Inertia x frame pad

[HeartWalker]

I just picked up one of these from Outdoor 76 outfitters in Franklin, NC ( great guys to deal with )and this thing is amazing. I took it home and tried it out with my bag and GG 1/8 inch evazote pad and it is really comfortable. Not quite as comfy as the Neo but with a 5 ounce savings definitely worth it. It also works in my Mariposa plus as a foldup supplemnt to the pack frame. I obviously haven't taken it on the trail yet but I hope to soon. Blowing it up only takes a few breaths which was one of the major dislikes for me on the Neo air as it took a good 25 to 30 breaths. It also isn't crinkly and comes with its own small pump and repair kit in a stuff sack. If you haven't seen one it is worth checking it out.

[4eyedbuzzard]

I just picked up one of these from Outdoor 76 outfitters in Franklin, NC ( great guys to deal with )and this thing is amazing. I took it home and tried it out with my bag and GG 1/8 inch evazote pad and it is really comfortable. Not quite as comfy as the Neo but with a 5 ounce savings definitely worth it. It also works in my Mariposa plus as a foldup supplemnt to the pack frame. I obviously haven't taken it on the trail yet but I hope to soon. Blowing it up only takes a few breaths which was one of the major dislikes for me on the Neo air as it took a good 25 to 30 breaths. It also isn't crinkly and comes with its own small pump and repair kit in a stuff sack. If you haven't seen one it is worth checking it out.

Explanation ?

[HeartWalker]

http://www.klymit.com/index.php/prod...riaxframe.html

[wrongway_08]

1
Inertia X-Frame sleeping pad (Courtesy Photo)



Ear to the Gear
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Last year, Klymit made news with futuristic apparel filled with insulating argon gas. (It works: On a cold climb up Longs Peak, our editor-in-chief cooked like a burrito while wearing the $150 Klymit vest.) But a lack of compressibility and the need for refill cartridges limit backcountry appeal.

Enter the Inertia X-Frame sleeping pad, which is designed to cushion only the body parts that touch the ground ($99; launches this fall). Inflate it, via a simple push-pull valve, with lung power and supplemental (optional) argon.

Early tests suggest the 9.1-ounce X-Frame is comfortable and fills in 10 puffs or fewer). And it shrinks to grapefruit size.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Okay. I get it. Just was wondering why the pump if you blow it up with lung power.

[HeartWalker]

You don't have to use the pump but they say after you blow it up you top it off with the pump. It just gets it tighter.

[Powder River]

I will be interested in hearing your review of this, Bill. I was intrigued until I found out that the optional argon gas is actually the insulation. So, 9 ounces for the pad, 1.5 ounces for the hand pump (which it seems like is necessary to get the proper psi) plus the following setup for argon insulation:

Klymitizer Inflator: http://www.campsaver.com/klymitizer-inflation-valve 1.6 ounces
$24.95

3 pack of argon canisters: http://www.trailspace.com/gear/klymit/hotshot-3-pack/
$23.95 for 3, @ 2 ounces per canister

Not sure how many fills you get with each canister, but lets be generous and say 2. That's 4 bucks and 1 ounce dead weight per night. None of this sounds very reasonable to me but you still have a 10.5 ounce pad without insulation. Hard to say this beats an insulated pad for a few ounces more, but what I find is still interesting about it is the pack size and the quick inflation.

[4eyedbuzzard]

You don't have to use the argon gas cartridges. It's optional. You can just blow them up with air. Argon has roughly twice the R value of air, so even using it isn't going to give you that much in the way of insulation when it's only 1.5 inches thick. There's still thermal looping occuring (transfer of heat from you, to the pad material, to the gas, from the gas to the pad material which is in contact with the ground or outside air - just at a lesser rate than with air).

The big plus is that your sleeping bag should loft into all the empty spaces between the tubes in the mat providing bottom insulation, so that's where the real gain is going to be insulation wise, much like how an exped down mat keeps you warmer. They'll be some "holes" in the overall insulation assembly due to the inflated tubes which will compress the down against your body, kind of like a quilted through sleeping bag. It should still perform pretty well as an overall system.

[HeartWalker]

Yeah it may be a 3 season pad but the weight savings and the ease of inflation was worth it to me. I'll let you know how it performs. Much more comfy than a zrest to me.

[Powder River]

I realize no one has tested this yet but the theory of it just doesn't add up. There is no way this is a 3 season pad. A 3 season pad should take you down to the 30's or lower, like the z rest, prolite, neoair, blue foam etc. They don't give a rating either with the argon or without, but being uninsulated it is clearly a summer pad only, until you add more $$$ per use and weight for the argon gas contraption. I highly doubt many savvy hikers will be using the argon setup.

Yet their spec sheet http://mediacdn.shopatron.com/media/...jpg?1283999042

states that its a 3 season pad with air only, and 4 season with Argon. What are the insulative properties of Argon, that it can go down to 10 degrees?

Wasn't the challenge with designing the Neoair to create a way to insulate a fully inflatable pad, and the reason they said it took them 5 years to design? There is definitely a logic gap here where an uninsulated pad with holes in it can be as warm as closed cell foam or self inlating pads.

I hope for your sake Bill its as warm as they say but I wish they would publish some tests on this thing.

[nox]

hey Bill, could you post a picture of the pad from underneath with the sleping bag in place? Maybe once there is a picture with the "holes" filled with down people will stop thinking of them as cold spots...

[HeartWalker]

I'lltry to take some shots of that but will probably be a little while before I can.

[4eyedbuzzard]

I realize no one has tested this yet but the theory of it just doesn't add up.

Actually the theory does. Whether or not the mechanics of the pad accomplish the goal is a different issue.

There is no way this is a 3 season pad. A 3 season pad should take you down to the 30's or lower, like the z rest, prolite, neoair, blue foam etc. They don't give a rating either with the argon or without, but being uninsulated it is clearly a summer pad only,

You're forgetting, 1) that 1 1/2 " of air in the tubes does have some insulative properties as do the material of construction. 2) That the sleeping bag will loft into the voids between the tubes.

until you add more $$$ per use and weight for the argon gas contraption. I highly doubt many savvy hikers will be using the argon setup.

The argon provides less of a gain than the lofting of the bag into the voids. Argon has a thermal conductivity 67% of air, and best case it might double the R rating of a gas filled pad. But now add the 1 1/2" of sleeping bag that expands into the voids, and as a system the pad provides an overall better R value than air or argon alone. I also think using Argon is also a great way for them to make money on continuing sales. If enough people are interested in puchasing Argon at their really inflated prices, maybe I'll go into business selling Kryton cannisters - it's an even better insulator, just more expensive. I like the lofting between the voids gains more than the idea of carrying little gas cannisters for fairly small total system insulation gain.

There is definitely a logic gap here where an uninsulated pad with holes in it can be as warm as closed cell foam or self inlating pads.

Again - not when you fill those "holes" with a down sleeping bag.

hey Bill, could you post a picture of the pad from underneath with the sleping bag in place? Maybe once there is a picture with the "holes" filled with down people will stop thinking of them as cold spots...

Really good idea. It might help. But I guaranty, not completely.

[Powder River]

Buzzard,

The lofting holes are just that- small spaces on the overall pad where the sleeping bag is supposed to fill. But my concern is the areas where there are no holes, which happens to be the core areas of the body. Without any kind of insulation or NASA designed crazy reflective do-hickey, this is just another uninsulated pad. And you can read reviews on such pads and find out people don't find them very warm. Think if you were very cold, and to warm up you wrapped fleece scarfs around your calves, knees, thighs and stomach, but left the rest uncovered. Would this warm you up?

[Powder River]

I also think using Argon is also a great way for them to make money on continuing sales. If enough people are interested in puchasing Argon at their really inflated prices, maybe I'll go into business selling Kryton cannisters - it's an even better insulator, just more expensive.

Again I predict hikers will not find this argon stuff a good selling point, worth the money, weight, trash or hassle of finding more canisters. Just an opinion.

[Luddite]

I want one of these for my thru hike. You can always use a 3/4 length Z Rest in cold weather. I wonder how it would work for side sleepers... If anybody buys one and decides they don't like it, I'll trade my brand new Neoair for it.

[Franco]

Two major things we dislike about gear : lack of innovation and change...
Franco
Btw, sorry that the Neo Air turned out to be a success. I know how so many desperately wanted the product to fail but sometime things don't go our way.

[ChinMusic]

Concerns I would have:

I like to use my bag as a quilt most of the time. I don't think that would work well.

If fully zipped, I flop around a lot while sleeping and those gaps don't seem conducive to one that isn't just laying on their backs.

[Powder River]

Two major things we dislike about gear : lack of innovation and change...
Franco
Btw, sorry that the Neo Air turned out to be a success. I know how so many desperately wanted the product to fail but sometime things don't go our way.

What are you sorry for? I bought a neoair the day it came out and have been very happy with it. It seems you are taking offense to the above discussion...

[ec.hiker]

This did nothing to help me decide pads which of these three pads I am going to get

Therm-a-Rest ProLite Plus Sleeping Pad

Inertia x frame pad
THERM-A-REST NeoAir Mattress

Klymit INERTIA X Frame