Gaiam Essentials vs Gaiam Dry-Grip Long & Wide: Which One Should You Buy?

The Gaiam Essentials lists at about $22.13 for 6 mm of soft PVC, with a carrying sling on the Amazon listing we link. Gaiam’s Performance Dry-Grip Long & Wide costs $74.98 and measures 78″ × 26″, with a topcoat Gaiam says wicks away moisture.

Gaiam pitches both at sweaty practice. The Long & Wide’s product page calls it ideal for hot yoga, and the Essentials’ Amazon bullets say its textured surface grips in every style of yoga, heated classes included. So the roughly $53 between them doesn’t buy a promise the cheap mat lacks. It buys six more inches of length, two of width and a firmer cushion.

GearLab’s roundup includes neither mat. It did test the standard 68 inch Dry-Grip, which shares the Long & Wide’s 5 mm PVC and topcoat, and the Gaiam Premium 6mm, a different 68″ × 24″ Gaiam with a textured sticky PVC finish like the Essentials. Treat both as stand-ins, not results for these exact mats.

The stand-ins tied at 62 out of 100. The Dry-Grip scored higher for comfort and support (8 against 6.5), and the Premium did better on materials (6 against 4) and on care (8 against 7). For grip, the Premium read 6 dry and 4 wet; the Dry-Grip read 6.5 and 3.5.

Set those numbers side by side and both hot yoga claims look thin. The Dry-Grip stand-in edges the Premium by half a point with dry hands and trails it by the same margin with wet ones, and just one mat of the 19 posted a lower wet score. GearLab’s wet test pours a liter of water on each mat, roughly what it says a hot class wrings out of most people.

That fits the materials. Closed PVC takes in no sweat, so moisture sits on top whether the surface is textured or coated. Essentials owners split on grip, about 111 negative mentions to 95 positive in Amazon’s review summary.

In a heated room, count on laying a towel over either one, or look at a mat with an absorbent top. Our IUGA vs Dry-Grip Long & Wide page shows what that costs.

The Essentials listing we link measures 72″ × 24″. Seventy two inches is six feet, so it covers most adults lying flat, with little to spare at the top end. The Long & Wide leaves room for people several inches over six feet.

The extra width earns its keep in wide stances like goddess and a wide-legged fold, and for anyone with broad shoulders. It also takes more floor, so measure a small room first.

One catch on length: Gaiam’s own store lists a 68 by 24 inch Essentials at $19.98, no sling included. Buy that one and the gap to the Long & Wide grows to ten inches.

The Essentials is the softer mat, and 6 mm of squishy PVC foam is kind to knees and elbows. GearLab praised the Premium stand-in for joint cushioning but found its foam compresses enough that a handprint stays visible for a time, and that kind of give makes single-leg balances wobblier.

The standard Dry-Grip gives up a millimeter but is firmer, and GearLab found it supportive and planted on the floor. If your practice happens mostly on your back or knees, the Essentials is the kinder surface. If you spend a lot of time standing, the firmer mat is worth paying for.

The Essentials weighs 3.5 pounds and its Amazon listing includes a carrying sling. The Long & Wide is 5 pounds by Gaiam’s figure, with no strap listed. GearLab’s scale found the standard Dry-Grip more than a pound heavier than Gaiam claims, so treat the bigger mat’s number as optimistic.

For a mat that lives at home, that barely matters. For one you carry to class, the Essentials is easier in every way, and it comes in seven plain colors at last count, where the Long & Wide is black only.

Soft PVC foam flattens with use. GearLab listed compression and moderate durability as cons for the Premium stand-in, and we’d expect the Essentials to dent the same way under hands and knees.

The Dry-Grip’s weak spot is its surface. The standard model scored 4 out of 10 for materials, and GearLab found its dye rubbing off, advising a towel buff before first use. Amazon’s review summary for the Dry-Grip listing mentions the top layer coming away from the base.

Both carry Gaiam’s lifetime guarantee without published terms, and we’d assume it covers defects only. Gaiam takes returns within 30 days on unopened, unused mats from its own store, and the Essentials we link is sold through Amazon, so Amazon’s policy covers it.

For today’s prices, see the Gaiam Essentials at Amazon and the Amazon listing for the Long & Wide, which sells both Dry-Grip sizes and shows the big one as Black (XL). Pick that option and make sure the product details read 78 by 26 inches.

The in-between option is the standard 68 inch Dry-Grip for $69.98, which our Dry-Grip vs Essentials page covers. It has the firm cushion but is four inches shorter than the Essentials we link, and only five dollars cheaper than the Long & Wide, so we’d rarely pick it over either mat here.

Get the Essentials if you are under about six feet, your practice leans on kneeling and floor work, or you want a light mat with a sling and some color choice. At about $22 it is hard to argue with as a first mat.

Get the Long & Wide if height or wide stances are the issue, or if soft foam wobbles under you in balance poses. Pay the extra $53 for size and firmness, not for sweat, since on GearLab’s numbers the cheap mat’s closest relative held up just as well wet.