Exped Airmat Pumps Spotlite Review

[Mary D]

Yes. My son has a BA Clearvue, and after a couple of inflations there was lots of moisture sloshing around inside, very visible in the Clearvue!

[Scott Musack]

Another thumbs up for The Schnozz!

[Jerry Adams]

Okay, maybe it's not a problem for "self inflating" matts because they only require a breath or two, and then when you compress it you remove a lot of air which will take water vapor with it also.

[Gary Dunckel]

I bought an Exped Syn UL 7 last September, after my trusty Neoair delaminated on my last night in GNP. I used the Exped for a few trips in the fall, blowing it up by mouth. Later, I decided to try the Schnozzel out. Sweet way to inflate the pad. However, I've not yet used it as a pack liner, and I'm thinking I still like my cuben liner from Lawson better. The thing is, I'm not sure I want to completely empty my pack in order to get the Schnozzel out to inflate my pad. I'm also not keen on carrying it as a single-use item. So can someone please enlighten me about using it as a pack liner? Is it really no big deal to empty my pack once a day? Maybe if it's raining, I could unload the stuff inside the set up Contrail…

[Stephen M]

Gary,

I have a Snozzle and use it as a pack liner all the time, no issues here here as a single use item.

A buddy often borrows one of my expeds so we use the Snozzle to inflate both pads, and I use it as a pillow also so it sees quad use :-)

After a year or so there is no sign of wear except for some dye that came off something wet between my pack and the Snozzle.

If I did puncture it then I would patch it with some duct or tenacious tape.

I have no bothers emptying my pack as everything in the Snozzle gets used at night time, I do have a separate 5 ltr dry bag with bits and Pieces in it.

[Gary Dunckel]

Thanks for squashing my anxieties, Stephen. Looks like I need to rethink my packing technique. For several years, I've tended to place everything in the liner except food (in its own cuben bag). Everything, including things that don't need waterproofing at all (cook pot, filtration setup,, or things that are securely protected by a freezer bag (FAK, toiletries/meds, emergency kit, etc.). If I change the way I pack, I likely can just put only the things that require protection in the Scnhozzel, which mostly will be things I'll need in the tent anyway. I can just unload that stuff inside the tent, inflate the Exped, and then return the Schnozzel to the pack. Seems like this will work. Thanks again.

[Stephen M]

Gary,

I only keep gear inside it that I use in the evening, I keep my tent, food and cook kit separately.

In winter I keep my puffy layers in a separate dry bag but that's only because I may use them during the day, if using my warmest sleeping bag I may stick it in a compression bag first but that's only because in the Snozzle its pain in the rear to compress.

[HkNewman]

Need to try this on my Synmat. The little pump pillow only does so much.

[Greg Mihalik]

"Okay, maybe it's not a problem for "self inflating" matts because they only require a breath or two, and then when you compress it you remove a lot of air which will take water vapor with it also."

"Maybe" is a term relative to where you hike. If you are in a region with high humidity and wide ranging temperatures you will accumulate water whether or not you inflate or "top off" by mouth.

The moisture from the warm ambient evening air will condense as the temperatures drop and that liquid water will not flow out in the morning.

[Jerry Adams]

Yeah, but I weigh my Thermarest after every trip and the outside dries, and it weighs the same. Bounces around a little, less than 0.1 ounce, but it isn't an ever heavier trend, so must be measurement noise. Less than 0.1 ounce after about 50 inflation cycles.

The moisture in the air is irrelevant. Moisture from your breath goes in, and when you compress your mattress, air goes out carrying some water vapor. Those must balance.

[Greg Mihalik]

"The moisture in the air is irrelevant."

I use always use a pump. I can see the drops of water in my Exped UL accumulating as the trip progresses. Any idea how that would happen?

[James Marco]

>"The moisture in the air is irrelevant."
>
>I use always use a pump. I can see the drops of water in my Exped UL accumulating >as the trip progresses. Any idea how that would happen?

Actually, moisture in the air is not irrelavent. Compressing air will force water vapour to condense. An extreme example is an air compressor. You will find these need to be bled off (releaseing condensed moisture) once or twice per day depending on how much humidiy is in the air.

Blowing up a mat, with an air pump, is about the same, except lower pressures are involved. Simply blowing it up will tend to condense any moisture inside. If humidity is high, you may very well see some as it condenses.

Temperature has a lot to do with it. On a cold night, blowing it up will also tend to warm it slightly, potentially not seeing any mosture inside it since warmer air will hold more moisture in it. If you let out the air before exiting your bag, ie, having the pad as warm as possible from body heat, it may vent the moisture as quick as you pumped it in the night before. I do this on that assumption. (It also helps to deflate the pad.)

[Jerry Adams]

If you get moisture with pump then it's hopeless. There's more moisture in breath. With pump less moisture. I thought that's the whole reason for using a pump.

How do you get the moisture out of the mat when you get back home?

[Roger Caffin]

Hi James

> Compressing air will force water vapour to condense. An extreme example is an air compressor.
Well, technically speaking, not quite.

Adiabatic compression warms the air, so that is why the windward sides of mountains are often dry. Think Atacama. Decompression cools the air and precipitates the moisture out: so the lee side of mountains is often wet. Think Amazon.

What is happening in a compressor is that the air cools in the tank after compression – then the water precipitates out. Yes, I have to drain my compressor every now and then.

Otherwise, agree.

Cheers

[James Marco]

Yeah, just an example…I was assuming compression and same temps.

BTW: Water usually falls on the western slopes in the ADK's. As the air is forced up it cools and rains. Eastern slopes are usually dryer. But, dry is not very, sometimes. Last week I went for a swim without the canoe…

[Greg Mihalik]

"How do you get the moisture out of the mat when you get back home?"

Over the course of a day I pump up the mat, place it in a sunny 6' window to warm it, and then deflate it. Then repeating the process when I happen to walk through the living room.

It takes about 6 iterations to dry it out. A Synmat UL 7 is translucent against a bright window and it is obvious when all the beads of water are gone.

When I had a BA Clearview I followed the BA recommendation of hanging the matt with the open valve down, and that worked as well. Slow diffusion I guess.

Other accomplish the same thing by flushing with an aquarium pump.

YMMV

[Jerry Adams]

I thought about doing the same thing with my Thermarest self inflating mat, let it inflate, compress, repeat a few times

So, I started weighing it to see if I needed to do this

But since the weight always is the same it must not be accumulating moisture so I just don't worry about it

It might have a little mositure, and then stuff could be growing in it. Too bad it's not clear. But as long as the weight stays the same I guess I don't care.

[David Eitemiller]

I don't have or use a pump bag or the airmat pumps Exped has but like the idea of being able to pump up my Neoair with a Exped airmat pump – especially the exped pillow pump. It seems unusual to me that someone hasn't figured out how to fashion an adaptor to go on the exped pumps so that you can use it for the better winter exped mats but also for lighter weight summer pads like the neo-air. This forum is always filled with people putting those types of ideas together for all our benefit.

Does anyone have experience or thoughts on how an adaptor could be fashioned to fit onto the exped pumps so they could be used with external valve mats like the Neo-air?

[Ken Thompson]

Link provided in the 6th post down

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