Neoair Uberlite

[Michael Gillenwater]

Too bad the Instaflator is not longer in production.  It was a UL inflation bag.  I still have two that I am babying.  Not aware of anything else similar, although I know you can make something functionally equivalent out of a trash bag.

[Ralph Burgess]

“You know….if you hang your inflatable with the nozzle open in a dry place the moisture will evaporate…..”

This doesn’t work in my experience.   An uninflated pad sticks to itself, it doesn’t allow free passage of air throughout the interior to dry it out.

[Ralph Burgess]

Your comment made me curious–I just weighed my NeoAir XLite Short that I’ve been inflating by mouth for the last six years. It weighed in at 7.920 oz. Specified weight is 8.0 oz, but a cursory Googling suggests that the dry weight should be something like 7.65 oz.

So, perhaps something like 0.05 oz/yr?

Perhaps I drool more than you.

 

[Michael Gillenwater]

I have no data to show it works, but one of my Neoairs is the old yellow transparent ones. When I get back home after a trip, I blow up the mattresses (with an inflation bag…i.e., Instaflator) and set it out in the sun to heat up.  Then I deflate the mattress while still warm, assuming that the moisture in the mattress will vaporize and then be expelled in the process.  Anecdotal observations using the transparent mattress indicates it works.

I used to inflate on trips with my breadth, except for winter camping…but I now use the inflation bag for all trips simply because it is just less headache after a long day hiking.

Depending on conditions, I can skip the at home moisture purging step by using the inflation bag.  For camping in dryer air locations I skip it.  But if the air is humid in the evening when I am inflating, and the mornings cold, then even with the inflation bag I still see moisture that has condensed in the mattress, in which case I will go through the above sun heating procedure before storing.

If there is a point, then it is that even if you don’t blow with your breadth, then you can still accumulate moisture in your pad.  Although, having said that, I doubt it really matters that much.  At worst you might get a little mold in the pad (and probably not even that) that will have zero impact on performance. And near zero risk to you unless you like to snort air out of your mattress regularly.

[Ralph Burgess]

“I blow up the mattresses (with an inflation bag…i.e., Instaflator) and set it out in the sun to heat up.  Then I deflate the mattress while still warm, assuming that the moisture in the mattress will vaporize and then be expelled in the process. ”

Smart idea.  This does sounds like it should work.

 

[Adam White]

I decided to do a little ad hoc test.

Having recently returned from a trip that featured a fair amount of humidity (by Sierra standards) owed to regular afternoon T-storms, I figured my XLite was in prime shape for some attempts at drying it out.

Today is another blisteringly hot day in the East Bay, so I took my XLite out, inflated it, and let it sit in the sun for a while (an hour). Then, I opened the valve, and let it sit in the sun for another 30 minutes. I inflated it by mouth–unfortunately, I have no other means (I thought of attempting to rig my air compressor or leaf blower to do the job–certainly would have taken a video of that, for your pleasure).

I weighed it after this, and it weighed 7.845 oz, compared to the 7.920 oz yesterday. So it’s pretty clear that it did remove some moisture. That 7.845 oz still seems to be a touch above what others have reported here and elsewhere (7.65 oz).

Maybe I’ll repeat the process once more to see what happens.

(edit to update: after another 45 minutes, it’s down to 7.820 oz. I think I’m done.)

… of course, the right way to do this is with warm, dry Nitrogen…

None of this is particularly on topic to the Uberlite, but the same principles will apply, I suppose.

 

 

[Ryan Smith]

“You know….if you hang your inflatable with the nozzle open in a dry place the moisture will evaporate…..”

“This doesn’t work in my experience.   An uninflated pad sticks to itself, it doesn’t allow free passage of air throughout the interior to dry it out.”

I don’t know if this will dry it out, but it does at least keep mold from growing inside(at least for my 3-4 different pads). I accidentally left my Xlite large rolled up in a stuff sack for about a month one time. You guessed it – an entire mold colony was born. :(

[Jerry Adams]

Good experiment Adam, you could even do several more repeats until the weight doesn’t change

Don’t put a fully inflated pad in the sun.  It will expand and might damage itself.  Just a theory, I wonder if anyone has done this.

You wouldn’t have to put in the sun.  Just leave inflated in the house and every once in a while deflate and reinflate.

I’ve done that with Thermarest and the weight didn’t change.  When I got home from a wet trip, it was damp on the outside and lost about 0.3 ounces after it dried off, but that was on the outside.

Does it matter if there’s a little dampness or mold inside a matt?  As long as the weight increase is negligible?  Thermarests have this tendency to delaminate, maybe if it stays damp and/or moldy inside it would be worse?  Maybe just knowing there’s mold in there would be bad enough to try to avoid?

 

[Michael Gillenwater]

i am very careful to watch the pressure and not leave it in the sun too long. And it does not need to be inflated till stiff for vaporization to work. Actually a lower pressure is better.

[Adam White]

Don’t put a fully inflated pad in the sun. It will expand and might damage itself. Just a theory, I wonder if anyone has done this.

Perhaps I came close during my first test–I inflated it rather fully, then put it in the sun. When I returned, it was at a pretty high pressure.

The second round was done at a much lower initial pressure.

Does it matter if there’s a little dampness or mold inside a matt? As long as the weight increase is negligible? Thermarests have this tendency to delaminate, maybe if it stays damp and/or moldy inside it would be worse? Maybe just knowing there’s mold in there would be bad enough to try to avoid?

I don’t know the answer to this–to be honest, I never worried about it with my XLite, suspecting that it would not last more than a few years. The durability has surprised me–six years and no punctures (knock on wood).

Is delamination an issue with mattresses like the XLite? I thought that that internally, it was just a bunch of honeycombed baffles composed of some metallized film (presumably aluminum on mylar, or similar). I suppose those baffles are glued to the mattress casing somehow, so that could come apart. Or the metallized film could corrode. Neither would probably be a very big deal. Corroded metallized film is probably structurally very similar, but might be a bit less reflective. A tiny bit.

In the same vein, the R-value of mold or water is much less than that of air, so any of that in your mattress will reduce the R-value (by an imperceptibly small amount, I should add).

[Jerry Adams]

yeah, I have only heard of delamination in thermarest self inflating matts, what you said makes sense – water probably not an issue inside matt

[Jerry Adams]

I know this thread is Uberlite, but Prolite is at least by the same manufacturer : )

I bought it a year ago, 18.70 ounces.

I just measured again after a year – 19.02 ounces – it’s gained 0.3 ounces

I did several cycles of deflating/inflating to evaporate internal water – 19.01 ounces – no significant change, must not be any significant water inside.  Maybe the 0.3 ounces of gained weight is on the outside – dirt or grease or whatever.

I bought a Prolite in 2012 and it weighed 16.3 ounces.  It delaminated last year which is why I bought a new one.  The new one weighed 2.7 ounces more.  I think they reformulated to fix the delamination problem but they never acknowledged that.  The specs at REI says it weighs 16 ounces, which is what my 2012 version weighed.

That Uberlite looks pretty good, that would save me 10 ounces, that’s a lot.

[Mike M]

looks like Spring of 19 for this pad, hopefully sooner

if you haven’t noticed, whatever Thermarest lists for a weight is typically 10-ish % lighter- not sure if they include stuff sack, etc, but have been pleasantly surprised to find all of the different Neoair’s I’ve owned to be an ounce or two lighter

will be curious if the Uber continues  the trend

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Yeah hopefully sooner. I haven’t been this excited for a new piece of gear in a while. And fortunately I currently own a NeoAir Xtherm which I’ve been using for everything, but an Uberlight would compliment this well for the warmer half of the year with both weight and packed size about half. If I already had an XLite it would be harder to justify.

[Eric Osburn]

I’m in the same boat. My xtherm has worked great but it’s overkill for the summer and I wouldn’t mind something lighter and smaller.

[Mike M]

ditto for me; sold two regular Neoair’s last year as my Xtherm’s have worked year round for just a couple of ounces- the Uber, especially in Short would be worthwhile imo to add to my quiver

[Adam White]

If I already had an XLite it would be harder to justify.

Hey, I’ve got an XLite, I’m not having that hard of a time :).

if you haven’t noticed, whatever Thermarest lists for a weight is typically 10-ish % lighter

The XLite isn’t off by quite that much–I’ve seen reports of 7.55-7.65 oz on the web; mine weighs in (after several rounds of drying, with an untold mass of desiccated mold colonies within) at 7.820 oz. Spec is 8.0 oz, so 2-4% low.

Still, your point remains–always nice to get something a little lighter than spec.

[Mike M]

re:weight was going by current Xtherm and previous couple of original Neoair

they are (were) a little over 10%, sounds like the Xlite is much closer- still at least it’s not over :)

[Miner]

Just saw Backcountrygear listing the Uberlite.  $140 for the smal and $180 for the regular size.  Currently backordered.

The final specs are listed on Thermarests’ website.

Now someone be the guinea pig, buy one and tell the rest of us how durable it actually is.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Interesting. BackcountryGear has it shipping in 7 – 10 days. I wonder if that’s real.

[Serge Giachetti]

Wow, that pad really packs down. Gotta applaud thermarest for already having the best/lightest mats and continuing to innovate. I’ve also gotten extremely good durability out of my thermarest pads. After 8 years and hundreds of nights, my xtherm developed a leak I couldn’t find, and thermarest still replaced it.

As far as weight savings go, my small xlite is only 1oz heavier than the uberlight, and packs down pretty small as well, so that one makes less sense to me. However, buying an XL uberlight would save 4oz over the xlite version and I bet considerable pack space. I might be able to talk myself into that one.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Perhaps your small XLite is lighter than spec, but the specs are 8oz for the small XLite and 6oz for the small Uberlight for a 2oz difference.

[Mike M]

All of the Neoair’s I’ve owned have been under spec- short, regular, long/wide- Neoair or Xtherm. Not by a lot, but all under. I don’t use their stuff sacks, maybe that’s some (or all?) of the savings.

The pad I’m currently using is a regular Xtherm, spec is 15 oz, pad weighs 13.7, not a lot of difference, but it is under :)

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Wow. My regular XTherm is 17.36oz. It’s the standard size, tapered silver one. Mine is several years old though (5 years?) and I think the specs were higher back then.

[Mike M]

mine is 4-5 years old, tapered and rounded (not squared)

I was going to say possibly residual moisture, but I always blow mine up by mouth????

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