Foam Pad Mods

[Anonymous]

I bought a RidgeRest Solar pad during the REI sale and want to cut it down from its 72" to approximately 52." Before I take a knife to it I sure would welcome any advice from anyone who has done this and has some pointers on cutting it down with clean look after it is done.

[Bob Gross]

You might get better results by using a new single-edge razor blade or a new X-Acto knife.

–B.G.–

[todd]

John,

Use sharp scissors for a clean cut. Or…

If you decide to use a knife, be sure to use an electric hot knife or heat up the blade with a candle so it "seals" as it cuts.

Please post pics when you're done!!!

Todd

[Jerry Adams]

I have cut foam pads with a straight edge and a box cutter knife. Make sure and hold the knife perfectly verticle for the entire cut.

The foam material won't unravel or anything so you don't need to heat seal it but it might look better.

[todd]

Jerry's correct – it won't unravel if cut w/cold steel.

[Terry Trimble]

I used very sharp scissors to cut my ridgerest.
But I have very cool mod to make ridgerest sheet is to cut the pad in to 12 or 10 inch sections what ever will work in your pack. Make a channeled sheet out of breathable nylon or pertex nylon if you want it supper light weight. So you have a foldable full lenght sleeping pad like z rest that fits in your back pack pad frame pocket.

The way you make the removable pad sheet is lay the out the 60 " by 6 foot sheet nylon on the floor.

Now take the cut ridgerest pieces lay them in the middle of the 60" all in a row the full length, Now fold over each side of the nylon over the ridgerest and pin down between each rigderest panel on each side that is folded over the ridgerest pad you should have about 9 to 10 inches of the ridgerest pad in the center with no nylon fabric in the center of the ridge rest panel .
Remove the panels sew the on each side the pockets for the ridgerest panels.
When done reinsert ridgerest pad panels in to the sheet. Now you have a foldable ridgerest pad with a sheet that is washable . I was going to start selling the Sheets but I don't have the resources to manufacture them. I have use this set up quite a bit this past summer backpacking it works great and it nice to have a sheet between you and the ridgerest when sleeping in a quilt and it foldable to fit inside your pack.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all for your help.

Terry, great idea! Thanks for passing it on.

[Erik Danielsen]

I do something similar to that with my CCF pads (they're cheap enough to do one custom for each pack I have) but rather than sewing a pocketed sheet for them, a bit of duct tape applied sensibly at the folds holds them quite securely and allows accordion-like folding.

[Konrad .]

John, how did it go? I just got my own ridgerest solar in the mail today, and after examining it, it looks like the aluminum layer isn't so much glued on, but rather "heat-shrinked" on. Specifically, it looks like it's only truly sealed/glued on at the pad's edges. I want to trim my down as well, but i'm worried that taking some scissors to it, will cause the aluminum layer to peel off or not stick to the foam, since I'd be cutting off what I perceive to be connection between the foam and the aluminum.

Did you end up cutting it up? and did the aluminum stick or peel at your cut edges?

I'll call cascade designs to get their opinion, but some real world experience would be appreciated.
Thanks!!

[Nick K]

"I do something similar to that with my CCF pads (they're cheap enough to do one custom for each pack I have) but rather than sewing a pocketed sheet for them, a bit of duct tape applied sensibly at the folds holds them quite securely and allows accordion-like folding."

A couple questions:

1.) Should the CCF be cut all the way through or just scored?
2.) Do you know of a CCF with R-value ~5 and 1-2" thick, light weight, and similar cost to the blue CCF?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

The process to make this modification was a tad over-thought. I finally took the nearest pair of scissors this morning and whacked off all but 50 to 51 inches of pad. Bulk reduction was the main consideration rather than weight necessarily. Following the shortening of the pad I took a flame to the scrap to see if braising was beneficial but it wasn’t. Actually nothing is necessary in my opinion but I took some seam sealer to the edge anyway to close up the open cells but I doubt that it is effective or even necessary. This is a nice thick pad and I believe it will work better than anything else I have for cold weather.

Thanks again for all of the suggestions, John

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