I do not see that many of the foam pads used here. Maybe there are not enough thorn bushes to discourage inflated pads and mattresses here, most of my camping is in Minnesota and thorns that can puncture air mattresses are quite rare.

My recent trips were on Superior Hiking Trail, there are no shelters with hard floors. But I have done a few backpackign trips and also kayak trips on Isle Royale in the past decade where there are a lot of shelters with wood floors, and that hard wood floor is REALLY hard if you do not have an air mattress. My first trip there I had a thin self inflating shorty pad and that was a mistake.

I have switched to an air mattress for backpacking, partly because of ease of stowing it in the pack and partly because it is more comfortable. I do not have a good photo of the backpack I started using a couple years ago, this is a stock photo of it off the internet, but mine is green.


It would be possible to strap on a foam pad like in your photo, but it lacks those convenient lashing points that the older packs all had. If you lashed it on like on yours, you lose access to some of the pockets. This is a Traverse 70. I am sure this is much bigger and heavier than you would use. More here:
https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/revie...op-traverse-70