PEAX Equipment

thermarest sleeping pads.

Normally you shouldn't lose too much. If it's fairly cold you may lose a little pressure due to the warm air you inflate it with (your breath) cooling and condensing. I did have a NeoAir Xlite that was losing substantially more air than that (basically flat by the morning) I couldn't find a leak anywhere so I sent it back to Thermarest for repair. They ended up sending me a brand new pad. Also, the valve can be a common leak point. They sell valve replacement kits and have good videos on their website regarding installation.
 
Thermarests have in my experience been a fairly constant fight to keep the things running since I got my first one in 2001. My experience is the basecamp ones hold up better and I've shreaded many more of the ultralight models. My solution is that one of the solid foam ones always comes along as a spare, its light but just bulk and not quite as comfortable as air. Generally you can diagnose leak holding them underwater in the bathtub unless its a slow leak from the valve while under pressure from sleeping. Thermarest as a brand holds up as well as any others, none of them are a true magic bullet.
 
I have a Thermarest prolite 1 1/2" & never really had a problem. I do usually sleep in my tent in a truck camp now and I put one of my backpacking insulite pads down 1st and rarely get cold. If I do it's cause I used too warm temp bag that nite,and the warm weather bag goes back in the truck. I use the insulite only when packing. Did a lot of winter snow packing in old days.
 
My Thermarest NeoAir has been amazing from a durability standpoint. I've slept in rocks, dirt, sand, my truck and out backpacking in hot/cold over multiple seasons and it's running like a champ. Now I did get a Big Agnes which I sleep a bit better on but I've went through two of these pads because the valve got a leak. It seems it's a product you better plan on replacing every couple years regardless of the route you go.
 
I have a Prolite Plus that I accidentally set up on a tiny cactus in WY that was a pain to patch. I tried just using Tenacious Tape but because of the material it was hard to get it to adhere and actually seal off. I then tried a cement/epoxy patch kit from Tenacious Tape that worked much better. I also picked up a REI Flash sleeping pad which is made out of a more typical vinyl/plastic type material that should patch easier in the field if need be. That's really my only complaint with them, otherwise it's comfortable, relatively lightweight and packs fairly small.
 
Back
Top