Roll mat help
- Thread starter tups93
- Start date
Another peice of advice is always store self inflating mats flat with the valve open. If you store them rolled they can take days to inflate again propperly
Good thing a out the dutch mat you aren't bothered about where you chuck it down to sleep; where as with a self inflating mat one thorn and your mat is stuffed and your night is ruined. Unless you have a repair kit and even then you have to wait for the adhesive to set and its hours before you can use it again.
Thermarest used to do a mat called "toughskin" which had a ccf base inside it to help combat this threat but i don't think they make them anymore.
Thermarest used to do a mat called "toughskin" which had a ccf base inside it to help combat this threat but i don't think they make them anymore.
+1 on storing with valve open and store flat. If you don't it compresses the foam inside so quite likely will never self inflate the way it should.
A few breaths always helps. However if you over inflate it loses comfort as it becomes harder and doesn't allow it to conform to your body. If it is a particularlythin mat then it is less likely to have the room to give at contact points and you could just be hitting the hard ground there. Inflate more perhaps but does sound like a duff buy for you.
Alpkit do thicker self inflaters as do TAR and POE indeed Multimat do too. The ALpkit ones could be a lot cheaper though. They do light through to rather hevy base camp mats.
A few breaths always helps. However if you over inflate it loses comfort as it becomes harder and doesn't allow it to conform to your body. If it is a particularlythin mat then it is less likely to have the room to give at contact points and you could just be hitting the hard ground there. Inflate more perhaps but does sound like a duff buy for you.
Alpkit do thicker self inflaters as do TAR and POE indeed Multimat do too. The ALpkit ones could be a lot cheaper though. They do light through to rather hevy base camp mats.
I have never disagreed with something so much on this forum before as that statement im afraid....
I use a therma rest prolite in the mountains whilst at work and a closed cell in the jungle as self inflators will just pop and the difference in comfort is not comparable.
the prolite means i wake up in the morning without sore joints or pain from sleeping on my hip bones etc. it has been worth every penny and everyone who has ever borrowed it has gone out and bought something similar immediately afterwards.
the most common problem in terms of comfort that i find with self inflators is people over inflate them and then they find that their back is both sore and cold. if you sleep on something solid then your back is not naturally positioned as it has a curve in it. get on your mattress and open the valve a teeny tiny bit and start letting air out. when you feel its actually conformed to the shape of your back a bit better, close the valve up. this subtle difference will make an enormous difference to your nights sleep.
a prolite is only 2.5 cms thick.... but it beats 8mm of foam....
coincidently, i do tent to use a very very thin roll mat to protect the bottom of my therma rest anyways. german issue roll mat is extremely thin and folds instead of rolls so it sits nice inside my bergen at the back.
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