As stated in my recent review for the Big Air’s little brother, the Touchdown, Wild Country are fairly new to the crash pad game, and have made a conscious decision to go in at the top-end of the market with their two new(ish) offerings – taking on the likes of Moon, Snap and DMM. In truth Wild Country, via their connection to Red Chili, have been supplying pads for a number of years, however with this brand had opted for an assault on the entry-level sector of the pad market, a decision which possibly lowered the stature of the brand somewhat (on the pad front at least) and has made it nigh on impossible for Red Chili to claw back the attentions of that fickle tribe of ‘diehard pad people’, who whilst small in number, arguably effect the success of a brand’s crash pads (through viral marketing) far more than any other product group.

In the ‘Big Air’ and ‘Touchdown’ Wild Country have distanced themselves from the cheaper end of the market, making every effort to use the best materials and features on offer for their new landing zones. I’ve had my Big Air since early summer of this year and have used in many different locations, from the famously uneven wonderland that is Magic Wood (Switzerland), to the limestone outcrops of the South Lakes and most prolifically on many recce and development sessions along the sandstone coastline of St. Bees Head, Northwest Cumbria.

Design
In many ways this pad’s design mirrors that of the well established Pod Super Crash Pad, in that it has a burrito-style folding system with the landing zone folding to the outside of the pad when closed, keeping the foam in better condition and the dirty ground-side face away from the boulderer on the carry-out. Where it differs from the Pod pad is the strap connection point – where the rucksack straps connect to the pad at the hub of neck – which is neater and better adhered (more Velcro), meaning it does not slacken and thus come undone, as sometimes happens with the Pod pad especially with age and use. The Big Air also seems slightly lighter than the ‘Super Crash Pad’ and the foam sits in the cover more securely. The one area I do feel the Big Air could be improved is with the addition of a covering flap for the straps (for when in use), a feature well utilized by the Moon Warrior. That said I didn’t find this as big an issue as I thought I might when I originally received the pad.

A favorite feature I highlighted in my Touchdown review was the Velcro strips for connecting multiple Wild Country pads (both Big Air & Touchdown’s), allowing you to create a large uncompromised landing zone on uneven/rocky ground. Since having both Wild Co. pads I have used this attribute many times and would go as far as saying this is a far better setup than having a single massive pad, such as the Moon Saturn or Black Diamond Mondo, as it allows far more flexibility. In terms of the usual peripheral features, the pad includes ‘unbreakable’ metal buckles, the option for over-the-shoulder carrying and a neat little foot mat for cleaning your boots before attempts - although it was an oversight to not make the base of this waterproof as pressure soon saturates the foot mat on wet ground… come on guys we do live in Britain!

Materials
The foam is of a superior quality to almost all other pads I have seen or used in recent times. The hard closed-cell foam is super dense and seems particularly resilient to wear/impacts, whilst the open-cell foam is also dense, and holds its shape well – this layer must maintain good ‘spring-back’, so the pad retains its shape and impact protection. All too often consumers and manufacturers get overly concerned about the quality of the closed-cell foam, seemingly unaware that it is equally important to have high quality open-cell foam in partnership with the harder, impact layer of closed-cell foam.

The outer fabrics used are also unusually high quality, with a 500 Denier DWR (durable water resistant) Cordura top and 1600 denier waterproofed and DWR treated base, making for a hardwearing and highly water resistant pad. The aesthetics are also good, with the black base, blue landing zone and yellow ‘spray’ logo making for a nice bright backdrop in your action photos.

Summary
Overall I have found the features to be solid and very functional, but what has impressed me the most is the quality of the foam and cover fabrics, which are both durable and super hardwearing. In light of the overall quality of the Big Air, the demise in foam quality of the Moon Warrior,  and the added bonus of being able to connect multiple Wild Country pads, the Big Air would currently be my A1 recommendation to anyone seeking a premium quality standard size crash pad.

Purchase the Wild Country Big Air crash pad here.