View Full Version : Poll: Carry a Thermarest Repair Kit?
Some people carry the Thermarest Repair Kit, and others don't.
Blue Jay
03-11-2004, 11:13
I find that as long as you put something under a Thermarest they last a very long time (I don't want to say never and jinx myself). If you don't have anything under them your movements cause the nails in shelters and the rocks and sticks on the ground to quickly wear holes in them.
Mausalot
03-11-2004, 11:25
I love the therma rest (certainly over the ridge rest) and find the extra tritch of weight (and packability) worth it. I think a repair kit is part of the deal. Just like when biking, you always bring a repair kit. Sleeping without some sort of cushion is just damn uncomfortable. Especially in those Maine log based shelters.
:dance Cameraman, 2000 Miles to Maine http://homepage.newschool.edu/~at2k/
max patch
03-11-2004, 11:48
Didn't carry it and didn't need it. IF it ever puctures I'm sure I could survive until I reached the next town.
can 85.71% of the participants be wrong??????????????????????????????????
NO & I never needed one....
in fact....most times...dont carry a pad! :D
I don't carry one because I don't carry a Therma Rest. My Ridge Rest never leaks no matter how many holes it gets...duct tape is all that's needed for it! ;)
C-Stepper
09-28-2004, 19:57
(didn't answer poll, by the way. Bought a prolite 3 mattress today, already have a ridgerest. Haven't decided which I should carry for my first overnighter in October.)
So...can you not use duct tape to repair the mattress? Just wondering, since most carry at least a little anyway.
Alligator
09-28-2004, 20:21
(didn't answer poll, by the way. Bought a prolite 3 mattress today, already have a ridgerest. Haven't decided which I should carry for my first overnighter in October.)
So...can you not use duct tape to repair the mattress? Just wondering, since most carry at least a little anyway.I've never had to repair my ultralite, but I've heard that you don't want to put duct tape on it because it makes the patch harder to put on later. I have since upgraded to the Prolite 4, very nice and always carry the patch.
peter_pan
09-29-2004, 07:40
I got off the ground and into a hammock year round. My warm cozy Nest under quilt is lighter than a thermorest and doesn't need a special repair kit.
VAMTNHIKER
09-29-2004, 09:01
My real answer was:
Yes, I needed one (badly) and it was at home... since then I have carried one and have not needed it yet!
orangebug
09-29-2004, 09:05
I've been off the ground and in both an HH and Speer. I use my Thermorest 3/4 Ultralite to keep me off the cold fabric. It also wraps around the stays of my Kelty Flight for cushion. I'll probably buy the Wally World blue closed cell mat to compare, but I'm pretty happy with my combination.
Bill...
Footslogger
09-29-2004, 10:20
Carried one in 2001 and used it once. Guess that in itself is justification to have drug it along.
On my thru in 2003 I chose to stash it in my bounce box. Never needed it. But if I had needed it I would have only been 1.5 to 2 weeks away, worst case scenario.
Just my experience ...
'Slogger
AT 2003
i always use a footprint under my tent. mabe thats why i never needed a repair kit?
if you tent a lot in rockey areas like new jersey and PA and CT, a footprint is well worth the weight.
mike
I have one of the "Ultimate Chair Kits" on my thermarest- the Ultimate one stays on there all the time- so it lends another layer of protection for my thermarest.
Lone Wolf
09-30-2004, 06:02
I use a Ridgerest. Don't need no stinkin repair kit for it.
Flash Hand
09-30-2004, 06:14
Duct tape won't work. Air still escape. I went to Damascus outfitter and got it fixed for free, but the next day, the air still escape from some where else other than the fixed area.
Next time, yes I will bring the repair kit. Its not that heavy.
Flash Hand :jump
SGT Rock
09-30-2004, 06:19
Get off the ground and quit worrying about it.
Duct tape won't work. Air still escaped. I went to Damascus outfitter and got it fixed for free, but the next day, the air still escape from some where else other than the fixed area.
So it didn't escape from the duck taped area.
When in need of repair, duck tape is there.
Youngblood
10-29-2004, 06:57
I have had 'elusive' leaks in thermarest mats before where I couldn't locate them the first time I submerged them in a tub of water. I got some interesting information from a friend yesterday about a different type of air mat (Stephenson's Down Air Mat) that might explain why... he told me that apparently, the fabric can swell and self seal small leaks when the fabric is saturated with water.
Here is what he wrote to me from a conversation he had with William Stephenson about finding leaks.
"Here is the process he uses to find a small leak:
1. Begin with a dry, fully inflated DAM.
2. Take some bubble soap-the type kids use to blow bubbles with, and dilute it with water by half.
3. Using a chip brush (apparently this is a small 1” wide paint brush) brush the solution on the DAM doing only small sections at a time. Be sure that you are not producing bubbles when you brush it on. The idea is to not overly wet the mattress while putting the bubble solution on it.
4. When you find the leak mark it.
5. If you can’t find the leak, send it to him and he will (that’s a good consolation). "
Hope this will at least shed some light on how to find those 'elusive' leaks.
Youngblood
hikerdude
11-19-2004, 21:52
Thermarest needs to update it patches. The glue in single foil tear packs is nice updated stuff, but the patches are not of the prolite material of the future, but made of the outdated 1990 fabrics I feel like they want to ditch on us.
I enjoy fixing things out in the field and carry all 5 patch kits in the kit, even if they are all the wrong color.
But you pay $90 for a New ProLite sleeping pad, I would like patches to match the orange polyester/polyester top and black nylon/nylon bottom patches. So check first. Or maybe that's just the way it is.:-?
Footslogger
11-19-2004, 22:09
I kept one in my bounce box during my thru last year. Never needed it but if I had it would have been 2 weeks away at the most.
'Slogger
AT 2003
Pencil Pusher
11-20-2004, 05:35
Didn't carry one and felt the cold snow one fateful night. Just like those blasted Platypus bags leaking during rather inopportune times during winter trips.
Youngblood
11-20-2004, 10:07
Didn't carry one and felt the cold snow one fateful night. Just like those blasted Platypus bags leaking during rather inopportune times during winter trips.
I had that happen in 20 degree weather, but no snow. It got old having to get off of it so that I could blow it back up every hour or so in the cold. It was a one night trip so didn't try to do a field repair. I would think that duct tape might be best for a field repair and I recently switched to the transparent duct tape in my misc first aid/repair stuff because I think it might be a little better... at least the manufacturer advertises it as such.
Youngblood
Youngblood
11-20-2004, 10:52
I just remember another experience I've had with self inflating mats that might be of some use to others. I had two different mats develop leaks after being stored for years in my closet, standing up with the valve open. The first sign that I had a problem was after I had tightly rolled them, closed the valve, slipped them into their storage sack, packed by backpack and went hiking. The sign was: they had taken in air and would not come out of their stuff sack until I open the valve and kneeled on them to get most of the air out. That is a bad sign, when they won't slide out of the stuff sack. It means that the mat has taken air in, either by a leak or by the valve not being fully closed at all times.
It is probably not a bad way to check out your self inflating air mat prior to taking it on a trip when it hasn't been used in a while. Stowe it in its stuff sack for a few days and see if it will easily slide out. If it does, pack it. If it doesn't, find the leak and fix it.
Youngblood
Buckingham
07-19-2005, 12:08
Never carried a Therma-Rest, so this is a non-issue for me. I use a thin, uncomfortable pad, which is actually of very little help. Now that I think about it, why in the hell do I even carry one? I might be a few sandwhiches short of a picnic.
I checked why bother, borrow one because that happened to me and several hikers had kits in their bounce boxes and loaned me one. It is intresting to note that on a thru hike I was so tired at night and able to sleep on anything that it was two weeks before I realized my thermarest went flat every night. Once I realized it I did fix it but ith shelter nails it soon developed a second leak and I switched to a Mountain Hardware closed cel pad the fit inside my sleeping bag. My wife and I backpack all over the US and Canada and I have worn out 2 thermarests. The Goodwill Store in Maine used to get alot of returned goods from LL Bean so I own at least 5 thermarests a bought for less than 5 bucks each. They work for tent camping but for shelter camping use a more nail proof pad. I now carry a repair kit, weghs nothing and takes little room. My personal favorite model is the 3/4 legenth lite weight model but it isn't very strong.
Next week I'm leaving for a couple of weeks in Nova Scotia, we will spend every night tenting so it will be a thermarest hike.