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Wow!! Awesome, awesome, AWESOME!!!!
Earlier this year, I bought 2 Exped pillows for backpacking, one for me and one for my girlfriend. Within months, both developed leaks. Before that they were the best pillow I used for Bping. I sent them in to be repaired and Exped sent me back 2 brand new ones as replacements instead. Gotta like a company that stands by its products!!
Exped does stand by their products as last year I emailed them a pic of my blown downmat baffle and they sent me a new pad no questions asked. Problem is, I don't have the courage to take it out on another winter trip.
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Problem is, I don't have the courage to take it out on another winter trip.
why? for fear it will blow again?
Exactly. They have not yet mastered their baffle design, although I see they make a new TT model which they say is "indestructible". But one look at it and I have to wonder---I mean, look at the complexity and the potential for each individual valve opening to leak---
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3922/1...5e363f89_b.jpg
Not my pic, it's from---
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hendrikmorkel/14719883982
The leak on one pillow was from the intake valve, the other was a completely blown seam.
whoa...
im not exactly a gram weenie, but adding the nozzles to the baffles surely adds some weight, along with the possibility of each chamber not working right..
i think this design is one of those "looks good on paper" but when not in final product.....
TNhiker---I think they were bombarded with nasty reports of baffle failures and had to resort to some more robust system whereby a baffle weld seam cannot delaminate. So . . . you see the results. How to make an awesome down-filled sleeping pad which you do not blow up with your mouth? Dunno.
I'm about ready to take my old busted Exped, remove the goose down, and somehow insert it into the die-cut foam of my Prolite Plus Thermy :)
I wonder if I could fill my mouth with down and blow it thru the black plastic valve of my Thermarest??? No guys, don't try it at home, you will aspirate down!!! It's a stupid idea, disregard. Ignore. Here's a better answer---
Get FOUR Ridgerest Solar pads and glue them all together and roll them up into a tremendous ball about the size of a 55 gallon steel drum. Strap on the top of your pack. Such an superb idea will give you 14Rvalue at about 6 lbs. Not bad.
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TNhiker---I think they were bombarded with nasty reports of baffle failures and had to resort to some more robust system whereby a baffle weld seam cannot delaminate. So . . . you see the results. How to make an awesome down-filled sleeping pad which you do not blow up with your mouth? Dunno.
yeah..............thats exactly what i was thinking........
You jest, but I think the ideal inflatable mat would be a combination of open cell foam with down stuffing the cutouts. A bit thicker than the Prolite Plus for winter use...check out http://whiteblaze.net/forum/showthre...=1#post2016525Quote:
Originally Posted by Tipi Walter
Hahahahahaha! I will be carrying two of the suckers (for two people) - that's enough! Just got them a couple days ago. Lots nicer than the thinner SOLite & Classic pads - both more comfortable and warmer - and not that much bulkier...Quote:
Get FOUR Ridgerest Solar pads and glue them all together and roll them up into a tremendous ball about the size of a 55 gallon steel drum. Strap on the top of your pack. Such an superb idea will give you 14Rvalue at about 6 lbs. Not bad.
I like Exped valves and think they are quite trustworthy, though if one leaked you'd still have all the others holding. If any failure did happen it would affect only one tube, and you could take it out and move one from the edge in to have a narrower but perfectly comfortable mat, or carry an extra tube along as backup. Heavier, more complex, and expensive, though. Seems they would be better off just getting their baffle welding issue fixed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tipi Walter
I like your idea of creating a 2 or 3 inch thick Prolite Plus type pad with die-cut foam and goose down inside. Seems impossible though as which is it, foam or down? The glued shell to foam is what keeps the Thermy inflatables from blowing up into a beach ball---see---
https://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backp...65%20288-L.jpg
In other words, you just can't blow down into a Thermarest inflatable shell---the top fabric and bottom is held together by glue to the inner foam. When the glue fails, well . . . . .
Ergo Exped's hollow tubes filled with just down. Exped TT models seem to use a tough fabric shell which keeps individually separate tubes safe from weld bursts, though I don't like the crazy amount of valves.
I'm sticking with my standard winter system: A good Thermarest 4R or higher inflatable along with a Ridgerest Solar as in-tent lounging and sit pad and placed under the Thermy when temps go south.