My new sleeping pad gave up on me at 3 AM in the Sawtooths

I was on a solo trip in Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains last fall, testing out a fancy new inflatable pad I'd just bought. Around three in the morning, I woke up on cold, hard ground. The pad had a slow leak right along a seam. I spent the next hour trying to find the hole with my headlamp, but it was too small to see. I ended up blowing it up every 45 minutes just to get a little cushion until sunrise. It turned a great night's sleep into a long, shivering mess. The pad was supposed to be a top brand, but it failed on its first real trip. Has anyone else had a brand new piece of gear just quit like that? What did you do to fix it, or did you just return it?

4 comments

4 Comments

matthew_walker1mo ago

Guess my sleeping pad's idea of "breaking in" was just breaking.

theacooper1mo ago

Was it a Therm-a-Rest or a cheaper brand?

drews551mo ago

Oh no, that's the worst kind of surprise. What brand was it, and how old? I've had a couple fail on me right out of the gate, which feels like a real design flaw. Makes you wonder about quality control these days.

kimr9120d ago

Question whether it's really that big of a deal (though I get it, being cold sucks). I mean, yeah, a leaky pad at 3 AM is annoying, but blowing it up every 45 minutes sounds like a decent workout and a good story. You still got some sleep, right? A little patch kit and a few curse words and you're back in business, no need to burn the brand at the stake.