“Stick with the right products, and don’t experiment,” Lassesen says. Besides being unable to create an airtight seal, the adhesive on the tape can leave a residue on the fabric, making it harder to patch in the future. (The latter can be layered over the former to reinforce field repairs when you get home.) Don’t: Get Creative For fabric-covered pads, she recommends Gear Aid’s Aqua Seal UV ($7) for short-term field fixes or the brand’s Seam Grip WP Sealant and Adhesive ($8) for long-term ones, which should also work on rubberized mats. While an adhesive patch may stave off a leak for one night if you’re out in the backcountry, the only permanent solution for a puncture or tear is a glue that will bond with the fabric to create an airtight seal. Some are adhesive, some are not, but the patch itself isn’t doing any of the work,” Lassesen says. The little patch that comes with your pad’s repair kit? It won’t actually fix a leak. “Patches are more intended to be a protective, cosmetic layer. This is where I and so many others went wrong. Exped and many other companies offer free repair programs-take advantage of them. Also consider sending your mat to a professional if the internal foam is damaged or if you’re just feeling out of your depth. At the Exped lab, she uses a hydraulic dunk tank that can immerse the entire pad under water and put enough pressure on it to clearly show where every single leak is, no matter how small. Holes that cause your pad to completely deflate overnight can be tiny and nearly impossible to spot, even with the usual at-home tricks. “If somebody can find the puncture, then that’s a huge accomplishment,” she says. There’s a reason why Lassesen considers this the most challenging point of the process. She also notes that if the mat is wet, and there’s enough pressure, “you can actually hear a bit of a whistle sound from where the air is coming out.” Don’t: Hesitate to Call in a Professional Then apply pressure to the mat and look for bubbles. She recommends inflating your mat fully before spraying it with a mixture of soap and water. The first and often hardest step is locating the puncture, Lassesen says. “Some punctures occur while the mat is in storage mode, so the placement of a sleeping mat while in a backpack is very important.” Keep it separated from sharp tools and utensils. “Really, it should be protected on the inside,” she says. It may seem like space-saving common sense, but Lassesen warns against this strategy. We’ve all done it (or at least considered it): lashing our bulky sleeping pad to the outside of our pack. Don’t: Strap It to the Outside of Your Pack “Cats and dogs very much enjoy our mats.” It may be cute to see your beloved furry friend snuggle up on your sleeping pad, but pets’ sharp claws pose a significant hazard to inflatable mats. With the record of 87 punctures-we knew a cat did that,” Lassesen says. “A good chunk of my repairs lately are from animals. We called her up and got her dos and don’ts for those who want to try their hand at sleeping-pad repair-turning this skeptic into a glue believer. With roughly 1,500 mats under her belt, Lassesen knows her stuff, and says she’s “all about trying to make resources available to people” so they can fix mats themselves. Her most stunning successes include a mat with 87 total punctures and one with a 17-inch tear. I’ve plunged several limp inflatable mats into my bathtub in search of streams of tiny bubbles, slapped synthetic patches over the holes, and yet still woken up in the middle of the night on my next trip with a rock jabbing me in the kidney.īut against my lackluster record stands that of Annica Lassesen, a warranty and repair specialist at Exped USA, who has patched an average of 500 mats per year during her three years at the company. Deep down, I have always believed that attempting to fix a leaking sleeping pad was a fool’s errand.
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