Thread: Insulated mat help

Have heard guys using the car windsheild foil thing as ground insulation..similiar to what you guys speak of.

I did also have a space blanket but also had wood down in the Hut where the Bro was... i kicked in the door at 530am....

Im happy with my kit an heading out tomorrow!

Will be Posting Tour Light today.
Refunding the Exp7 and unwrapping the Exped 5r.

Originally Posted by Rees

Have heard guys using the car windsheild foil thing as ground insulation..similiar to what you guys speak of.

I did also have a space blanket but also had wood down in the Hut where the Bro was... i kicked in the door at 530am....

Im happy with my kit an heading out tomorrow!

Will be Posting Tour Light today.
Refunding the Exp7 and unwrapping the Exped 5r.

I thought the windshield reflectors would be a good go, $5 for a test. The reflectorised bubble wrap used for wrapping frozen airfreight would be really good but both add a little to pack contents

You have gone from an 8 to a 4.5... good luck

makes the old school closed cell foam $15 jobbies look really good when flashharry one pops on you.

There were a bunch of Aussies using expeds on the snow in wet conditions and obvioisly.over inflating them also whilst wet in which created massive baffle blow outs.. they whinged online for a while about the lack of support from Exped....

Over inflating will pop baffles every day of the week...

They soon gave up after traahing the expeds and moved on elsewhere.....


RE the 8 down to 4.5, i believe im in the 5 realms of R ratings?

I dont hunt in Alpine mid winter really so it is just up until May-ish conditions for it to be used.
In Aus mid winter i often Vehicle base and use a Swag among a mat inside an heavy Doonahs.

Thanks for the Luck...i need it.

Specs of the 5R say -20 ... i hope to be atleast 17 away from that 😀

I have a Thermarest Xtherm in reg-wide, it packs down pretty well & is a lot lighter & warmer than my exped Duo.

The Xtherm has some fancy tinfoily type stuff inside it reflecting your heat back to you, made me think you could simply just lay a survival blanket between the ground & your mat?

Someone will get a laugh out of this..

So i drove across country and back, to get a new Mat..

I walked in a day later and it was hot..so i set up my tent and Inflated my new matress....

Well if i wasnt laying on my back on the earth within 2 minutes
......ffs.


Dirty matagouri Spike straight thru the tarp footprint/ tent and into the brand new Mat...

Safe to say - i did a video section about Repairing mattresses then and there

An continued on my sleep 😂😂😂


It was nice to sleep on, felt very warm an did not have any Freezing conditions this week...

R value of 5r is 4.8
Old exped Syn 9 was 6 value but super bulky.

Should be sweet from here on in ha ha

That would have been easy to find.
The biggest issue with puncture repair.

I lost my first Exped down mat to rodents. They ate down the seam.
Used up the repair kit and it sort of holds up but when I inflated it and left it overnight it did get soft so went and got a new one.
Did not want to trust it for 3 or 4 nights on the ground
Z

My exped downmat has had multiple baffle seams fail. Outside warranty, exped won't do anything about it. Also have a synmat UL, which hasn't failed yet, but have lost confidence in the exped mats. No spare kidneys to pay for a top end thermarest, so looking at others like sea-to-summit and big agnes

Update.

Loving the little exped 5r.

Been in some frosty nights an had no issue with cold ground feels....

It doesnt feel as tuff as the older exped 9 material but its been hole and leak free since my patch up repair.

A joy to pack.

Cheers Gents

You can always stack a closed cell foam underneath an inflatable pad. Meaning you can go smaller and lighter when you don’t need the extra warmth.
Has its cons of having to take two mats in winter but also protects from punctures better

@SoreLegs if you go see the fellas who sell roofing iron and gutttering they buy off cuts of closed cell foam mats by the truck load..Ive got two bits that are from outside of roll,so are sort of sealed like smooth plastic.... more water resistant...both are double width...in small tent we put them crossways so the ydont move at all..... really really really seriously good fun on a gentle snow slope..lay ontop of it and wrap around yourself..no steerage,no way of slowing down no control what so ever but shit I havent laughed so much in my life,just make sure you have a safe run out.

Mate had 3 mats fail recently. Had been keeping them under the roof in the garage. The summer heat got to them and the seams / glue failed.
2 different brands including a thermorest.

Here's a tip for longevity. You need to store them with the valve open. I leave mine folded in thirds so it is not compressed in a packed roll in a big sealed plastic container in my dry garage. Do the same for my quilts, leave them open so they can air and are not compressed (damages down). This also helps with moisture evaporation. Unfortunately when we breathe into them to inflate, we pass on our warm baterial goodness internally. The stuff sacks that double as inflation tools are a better option but meh.