[Dave Flanagan]

Taco pads seem most popular in the states. In this part of the world hinge is the standard. I've never got along with taco pads they are very bulky and never seem to sit flat.

I have never had a problem landing on the join of a hinge pad, has anyone? I think it's just a smokescreen.  The metolius angled hinge addresses it one way or other. I think I read somewhere that they patented that design. Pity it would be nice to see it on all hinge pads..

[Oldmanmatt]

Never had a problem.
I like my huge mad rock two hinger. The Velcro seems cover the same ground as the diagonal cut of my metolius.

[dave]

Until this week I've owned exclusively hinged pod mats and not once in a decade can I remember bottoming through the hinge. They're just too well made and tight.

On the other hand I've bottomed through other peoples megagrip and metolious hinges before and it fucking hurt. Thats shit mats for you.

[tomtom]

I've not 'bottomed' out, but certainly witnessed the thin-ness in the hinge area when dropping onto it. I wont buy another hinged pad again for the above reason (which can - but rarely happens) but also because its a weak point in the design - and one hinged pad I've owned started to split there - and as the foam softens you often get more baggy(i?)ness around the casing - and thus around the hinge area. This means the hinge itself can get 'separated' from the foam in the two sections (if that makes sense) making the gap between the foams larger.
Personally, I dont think taco's are much bigger - and whilst the foam can thin a little near the 'crease' (it never creases but you know what I mean) you dont get the same issues as a hinge.

taco taco taco all the way for me...

[andyd]

I think the size of British cars vs the size of US cars answers the hinge/taco variation to a large degree. Hinged pads pack down and waste less space.

[moose]

I prefer taco's mainly for reasons of confidence - I prefer the look of an uninterrupted landing surface.  When committing to a high-up move, I don't want the distraction of considering how best to avoid a crease (in these circumstances, preparing to fail pretty guarantees failure). 

That said, I always have a folding pad as my secondary as they're better for covering the sides of big boulders etc. 

Also, I have a spare room that I keep my taco pad in unfolded.  If I had to store my pad folded, in a closet or car, I might consider a folding main pad.  Taco pads become a bit of a pain if stored folded  - they won't lie flat and tend to get blown away whilst at Almscliff!

[Drew]

I've got an old Franklin Dropzone (with new foam), and a DMM Highball. Much prefer the hinged Highball, in every respect (except the foam is now as soft as a Metolius mat). If I went for a new Taco pad, it would have to have the carry straps on the landing side, otherwise the edges sit up in the air to get caught by the wind.

[Andy B]

I've had various pads of both styles, and, like for like, I'd always go for a hinge as my experiences are the exact opposite of Tomtom's. I have found that if you are not fastidious about storing tacos flat they crease and thin over a bigger area, and sooner, than you'd get with hinges. I've never seen thinning or separation round hinges other than in badly made pads with crap foam that I wouldn't buy anyway, like old Metolius ones. We also notice a massive difference when trying to pack multiple tacos vs hinges into small cars. Dropzones have often been a ballache to sit flat but I think the Moon pads have reached a good solution to that having the straps under a cover on top. I'm not so keen on the exposed straps on the top of POD tacos, but for a smaller pad I would most likely still go for a hinged POD, unless I could pick up a cracking bargin on something else. At the moment we have a Saturn, a small POD, a Highball, an old small Metolius, a medium Metolius, a red DMM taco, and an old style Massive Moon one (in a bag), and also regularly use other people's POD tacos. Taking into account build quality, foam, design and value for money, at RRP I'd choose either a DMM Highball or small hinged POD.

The metolius angled hinge addresses it one way or other. I think I read somewhere that they patented that design. Pity it would be nice to see it on all hinge pads..

I'm not sure if that is the case, as our old style Moon pad has an angled hinge. I'm also not convinced of their advantage, as they create more acute points for wear and softening and don't seem necessary when using other hinged pads, as well as giving less neat options for flipping the pad to sit it over edges etc.