Thermarest NeoAir Mini Pump

Blowing up an air mattress can be hard work. If you do it by mouth, it introduces moisture which is detrimental to insulation and can cause other problems like fungal growth. Pump-sacks are great but can be cumbersome. This little pump is a good solution for NeoAir users. It only weighs 72g with two alkaline AAA batteries (51g minus batteries). It inflates my NeoAir short in just over one minute. To fully inflate it still requires one or two breaths.

The pump is simplicity itself, with an impeller at one end and an extendible rubber tube which attaches to the valve on the mat at the other. The pump starts working when the door to the compartment housing the rubber tube is opened. It’s an incredibly simple, yet effective device. I don’t know how many pump cycles one set of batteries will last, but comments elsewhere suggest a fair number. Obviously, it won’t appeal to the SUL crowd, but it’s light enough for most backpackers.

Additional: I’ve used it with my POE mats and it works with those too 🙂

Disclaimer: the NeoAir Mini Pump was purchased with my own funds and I have no relationship, financial or otherwise, with Thermarest

Reassessing air mats

The humble sleeping mat has undergone a revolution over the past five or so years. Not so long ago, the choice was between a closed cell mat or a Thermarest self-inflating mat. Now we have a plethora of air mats to choose from.

Thermarest Light 3/4

At the luxury end, Exped introduced their Downmat. An air bed filled with down, it was simultaneously more comfortable and warmer than anything else on the market, but it was quite heavy.

Thermarest responded with the NeoAir, which was much lighter and used an innovative air chamber and reflective material to achieve a decent level of insulation. While not as comfortable or warm as the Downmat, it was considerably more compact and lighter.

Thermarest NeoAir 3/4 (with MYOG fleece cover)

POE (now Hyalite) pitched in with a number of different mats like the Ether Elite and Peak Elite AC. Meanwhile, Exped was introducing lighter air beds with synthetic insulation and latterly a lighter weight down mat.

Thermarest responded with updated versions of the NeoAir. Nemo, Alpkit and Trango have also produced their own versions. Now we have a significant choice in manufacturers, weight and insulation in the airbed market.

POE Ether Elite

However, another trend has been emerging: tales of failures. When we were restricted to self–inflating mattresses, reports of punctures were quite rare. Now it seems there’s a regular flow of reports of failures (punctures and seam welds) from bloggers and twitterers.

The question that many backpackers are asking is whether air mats are worth the risk of catastrophic failure. Until Dartmoor last year I’d happily used various air mats and hadn’t really considered it much.

POE Peak Elite AC

For some time I’ve been using a thin roll of foam under mats anyway to boost insulation and as a pad for my backpack. So at least I had a backup when my Exped Synmat UL sprung a leak. It wasn’t very comfortable but at least I had some insulation.

It’s made me think that I wouldn’t risk an air mat on longer trips in future. Air mats are significantly more comfortable than self–inflating ones, especially on lumpy ground. However, a self–inflating mat is much more comfortable than an air mat with a puncture.

Exped Synmat UL

Maybe for weekends, I’d take the risk. Indeed, my next trip will be over a weekend, so I’m inclined to take my Downmat UL. I expect that I’ll be returning to self–inflating mats for much of the rest of the year.

Nemo Zor (l) and Multimat Superlite (r)

Of course. It will be interesting to see whether a lightweight mat like the Nemo Zor really is more durable than an air bed. Perhaps self–inflating mats are the happy medium between comfort and robustness. Anyone got any thoughts?

Sleeping mats

As you may remember, on my Dartmoor trip, my Exped Synmat UL suffered a puncture on the last night. I returned it to the retailer, who forwarded it to the distributor to investigate. Last week it was returned to me, with the puncture repaired. As you can see from the picture below they’ve sealed it with some sealant and a patch. It seems to have done the trick and it stays inflated. However, the real test will be in the field.

While the failure was not catastrophic as I was carrying a 150cm thin foam pad, which serves as a back pad for my Mariposa rucksack, it would have been more than a bit annoying if it had entailed more nights sleeping with little padding or insulation. There’s no doubt that air mattresses have transformed comfort, but increasing numbers of users are reporting failures after only a few nights’ use.

It’s made me reassess whether I want to risk using an air mattress on longer walks. The alternative is to go back to the good old self inflating mattress, which seems to have a much lower failure rate. Even if it does fail, it still retains a level of insulation and cushioning that an air mattress can’t offer. Apart from a lower level of comfort, self inflating mattresses are generally a bit heavier and bulkier compared with an equivalent air mattress.

Amongst the numerous mattresses I own, I have a Multimat Superlite short mattress that was a free gift from a TGO Magazine subscription. It’s an old style rectangular one, weighing 360g. The newer version is shaped and the weight has been reduced to 320g.

The lightest self inflating mat in the market appears to be the Nemo Zor, which received a good write up from Roger Caffin on Backpackinglight.com. At £72, it can hardly be classed a bargain or cheap. However, it is usefully lighter, at an advertised 285g and because it has a double core construction, it is supposed to fold down smaller, so I took the plunge and bought one.

The thumbnails above (click to enlarge) show the relative sizes of the Multimat Superlite (left), Nemo Zor (middle) and a Thermarest NeoAir (right). They are all 120cm in length. As you can see from the pictures, the Multimat is the most bulky. The Zor is almost as compact as the the NeoAir. The weight of the Zor is slightly lower than advertised at 277g. The NeoAir is 259g. The new NeoAir short costs £95 (!!!!), so the Zor is better value, but the new Multimat at £43 is the best value by far.

The picture above shows the Zor (left) and the (old) Multimat Superlite side by side. The Zor seems to achieve a lighter weight through a higher density of perforations. Additionally, it has horizontal cores, which can’t be seen in the photo and the fabric seems to be slightly lighter. The face fabric is also more pleasant to the touch, feeling warmer and less slippery. On the underside, there are some anti slip silicone strips, shown below.

The inflation valve is also slightly different. Instead of twisting to close, the valve pushes down to seal and is then turned to lock. It’s a neat system and more convenient than the normal twist system.

In terms of comfort, the Zor is no different to the Multimat or indeed any other self inflating mat. It does feel warmer, but that could be a function of the facing material which has a slightly wrinkled appearance and feels softer. I’m not going to be able to make a judgement until I use it, which is now unlikely until spring next year. However, first impressions are good and it certainly compares well with an air bed in terms of weight and pack size.