Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Pads

Regular: 14.6 ounces

Purchase of a Neoair does NOT include a stuff sack or repair kit.

The material is urethane based, so TearAid Type A is what you need for repairs, or any urethane based product like McNett Seam Grip and Tape.

Edited to Change 'Type B' to 'Type A'.
. Thank you David Noll.

See this thread:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=20329

(fixed link)

Aaron, FYI your link isn't working, at least not for me.

This is a direct link to the pad at backcountry.com, who, as of earlier today had several 48" size Neoair pads in stock. For some reason a search doesn't bring it up, so I think a lot of people have missed them there. The thread linked to above contains a discount code that worked well for me (props to Mitch).

http://www.backcountry.com/store/CAS0503/Therm-a-Rest-Neoair-Sleeping-Pad.html

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=20337

Well I spent another night on the Neo and it is darn comfy. One thing I noticed is that because it is so thick, it would be hard to sleep on it with out a pillow like I did on a short prolite. I normally place my seat pad under my head, but because of the pad thickness my head would be 2" lower than my body. Have any of you with a short noticed this? How did you remedy this?

I plan on and looked at 3 remedies and will decide a little more after this weekend. One is my stuff sack with all my base layers and beanie and such, another is using my sea to summit 8L dry sack that i stuff my sleeping bag in. You can waft them in the air and close them up to trap air in the bags and it gives about a 6 to 6.5" pillow at varying firmness depending on the amount of rolls in the lid. The third is what i always did with my z-rest, keep my head on the pad and of course throw my empty pack under my feet. I also tend to sleep on my arms when I'm sleeping on my stomach or side.

Dave,

I've been using torso length pads for some time of varying thicknesses and what I usually end up doing is sliding down so that my bum is closer to the lower edge of the pad, then lay my pack and other miscellaneous debris under my feet. This is not only more conducive to comfort, but also helps insulates your head from ground-level heat loss as well (in a significant way actually).

Contrary to what one might intuitively imagine, most of our heat loss normally escapes down rather than up, while sleeping on the ground (not counting expiration). This is due to our proximity to the large thermal mass of the earth. A few exceptions would be portaledges and hammocks, or sleeping on sun-warmed granite. So, the wider the area around our bodies' perimeter that is insulated from the ground, theoretically, the warmer we should be. Remember, cold radiating is oxymoronic (despite what Thermarest's marketing would have you believe), but our bodies heat's migrating to that cold – cold steals heat, heat invades cold.

If you want to insulate your house, but can only do one surface, do the floor first & do it well – this is up to 40% of a home's heat loss (according to a building science consultant in Portland, OR).

Came across a website selling the neoair in the UK today which said an extra small version was on it's way. 36" long, can't remember the width or the site's name, and no weight given. Anyone else heard of this?

nope, not unless they are cutting and resealing it… there is nothing posted on thermarest's website either…

I have not heard of an extra small size, and the thermarest website does not list one.

That get's me to thinking: Who's going to be the first brave soul to cut down their neo air? It May not be that difficult.

a 32-36 inch torso size might be down in the 6-7 oz range.

I'm fine with 9oz… i won't be the brave soul

There is a small (10" x 20") sitpad that weighs in at 2.5oz. Might work as an extesion to the 48" or 36" pad??

Here's the link

http://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/thermarest_2009_neo_air.html

Near the bottom of the page:

"XSmall mat introduced: 20 x 36in / 51 x 91cm"

No sign of it on thermarest's site though.

Well thermarest.com does not list their prolite xs either, but a few places are stocking them nonetheless.

I did think of cutting a regular size in half, since I couldn't find any smalls in stock anywhere. Now I have a small on order though.

It doesn't seem like it would be very difficult. With the regular at:

14 oz. and 72" long /2 = 7 oz.
+ maybe .5 oz. for the weld…

and a 35" (-1" for the weld) length, that's only 1.5 oz. lighter and yields less insulation area for around the head area (see my previous post). However, the large size could maybe yield:

(2) 38" x 25" pads at less than 10 oz.

At roughly the same weight as the production small, anyone who was looking for a wider pad for extra insulation or rolling room may be tempted. For the hard-core SUL honeymoon couples, not willing to sacrifice comfort maybe they could share one of these?

I recently got this reply back from Cascade Designs after asking the question noted on bottom.

Steve,

I just remembered that we came out with an XS ProLite that is a torso pad this year. It’s 20” x 36,” weighs 8 oz and rolls up to 11”x3.” Since it is brand new it’s not up on the website yet, but look for it soon!

Kiira Schoessler

Consumer Services Rep.

Cascade Designs, Inc

4225 2nd Avenue S| Seattle WA 98134

1.800.531.9531 ext. 1457

MSR|Thermarest|Platypus|Sealline

From: S. M
Sent: Monday, April 06, 2009 7:40 PM
To: Consumer
Subject: NeoAir Suggestion

Hey I like your new design. We (UL hikers) still need a smaller & lighter version then what you currently offer. Something like this only a little longer–say 36-40" max length with a similar taper.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/torsolite_inflatable_sleeping_pad.html

You could call it the NeoAir Mini. Besides UL hikers it would also be small and light for kids to use.

Yikes Aaron! I've been complaining forever that I couldn't find a half length pad that is greater than 20" wide (and lightweight to boot).

Your idea is perfect! Only one problem … How the heck does one weld this thing, reliably?

wouldn't you need another air valve assembly? for the second half? or are you just thinking of using the upper section, with valve and tossing the lower part? also I belive the use utrasonic welding for the seams… I once cut down a thermarest trail lite, and was unable to seal it properly… but a wider pad could be cool :)

There is no foam in the Neoair to get in the way of resealing, so it should theoretically be easier than a self-inflatable. There are a handful of threads and an article around here that deal with this if anyone would like to search for them.

As for the valve assembly, you can purchase replacement valve kits, which may work for that purpose.

think of it as an exotic patch repair!

I emailed the Thermarest people and asked about repairs and one of the products the mentioned was tear aid. I asked A or B and this is what they said.

You want to use type A, which is for all fabrics. Type B is only for vinyl.

Kiira Schoessler

Consumer Services Rep.

Cascade Designs, Inc

4225 2nd Avenue S| Seattle WA 98134

1.800.531.9531 ext. 1457

MSR|Thermarest|Platypus|Sealline

I caved and bought one today at my local MEC…$149 CDN, they probably have 20 left.

I'd cut mine down right now if I knew how to seal it. The old thermarests had a heat activated adhesive on the inside of the fabric (to seal edges and bond to inner foam) which allowed you to reseal it with an iron. I'm not sure the neoair would have this adhesive throughout because it does not need to bond the inside face of the fabric to any foam…I want to, but I'm scared.

Just ordered a small NeoAir at Backcountry.com for $95 with a %20 off coupon. Code is 475-9-6LPT3. Code is good for anything you want.

Just scored one at 20% off! They're sold out elsewhere.

Dave, when I slept on mine I placed the pillow – a dual chamber type from BPL – on top of the Neo. That tacky surface was great for holding the pillow in place, unlike the experience with a Nightlight that only goes up to the shoulders and the pillow directly on the silnylon of the bivy bag. Then I'd spend the night chasing the durn pillow as it would jet across the slick sil. Overall, a very comfortable experience with the Neo…very restful.

I, like Monty used a Flex Air pillow on top of the NeoAir. It didn't seem to move at all the entire time I was laying on it, in fact even I stayed in the same position on my side the entire night. I think it has to do with the surface of the pad since I'd normally shift around a bit.