Exped Pad Issues

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gabe&mel
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Exped Pad Issues

Post by gabe&mel »

I've had two similar issues with Exped airpads (Synmat Hyperlite MW and Synmat UL7) where one of the baffles popped in the middle of the night leading to a larger single joined baffle. After thinking of the mechanism of failure, the common denominator in both pads was an exped schnozzle sack used for inflation. My best guess is that the schnozzle can overinflate one of the baffles when trying to top off the pad, leading to tube separation and thus a conjoined larger/taller tube. This "sausage tube" is still functional but creates some discomfort by pushing me to one side.

Quick summary of the issue:
#1 The Symnat UL7 had maybe 30 nights of use, before the baffle separation. This occurred midway through a 30 day JMT hike. The pad worked for the rest of the trip, although it did push me to one side. REI refunded, bought Synmat Hyperlite Pad.
Exped Symat UL7 LW Baffle Sausage.jpg
#2 Synmat Hyperlite MW had maybe 10 nights of use, when the baffle had the same issue. Luckily this occurred prior to start of trip. REI replaced. no issues with replacement (so far x 9 nights)
1 Blown tube.jpg
Potential Solution.
Use schnozzle to fill up mattress 90%, then use mouth for last few breaths. Hopefully this solves the problem, but will keep you posted. Anyone else have similar problems? If this happens a 3rd time I'll likely switch to another pad.

Gabe
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oldranger
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Re: Exped Pad Issues

Post by oldranger »

Never had that problem. My big problem is micro leak. Last trip on next to last night the zipper on my sleeping bag sliced my hyper light when I rolled over. My midnight field repair was not completely successful and I had to re inflate every 3-4 hours.

Mike
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maverick
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Re: Exped Pad Issues

Post by maverick »

My big problem is micro leak.
I have the down, and do have the leak problem.
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oldranger
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Re: Exped Pad Issues

Post by oldranger »

Mav

I thought the problem was with the down, too. But my synmat ul developed 4 different micro leaks last year. Even with 4 they were so slow that I could sleep through the night.

Mike
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gabe&mel
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Re: Exped Pad Issues

Post by gabe&mel »

Luckily haven't had the issue with the micro leaks, well at least not yet.

Another thing I did notice about both exped pads its that when coupling with Mel's Pad (Big Agnes Q- Core SL) we would have to stuff essentially whatever we could get our hands ( extra clothing/socks/underwear/backpacks/raingear/maps ) under outer baffle of exped to prevent a substantial noticeable heat loss where pads were conjoined. We noticed this issue around 32F. Probably happened on 3-5 nights on JMT (Exped UL 7) and on early trip to Woodchuck this past May (Symat Hyperlite). For life of me I can't remember where I saw/read about the outer exped baffles lacking insulation. FWIW Mel's pad does not have this issue.
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