Cordura pads beat cloth on consistency.

Yes, for the most part. Hybrid mousepads—especially Cordura—hold their glide better than cloth in humidity, and they’re more comfortable than hard pads.

Traditional cloth pads soak up sweat and humidity, turning from fast to muddy in a few weeks or a humid day. Hard pads are fast but loud and abrasive on your skin. Cordura sits in the middle: it’s woven nylon, so it doesn’t absorb moisture the way typical cloth does, and the surface texture stays stable across weather changes. You still get a bit of friction, but it’s consistent.

The tradeoff is feel. Cordura isn’t as soft as cloth, and some people find it a little scratchy. But if you live somewhere humid, or you just hate when your glide changes, it’s worth the switch.

(And no, you don’t need to spend $60. The X-Raypad Equate Plus or the Endgame Gear MPC450 are both solid and under $30.)