How to take care of your thermarest air pad

Mine gets used. I was up before bed, so sunblock and insect repellent are a non issue. Sure the foam ones can get mold growth, but have never run into anyone who has had this happen. UV is hard on everything, non issue. Double wrapped and kept in stuff sack? Never.
Open the valve before you off for the day if you are doing the base camp/ day hiking thing.

But hey if it's on YouTube it must be true.

"normal usage is rough usage" Mindfulness, ever heard of that? A little care goes a long way.

The first 2:30 of that video is heavily influenced by the last 15 seconds. Of course their recommended procedures are going to be finicky and baby the pad; they're trying to decrease the number of warranty claims they receive. Thermarest can save a lot of money if they get every air pad user to baby it.

Personally, I don't use a stuff sack, I sleep directly on it when the temperature is warm enough, I don't worry about sunscreen or DEET and I inflate by mouth without worrying about mold. As long as I get a few years usage out of my pad that's fine by me, I'll probably be looking at a different option by then anyway. If it fails before then I can get it replaced without much hassle.

Overall I think you'll find very few people who baby their pad to the extent you are suggesting.

Wait, so according to the video, you can't get body oils on it, but you can spray a household cleaner on it? Usually those have harsh chemicals, and often chlorine bleach which…..you're not supposed to get on the mat.

Meh, just keep it relatively clean, don't slather on DEET or sunscreen, and it will be fine.

Roger,

I believe I saw the same video on the Cascade Designs website when I was checking out the specs on a ProLite Plus mattress.

http://cascadedesigns.com/therm-a-rest/mattresses/fast-and-light/prolite-plus-2012/product

It's the second of the two videos.

FWIW I don't use DEET, or sunscreen while hiking. I do use Micropur for my water treatment but that is about as close as I'll get to chlorine on the trail.

It shouldn't be to hard to heed the warning about leaving the mattress in sunlight with the valve closed and the mattress inflated. I "usually" sleep at night and hike during the day and rarely spend more than one night at any location while hiking. I use a tent with a sewn in floor so protecting the bottom of the mattress is not an isssue.

I don't even sleep with exposed bare skin next to my Ridgerest CCF mat. I wear my hiking clothes to sleep and use a top quilt and inflatable pillow.

Inflating these mats with your breath however does present the mold problem that you described. Inflation with the pump and or pump kit solves this issue but adds another piece of gear to your pack.

It's just a little odd that Cascade Designs a.k.a. Thermarest recommends that inflatable mattresses be stored flat, with the valve open in a dry place. Whenever I see them for sale in a store they are rolled up tight. ;-?

The suggestion of carrying it in your pack in a stuff sack IMO is wiggle room on warranty issues. It also adds another piece of gear to your pack and if you use their stuff sack it liberates $12.95 from your wallet. The best price that I have found online for a ProLite Plus is $54.95 in torso size. IMHO it is not the cheapest option.

A good night's rest out on the trail is priceless though! ;-?

I am leaning towards trying and inflatable but I'm looking for a less expensive option.

Party On,

Newton

The issue of body oils would impact my sleeping bag — not my sleeping pad. In any case, before sleeping, I 'towel bath' — and I wear silk long johns plus liner socks to minimize body oil transfer onto my bag. My pad stays just fine.

I have used closed cell, self inflating, and now air pads. I have not found durability to be an issue at all. Common sense care is all that's needed.

I also compare this to tents. We all know that every exposure to sunlight (UV) will cause tent nylon or polyester to deteriorate irrevocably — but you know — with just common sense care, our tents still last for decades!

This video is filled with obsessive BS. Not to say there aren't some important pointers here, but overall this is seriously overkill. I have owned 3 thermarests over the course of the last 16 years. I never paid attention to keeping them the way they suggest or treating them specially. I always abuse mine, don't store them properly as suggested, and don't pay any attention to what happens with my skin oils or chemicals, etc. Let me tell you I have never had one fail in the field, ever. I have always had a repair kit on hand just in case, but as of yet I've never had to use it. These things are not at all finicky, and they take plenty of abuse, I used them as a young kid, a teenager, at music festivals, on 5 day hikes, to sleep on friends' floors, etc. I can tell you that you should pay absolutely no attention to all those specifics unless they make you feel better :) Just get out there and use the thing!

I have continuously used TAR Prolite pads for the last four years. Unfortunately, with each and every single one the same thing happened after a maximum continuous time of use of 6 months: The pad delaminates! It has now happened 6 or 7 times to me, so this phenomenom can not be attributed to a monday product. TAR has always changed them under warranty.

It was interesting to hear that in the video body oils and other contamination from the OUTside were blamed to cause delamination. When I once send my TAR back for exchange under warranty because of delamination I received from TAR saying the exact same thing.

It still completely eludes me how contamination from the outside can cause delamination from the inside?????

Any ideas on that topic?

Other than that TAR are pretty robust, but the big issue is definitely delamination!

All 3 of my 20 yr old + thermarests have never been babied. been stored rolled and unrolled blown in slept on with deet and sunscreen used in chair kits left in tents in the sun used as a wind screen for stove. One of them has three patches all done in the field all work like new. I have a newish prolite xs and from what I hear it wont last near as long. But thanks to UL and these forums Ive learned to baby my gear. Hell now every time I get home with my Synmat UL Im hooking an aquarium pump up to it to dry my breath out so I dont have to buy and carry a schnozzel. I need to try the nylafume bag and a drilled out cork to inflate.

I get that therm-a-rest wants to ensure the longevity of their products. Warranties are expensive. To bastardize the axiom 'they give a mile, so you take an inch'.
I have 2 Thermarest mats, one I bought in the mid-90's as a teen that's seen maybe 150 nights in the woods, often 'cowboy camping' with it laid directly on the ground. it has one hole that I patched 7-8 years ago and hasn't leaked since.
The other is a double thick TAR that's seen nightly use during TWO year-long tours in Iraq, strapped to the bottom of a MOLLE pack, with no stuff sack. The pack then spent a good number of days hanging on the side of a truck, or tank as we drove across the country. The pad has ZERO holes. I still car camp with it, and use it for a bed when sleeping on the floor of a sick child's room.
My new mat is a BA Insulated Air Core that I refuse to baby even one bit. It's good as new after about 14 nights.
I don't buy the bit about inflatable mats being that fragile.