@ Takmai
I don't know for sure which pads we will be using this year. We primarily used 2 Cobalt Flux hard pads last year - we had a Red Octane hard pad as well but a few wires got cut (eek), and it wasn't serviceable for long. I believe Cobalt pads are a bit smaller, though, I believe, evenf only because they don't possess a border on the outside of the tiles (I sprained my ankle cuz of those things once, and I will never get on one again). You wouldn't think that 1" per square would matter that much, though...
PezCat