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Since my days in SF, living out of a rucksack for extended periods, I've always gone modular by carrying two ground covers: a USGI closed cell foam pad and a USGI air mattress (Therm-a-Rest manufactured). The air mattress gets rolled up tight, the foam pad gets rolled up around it, and they're lashed to the outside of the pack together.
Deployed, the closed cell foam pad is used on bottom to take abrasion while the air mattress is placed on top to reduce pressure points for comfort.
In case of severe weather (getting caught in a torrential downpour, hail, high winds with airborne debris), I carry extra long bungee cords on my pack frame to strap around the pads near both ends and a couple places in the middle. The stretch of the bungees allows me to crawl in between the pads with the closed cell foam above for overhead protection while the air mattress below still keeps me off wet ground. The long edges of the pads can come together on the windward side to make an extremely low profile expedient lean to.
Now all you have to do is find some good prices. Periodically there are some great buys online if you've got the time to look for them.
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