When we first started using the Cow RC Screw Catcher Work Mats, we couldn’t get enough. They are perfect for building a kit, or working on your RC. In the past, when you would drop a screw on the table, it would bounce onto the floor. Good luck finding it. With the Screw Catcher Mat being magnetic, it would catch an errant screw, and hold it for you. No more lost screws.

The one pitfall however was the portability of the mat. To say the Jumbo Screw Catcher Work Mat is large is an understatement. The mat is, well, jumbo! This presents a problem if you want to bring it to the track. Cow RC sells vinyl carrying cases, but it is still very cumbersome to carry through the pits. It got to the point where my Jumbo Work Mat became my pit mat for home. At the track, I had to be cautious while working on my RCs.

Recently, Cow RC announced their new Flat Mat series. The Flat Mat is similar to the Work Mat, in that it is made of a thick, durable, magnetic material. It is certainly rugged, and can take some abuse. The major difference is that the Flat Mat lacks the foam border that surrounds the Work Mat. This allows for the mat to be rolled for easy portability.

The Flat Mat is available in Micro (9″x12″), Mini (12″x18″), Jumbo (24″x30″), and soon to be released Monster (24″x36″) sizes. Each size is available in three varieties; Economy (black), Standard, or Pro Mag (featuring 2x the weight, thickness, and magnetism of the other 2).

For this review, we’ll be looking at the Pro Mag versions of the Jumbo and Mini Mats, as well as the Standard and Economy versions of the Micro Mat.

Jumbo- Pro Mag

The Jumbo Flat Mat is large enough to work on a 1/8th scale vehicle. Here it is with a 1/10 scale pan car. You can see how much extra room there is. Tons of room to work and lay tools out.

When you first unroll the mat, it wants to roll back up. It is imperative that when you roll the mat for travel, roll it with the magnetic side in. This way when you unroll it, the weight of the mat works to hold it flat (instead of curl up around your car). When first unrolled, it will try to fold under on the edges. After a few minutes, however, it lays nice and flat. Laying heavy objects around the corners speeds up the flattening process.

There is an eight section parts divider on the bottom of the Jumbo Mat. There isn’t much material to hold the screws inside the rectangle, but its a good visual separation.

Mini Pro Mag

The Mini Flat Mat is the perfect size for a 1/16-1/18th scale RC car. Like its big brother, it has a flat vinyl screw partition. Here it’s shown with our RJ Speed Digger, which is larger than most minis, but still fits.

Micro Pro Mag and Economy

The Pro Mag version is twice the thickness of the Economy version. It offers a touch more magnetism, and has a white vinyl covering on the face like the 2 mats above. The Economy version, on the other hand, is left black (but still decal’d). Had we tested a Standard thickness mat, it would be the same as the Economy, just with the white vinyl covering on one side.

Below is a Losi Micro-T on the Pro Mag Micro Flat Mat.

Here are both Micro Flat Mats together. The bare magnet one (black) is the Economy.

Lastly, a shot of the Micro & Mini Flat Mats together (with a Losi Micro Crawler, converted to ATV body).

On the whole, Cow RC has another hit on their hands. The portability of the new flat mats, coupled with the already proven abilities of the screw catcher Work Mat, it’s hard to find a negative here.

Value	The flat mats are a little less expensive then their Work Mat brethren. For the convenience they provide, its hard to complain about the price. They include silicone bands to hold them rolled up as well.
Appearance	They look cool even without them, but these new mats are available with a few eye catching decal designs. Flames, Splatter, a patriotic USA theme, Urban, and Skulls.
Performance	If you need a pit mat that saves you time while building a kit or working on your RC, and you want to bring it with you to the track, you can’t beat these mats. I’d rather have a magnetic mat over a towel or glorified yoga mat any day.
Durability	We’ve been using these mats for a couple of weeks now. Rolling, unrolling, rolling, unrolling. No signs of wear. Also, spilled traction compound, motor cleaner, and lithium grease wipe right off with a wet cloth.
Would I buy again?	There’s no question here. I would absolutely buy these again.

Overall I give the Cow RC Flat Mat series a 4.5 out of 5

A durable pit mat, guaranteed to save you money in lost screws (not to mention headaches and frustration), that you can easily take with you to the track. A solid investment in our opinion. If portability is not an issue, we still also highly recommend the original Work Mats as well. Whichever one you choose, you can’t go wrong with Cow RC.