel and also available at a highly competitive price.

Purchase the Lepton Crash Pad: here