42 Birds The Robin vs Jade Voyager: Which One Should You Buy?

Jade calls the Voyager just over 1.5 pounds, and GearLab’s scale read 1.8. The Robin comes in at 1.9 by 42 Birds’ spec. So the usual reason to buy a travel mat, saving weight, barely applies here. The trade is thickness and shape: a 1.6 mm rubber sheet you fold, or 5 mm of cork on foam you roll.

The Voyager costs $49.95 and the Robin $92. GearLab ranked the Voyager 18th of 19 at 51 out of 100 and concluded it should be used as a topper, since it has no cushion. The Robin has no independent score, so its side rests on 42 Birds and its owners.

That low overall number hides a strong one. The Voyager scored 9 dry and 7 wet in GearLab’s grip table, the same two numbers GearLab recorded for the Manduka PRO, and its short list of pros is about hand grip and light weight. Jade’s rubber grabs from the first session and takes in a little sweat as you go.

42 Birds says cork grips better with some moisture on it and sells the Robin for sweaty and hot classes, suggesting a quick spray of water before you start. Plenty of owners agree, but it is still the brand’s claim. If you want grip that has been measured, the Voyager has it.

GearLab scored the Voyager’s comfort and support 2 out of 10, tied for last in the test, and the first con it lists is that the mat is too thin to be comfortable. That category carries 35 percent of the overall score, so one number explains most of the 51. At 1/16″ you feel every board and tile through it.

The Robin is a regular 5 mm mat. The cork is firm and the foam beneath supplies most of the give, so it is not plush, but you can kneel on it on a wood floor without reaching for a blanket. The Voyager is happiest over carpet or a loaner mat at a studio.

GearLab found that the Voyager shifts and wrinkles during practice, and its summary calls the material flimsy. A sheet of rubber this light can ruck up under a foot that slides back into a lunge, especially on a slick floor.

The Robin weighs about the same but sits on a base 42 Birds calls slip resistant, and a couple of reviewers on 42birds.com say it stays where they put it through a whole class. We would still expect any mat under two pounds to creep a little on polished wood.

Folded, the Voyager ends up roughly as big as a yoga block, by Jade’s description, so it fits a backpack or the corner of a suitcase. Jade warns that folding leaves creases, the way it does in clothes, and suggests keeping the mat rolled between trips. The reinforcing scrim that sits hidden inside Jade’s other mats is visible on the Voyager’s underside, part of how it gets so light.

The Robin rolls to a 4″ tube as long as the mat is wide, 26 inches, with a strap owners say is included. That is easy on a walk to class and a nuisance when your only luggage is a daypack.

The Voyager is made in one size, 68″ × 24″. The Robin is 72″ × 26″, and you notice the extra inches when your feet are wide apart and when you lie down at the end of class.

For more length, 42 Birds sells an 85″ × 26″ Extra Long Robin for $108, and it still weighs only 2.5 pounds. Jade has no longer Voyager; its longer travel option is the thicker 74″ Jade Travel.

The Voyager is natural rubber, which Jade rates at 99% latex free, so we would not buy it for anyone with a latex allergy. 42 Birds builds the Robin from cork and a foam base it says has no latex, PVC or plasticizers.

Open-cell rubber holds sweat, so a Voyager folded damp will not smell good by the next stop. Hang it over a chair until it is dry. Jade says the Voyager, like its other rubber mats, isn’t intended for outdoor use or sunlight. The Robin needs a damp cloth and a full dry before it is rolled up, and 42 Birds credits cork with fending off mold and odor.

GearLab lists not very durable and creases easily among the Voyager’s cons, and its materials score of 4 ranks among the lowest of the 19. There is not much rubber to wear through. Jade’s one-year warranty applies, though it does not cover sun damage or harsh cleaners.

The Robin has no durability data and no warranty. What it has is 42 Birds’ 30-day Happiness Guarantee, which covers a free return even after sweaty use. With the Voyager, check Jade’s terms before you assume you can send back a mat you have practiced on.

The Voyager is $49.95 from jadeyoga.com in five colorways at last count. Jade doesn’t sell it on Amazon.

The Robin is $92 from 42 Birds, in natural cork only. Skip the Robin listing on Amazon, which describes an older 24″ wide, 2.5 pound mat.

Buy the Voyager if it will be your second mat and you want the smallest, cheapest way to take reliable grip on a trip. It folds into a backpack, costs $42 less, and its grip scores match mats that cost about three times as much. Plan to lay it over carpet or a studio mat.

Buy the Robin if the travel mat has to be your whole mat, or if a latex allergy is in the picture. It weighs about the same, gives you 5 mm and more room, and 42 Birds will refund it within 30 days even if it has been used. For Jade rubber with some cushion, see Jade Travel vs Robin, or Superlite vs Voyager for the Voyager’s closest rival.