Jade Travel vs IUGA PU Mat: Which One Should You Buy?

Ask one question first: does the mat have to go inside a suitcase? The Jade Travel is built for that. It is 3.2 mm of Jade’s natural rubber, open-cell like the rest of the line, 68″ × 24″, and Jade says it folds to fit easily into luggage. The IUGA is a 5 mm polyurethane-topped mat on a natural rubber base, 72″ × 26″, and it rolls.

If the answer is no, the IUGA comes out ahead on nearly every number. It is cheaper at $66.99 against $79.95, lighter, thicker, and larger by four inches in length and two in width. If the answer is yes, none of that helps, because a rolled mat does not go in a carry-on.

The IUGA placed eighth of the 19 mats GearLab scored this year, at 75 points, and took the Best Value Upgrade award. Its sub-scores were 8 for comfort, 8 for care and 7 for materials, with 8 dry and 7 wet in its grip table. GearLab’s one-line verdict describes a grippy, portable, well-cushioned mat at a bargain price.

Nobody we trust has tested the Jade Travel. GearLab did test Jade’s thinner Voyager, but that is a different mat at half the thickness, so its scores tell you little here. The Travel’s side of this page comes from Jade and from Amazon owners.

Jade’s spec for the Travel is a little over 3 pounds. GearLab weighed the IUGA at 2.1, with an adjustable strap in the box. That makes the Jade, the one sold for travel, close to a pound heavier. What it offers instead is a flat, folded shape that slides in next to your clothes.

For a commute or a walk to the studio, the IUGA is the easier carry. IUGA’s Amazon listing even calls it perfect for traveling, and Amazon’s review summary mentions an owner who finds it ideal for schlepping around a city. It just won’t fit inside a small bag.

GearLab’s testers found the IUGA padded enough for knees on a hard floor while staying firm under single-leg balances, and Amazon owners call it soft on the knees. For a mat that light, that is unusual.

Jade pitches the Travel at people who like closer contact with the ground along with a little cushion, and that fits a mat this thin. Owners on Amazon disagree about whether it is too thin. It will do for a gentle session on a hotel floor. For long stretches on your knees on tile, the IUGA is the kinder mat.

Both of these absorb. Jade credits the Travel’s grip to its open-cell rubber, and Amazon’s review summary has owners praising it, one of them for hot hatha classes. The IUGA’s polyurethane top pulls sweat in too, and in GearLab’s hands it kept its grip when wet, which is where that 7 comes from.

The catch with any absorbent mat is drying. Long dry time is one of the two cons in GearLab’s IUGA writeup, which also says heavy sweaters may need to clean it more often. Open-cell rubber holds moisture the same way, and on a travel mat that means waiting before you fold it up.

If the plan is yoga on a beach, a deck or a patch of park grass, Jade rules its own mat out. Its product page says plainly that its natural rubber mats aren’t meant for use outdoors or in sunlight, and the warranty excludes sun damage.

GearLab takes the IUGA outside. Its testers call it one of their first picks when they head outdoors, for its cushion-to-weight ratio, and it cleaned up with a quick wipe after outdoor sessions. The same writeup cautions that frequent use on abrasive ground such as pavement or dirt wears the open-cell top faster, so keep outdoor sessions occasional.

IUGA markets the mat as odorless and SGS-certified. GearLab’s comparison table disagrees on the first point, with strong smell initially in the cons column, and Amazon’s summaries are mixed on odor for both mats. Give either one some airing time at home before the first trip.

Neither suits a latex allergy. Jade’s rubber is 99% latex free by its own figure, which is not good enough for an allergy. The IUGA’s base is natural rubber, whatever its Amazon bullets say about latex, so we would treat it as a latex mat too. Jade makes the Travel in the USA; IUGA does not say where its mat is made.

GearLab calls the IUGA an ideal upgrade for someone on the mat one or two sessions a week rather than every day, and names durability as its worry past the first few years. In Amazon’s summary, some owners report wear within six months, peeling at the edges or a worn patch in the middle. The Jade Travel’s reviews are split in a similar way, with some owners past several years of use and others doubting it will last one.

Jade backs the Travel with a one-year warranty. IUGA has none; it takes returns within 45 days, and you pay the shipping back.

Jade charges $79.95 for the Travel in three colors, or $93.75 for a 74″ version. Order it on jadeyoga.com, since the Amazon listing has been sold by an outside seller charging more than Jade does.

The IUGA lists at $66.99 in five colorways at last count, in one size. You can see the IUGA’s current Amazon price, where roughly 2,900 buyers rate it 4.4 stars.

The Jade Travel is the pick if you fly with one bag and want a mat that packs flat, grips well, is built in the USA and is covered for a year. Accept that it is thinner, shorter and heavier than the IUGA, and keep it indoors.

Buy the IUGA for almost everything else. It costs about $13 less, weighs less, gives you more room and cushion, and it is the one with GearLab’s award behind it. For a folding Jade that is lighter still, see our Jade Travel vs Voyager page, or Robin vs IUGA for another light mat that rolls.