Alan Dixon reviewed the Therm-a-Rest ProLite 3 back in 2004, when he noted that 'Cascade Designs has whacked more than a quarter pound off their lightest sleeping pad.' The weight for the Small or 3/4 length mat had been reduced to 370 g (13 oz) at that stage. Well, they have reduced the weight even further: the Small (3/4) is now down to 310 g (11 oz). This is getting rather light.
In the process the claimed R-value has dropped a bit, from 2.3 down to 2.2, while the thickness has stayed the same at a nominal 25 mm (1 in). The R-value is going to vary a bit depending on what pressure you put into the mat. This is discussed further under 'R-value.' The nominal length and width dimensions have stayed the same at 505 x 1200 mm (20 x 47 in), ignoring the welded edges. Note however that the mat tapers at the bottom end, down to about 380 mm (15 in).
The foam inside is urethane - as usual with any decent air mat, and the fabric is nylon top and bottom. Both top and bottom surfaces are covered in lots of little dots of something (maybe polyurethane again). The web site says 'Rest Comfortably: Bottom grips and textured top surface hold the mattress in place while you sleep.' This apparently refers to the little dots, but see below for further comment on this.
The foam has had star-shaped holes die-cut out of it to reduce the weight. These holes are visible when the mat is inflated, as you can see here. It is interesting to see that Cascade Designs have chosen the more expensive path of only selectively cutting these holes across the mat. That is, rather than taking a long slab of foam and feeding it through some sort of mass-hole-punching system, they have only cut the holes in the middle of the mat. They have left an unpunched edge down each side and across the bottom and a larger unpunched area at the top end where your head goes. You can see the unpunched edges here too. These unpunched areas are meant to provide extra support at the edges and under your head.
ARTICLE OUTLINE
- Technical Details
- Field Testing
- Sliding Around
- R-Value
- Summary
- Specifications
- What's Good
- What's Not So Good
# WORDS: 1870
# PHOTOS: 7
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Discussion
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I suspect they could make Thermarest pads that are much more durable, but then they would be heavier.
They find that middle ground between what is an acceptable weight and acceptable durability.
A more durable/heavier pad wouldn't sell as well as a lighter less durable one.
Hi Steven
Reckon you have it.
cheers
I've used my Prolite about 160 nights now.
It's started delaminating:
I bought it at REI so I'll exchange it for a new one.
Maybe it's not unreasonable that a lightweight item wears out after 160 nights.
This is the first time I've seen this topic of delamination covered. I'm grateful. I had this happen with my Montbell 150 pad, it was out of warranty, I sent it to Montbell and they sent me a new Montbell 150 pad. Great support. REI also does great support. Mine happened after about 100 nights on the trail.
I always wondered if the detergent or cleaning fluid one uses on the pad to clean the pad might contribute to delamination. Any recommendations for how to clean a pad?
ps. I did not know Montbell would return me a new pad, I was expecting a repair quote instead, and in the interim, REI had a 20% sale on their Thermarest new prolite pads and I got one of those. Now I have two pads, ready for instant replacement (as long as not on the trail) of the next delamination event. Hope it takes more than another 100 nights on the trail.
When I get onto my pad, I often put my hand where it delaminated and put all my weight on it.
That, and I sit there and swing me feet around to the foot end.
I think if I didn't put all my weight on my hand it probably would last a lot longer.
Nice to see someone (Christine) sticking their head above the parapet.
The old TARS lasted forever because they were more durable (and thus heavier). I also had one (an Expedition 3/4 length model) for over 15 years, before I stupidly 'upgraded' to a lighter Prolite 3. Since then I've been through the P3 and two Prolites; the most recent was bought autumn 2012, so this is NOT an early product run problem; it had at most three months' 'realtime' use on it before it delaminated.
Anybody familiar with the old petrol-tank-in-the-car-boot story?
This is not user error. It's quite simple. Thermarest suck up warranty replacements from people actually using these mats because they make more money out of not addressing the durability problem. Rather, they sell lots and lots of lightweight mats to people who don't use them enough for the problem to occur. My own feeling is that the cutouts are too big; there just isn't enough surface area left to bond to inside the mat. Resolve the problem, the mat gets heavier and thus it doesn't sell.
It's not just Thermarest, they're all at it. I had a POE mat that lasted 2 1/2 weeks before internal seams ripped out in two places. The UL apologists will now say it's my fault. Yeah, yeah, and she was asking for it dressed like that, y'honour.
There is an easy solution. It's called a Multimat Expedition Summit XL CCF mat.
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