My experience is that although they work, the Mad Rock pads aren't nearly as durable as other pads, especially the Mistys. If you're only using it occasionally, they could be fine, but if you're a regular boulderer, I'd pony up the cash for something that won't self-destruct.
My $.02
"Always carry a large flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake." -W.C. Fields
I can say as far as the mad pad goes, I have a friend that got one, the small one, and the shoulder straps started to fall apart on his first trip. Granted it was at RMNP so there was a lot of hiking involved and packing the pad with gear, but still thats no good in my book. Furthermore, there were some stashed mad pads at the park the looked like their shoulder straps were failing as well. Maybe these are the exceptions, no company is perfect, but my limited experience with mad rock has me skeptical of their quality. On the other hand my 5 year old misty pad is still holding firm.
