That $250 sleeping pad turned into a pool float in the middle of the Smokies

I dropped $250 on a fancy inflatable sleeping pad thinking it'd be the last one I ever buy. First night out near Clingmans Dome, I woke up at 3am flat on the ground with water seeping through the seams. Tried patching it with the included kit but the leak was some internal baffle I couldn't even reach. Anyone else had a high end pad fail like that or am I just unlucky?

2 comments

2 Comments

park.tara29d ago

and that's exactly why I stopped trusting those high end inflatable pads. I had a similar thing happen with a brand that everyone swears by, woke up at 2am on a cold rock in the Smokies. The internal baffle thing is a killer because you can't even see the leak, let alone fix it with a patch kit. It's like they design them to fail in the worst ways so you just have to buy a new one. I switched to a closed cell foam pad after that, yeah it's not as comfy but at least it won't leave me sleeping in a puddle at 3am.

laura_white9929d ago

Honestly, I get where you're coming from with the whole "they design them to fail" thing, but I actually think it's a bit more complicated than that. I had a Thermarest NeoAir that lasted me five years of heavy use before it finally gave out, and that was just from a tiny pinhole I stepped on with a sharp rock. The internal baffle thing is annoying for sure, but I've had good luck patching those with the special glue patches they sell for that exact problem. Closed cell foam is bulletproof, no argument there, but for me the trade off in sleep quality is just too big when I'm out for more than a couple nights. I think maybe the real issue is people just expect way too much from a couple ounces of fabric.