Brand new Synmat UL 7 won’t hold air.

The Expeds are normally great. I think yours went out for a cocktail when it was supposed to report to the Quality Control Department.

Return it, and don't forget to tell them it's defective. I'm sure your next one will be fine. :^)

Check for bits of plastic in the valve which prevent it from making a seal. It might be easier to fix than to return if that's the cause.

+1 on checking the valves. When I bought my first one it came out of the package with one of the plastic thingies not quite flush. Unless those little doohickies are seated just so in the valves they will leak.

Once it's correctly seated you won't have to ever mess with it…but that's the first place I'd check.

Ok guys thanks for the suggestions. I am glad to hear others have had positive experiences with their durability.

I will give it one more shot tonight. I don't know how I could have missed a problem with the valve as 99% of the time I inspect things very closely before I put my mouth on them. 100% of the time outside of an area with drinking involved.

I couple of months ago, bought a used synmat UL 7 from geartrade (Seller behind was Backcountry.com). I had similar situation, the mat would not hold air overnight on my "tests" at home. There was no obvious leak. I ended up returning the mat and getting a new one from REI. I have had no problems with the new one.

Prior to return it I did contact Exped and they were very helpful and asked me to send it in so they could inspect it and repair it if possible. Unfortunately their turn around was like 3-4 weeks and I needed the pad sooner so I decided to return it and get a new one from REI. I want to note also that the return / refund process with geartrade/ backcountry.com was very smooth.

I would suggest to anybody considering this mat, to get it on a place (like REI), with a very good return policy and in which you can quickly exchange it if you get a faulty one.

I'm very pleased with the comfort this mat provides.