Informational

How Do Self Inflating Sleeping Pads Work

May 16, 2020 by Ricky Leave a Comment

Self-inflating sleeping pads are without a doubt the most convenient gear for outdoor enthusiasts.

Self-inflating sleeping pads are without a doubt the most convenient gear for outdoor enthusiasts. Even though they’re a bit bulkier compared to air sleeping pads if you have enough space on your backpack and don’t mind the extra load, in contrast to normal sleeping pads they’re more insulated and comfortable.

Quick Note: Some people prefer calling them sleeping mats, but in case you wonder, there is no difference between sleeping pads and sleeping mats, they are exactly the same thing.

How Self-Inflating Sleeping Mats Work

Between the two layers of a self-inflating sleeping pad, there is a chemical called PU (Polyurethane) which is a kind of foam, and this foam has open-cells that release the air inside when the pad is rolled up gets compressed. Therefore, when the pad is rolled up and the valve is closed it creates a vacuum effect. So due to this vacuum effect, when you open the valve the pad draws the air back in and starts to expand.

Although it depends on the sleeping pad, it takes 3 to 10 minutes to suck all the air in. But almost in every sleeping pad, you need to blow one or two puffs by yourself to fully inflate the sleeping pad.

There also other types of sleeping pads as well, and each one is better on different features.

Are Self Inflating Sleeping Pads Comfortable

It actually depends on the person, some people prefer air pads (since they’re thicker) some people prefer self-inflating sleeping pads. But the general idea is self-inflating sleeping pads are more comfortable.

But, if you’re a side sleeper you might feel more comfortable with an air pad. Since side sleepers lay on their side, more pressure is being made to the sleeping pad, as a result, they are more likely to feel the ground. For side sleepers, I recommend looking for a pad that is at least 3″ thick. If you have a bad back, check out my article where I gathered the best sleeping pads for bad backs.

Unlike solid sleeping pads, with self-inflated and air sleeping pads you can alter the firmness of the sleeping pad. You can simply release the air out to make it softer and blow some air to make it more firm.

If you inflate your pad with your mouth most of the time, I recommend getting a pump suck. Because blowing with your mouth is bad for two reasons:

The air you blow with your mouth is warm, and during the night when it’s cold, warm air you blow loses its volume when it gets colder which makes the pad gets softer
Your breath contains moisture that could gather in your pad and eventually it may cause mold.

So if you inflate your pad with your mouth a lot, then consider purchasing a pump sack.

How to Store Self Inflating Sleeping Pads

The best way to store self-inflating sleeping pads is to leave the pad semi-inflated with the valve open.

Storing them rolled down is bad because most of the self-inflating sleeping pads remember the shape it holds most often, also keeping the valve open is good since it creates air circulation inside the pad.

Lastly, the moisture is the cancer of sleeping pads, it can cause mold which eventually ends up screwing your sleeping pad, therefore, make sure to keep your sleeping pad in a dry place.

How to Repair a Self-Inflating Sleeping Pad

The best way to store self-inflating sleeping pads is to leave the pad semi-inflated with the valve open.

The sleeping pad is the gear that touches the ground every time we use it and it’s made of thin fabric, therefore it would be unreasonable to expect them not to get damaged. But that is not a big problem as you might think, most of the sleeping pads come with a repair kit. But to ensure using repair kits as less as possible it’s always good to clear out the sticks and rocks off the place where you will lay down your sleeping pad.

But let’s say somehow your sleeping pad is torn off. If the rip is big then it’s easy to find it and repair it, but if the rip is small it might be a little bit overwhelming (in that case, you’ll probably discover the sleeping pad’s leakage when you wake up and see there remains almost no air at all).

If the rip is big, and easy to discover you can just fix it in 5 steps:

Discover the ripped place
Put the textile glue on the ripped surface
Inflate the pad just a little bit so two ripped sides don’t get glued together and wait for 5 to 10 minutes
After the glue is cured put the patch that comes with the repair kit on the ripped place
Let it sit for 8 – 10 hours before you sleep on it

If the rip is small and hard to discover you can just repair it in 6 steps:

Fully inflate the sleeping pad
Mix soap and water and put it on the sleeping pad until you see some bubbles
Discover the rip by looking where bubbles are coming from
Put the textile glue on the ripped surface let it cure (until it’s no longer tacky) for 5 to 10 minutes
Repeat the fourth step until you have 3 layers
Let it sit for 8 – 10 hours before you sleep on it

If your sleeping pad is small enough you can also use this easy method to find the rip:

Fill a bathtub or another big tank with water and dip the sleeping pad into the water. And then find where the bubbles are coming from, and there you go, you found the leakage.

Sleeping Pad Valve Replacement

Your sleeping pad’s valve might be squashed, broken, or damaged, and it might not be working properly nay it might not be working at all. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should throw it away and get a new one.

Most of the sleeping pad valves can be bought separately in case you need to change it. Most of the replacement kits contain a valve and a glue.

You might think it’s a hard thing to do but actually the replacement process is very easy.

So if you have a broken valve, you can replace the valve in 8 steps after buying the replacement kit:

Open the valve as far as you can
Grab the valve cap at the base with a pair of pliers
Pull the valve away from the pad while twisting and pulling the valve straight
Clean the valve seat after you remove the broken valve
Put glue around the perimeter of barbed valve end
Push and twist the valve into the pad until its fully seated
Clean the remaining glue
Inflate your pad and let it sit for at least 10 hours

Here is a Therm-a-Rest’s video of Valve Replacement Tutorial:

How to Clean a Self Inflated Sleeping Pad

Cleaning your sleeping pad is highly important for its longevity but you need to do it in a rightful way or you might end up screwing it up.

When cleaning your sleeping pad:

Never use a washing machine
Make sure to use a non-detergent soap
During the cleaning process always keep the valves closed
If you have sap on your pad you can use an alcohol wipe to remove it.
Before you store it, make sure to dry it well with the valves open

What Is the R Value on Sleeping Pads

The R-Value is a measure of how warm a sleeping pad is.

If you’ve ever bought a sleeping pad or thought of buying one, you probably came across with the R-Value, the R-Value is without a doubt the most important factor for deciding what kind of sleeping pad you need.

Although it seems like a hard technical term, it’s actually very simple:

Quick Answer: The R-Value is a measure of how warm a sleeping pad is

And for those geeks who seek the technical explanation, R-Value is a measure of how well a two-dimensional barrier resists the conductive flow of heat (in our case the two-dimensional barrier is the sleeping pad, but the term of R-Value is used in every industry where you need insulation, such as building walls, windows, etc.)

Returning to sleeping pads, as you might have guessed the higher the R-Value the more insulated the sleeping pad is. This measure is highly important because it gives you the ability to compare two tents’ insulation in a technical manner.

Why Is R-Value Important for Sleeping Pads

First thing you need to know, “the heat flows from hot to cold” in the universe we live in, so in our case, you are the “hot” and the ground is the “cold”. Therefore, the cold ground sucks the heat away from your body, and the only thing that protects you from the ground is your sleeping pad.

If you only go camping in summer where it,s 70°F-80°F then the R-Value doesn’t really important for you. But if you go camping in relatively cold weather, the R-Value must be your first priority.

What Is a Good R-Value for a Sleeping Pad

The sleeping pad that offers the highest R-Value is the best for keeping you away from the cold but it might not be the optimum one for you, because, as R-value increases, the weight and packaged size of the sleeping bag also increases.

If you’re into cold weather camping, I’ve created a solid buying guide of best cold weather sleeping pads.

It really depends on at what temperature you usually go camping. Below I created a table to show R-value / Temperature rating correlation.

By using the table, you can decide the minimum R-Value that you should go for.

What Size Camping Tent Do You Need

May 8, 2020 by Ricky Leave a Comment

You need enough vestibule area to keep your gear out, so you would have enough space in the tent.

Choosing the right size camping tent is crucial, selecting a tent that is too small can make your trip miserable, likewise, selecting an unnecessarily big tent would cause you to carry an extra load.

There are several factors you need to take into consideration, I will cover each one to help you to decide the optimum size for you.

What Size Is Optimum for You?

You need to answer three questions to decide the optimum tent size;

How many people will be sleeping in the tent?
Do I have enough vestibule area?
Do you camp in rainy seasons?

How many people will be sleeping in the tent?

This number should be the minimum size, So for instance, if you’re camping with your partner, you should go for an at least 2P tent, this number might increase regarding the other two questions.

Do I have enough vestibule area?

Choosing the right size camping tent is crucial, selecting a tent that is too small can make your trip miserable, likewise, selecting an unnecessarily big tent would cause you to carry an extra load.

You need enough vestibule area to keep your gear out, so you would have enough space in the tent. Based on my experience I recommend going for a size that offers at least 6 sq ft of vestibule area per person.

For instance: If you’re camping as four, and if the tent you’re thinking of buying is a 4P tent that offers 20 sq ft, that wouldn’t be enough, in that case, go for a size bigger.

For car camping tents vestibule area is generally not a bottleneck, but for backpacking tents, it might be. I’ve created a table below to give you some idea of the floor and vestibule area of backpacking tents.

Tent Size	Approx. Floor Area	Approx. Vestibule Area
1P Tent	21 sq ft	8 sq ft
2P Tent	29 sq ft	15 sq ft
3P Tent	4o sq ft	18 sq ft

Do you camp in rainy seasons?

If you don’t have a really quality tent that has a footprint covering the vestibule area, you most likely to keep your gear inside of the tent in rainy conditions which will be taking a great amount of space, If that is the case, then go for a size bigger (If you’re camping as 2 go for a 3P tent).

If you want to learn more about tents check out my article where I explained what are tents made of.

What Are Tents Made Of?

May 4, 2020 by Ricky Leave a Comment

If you’re an outdoor enthusiast who likes to know every detail about his/her gear or if you’re a fellow who likes to know everything before making a purchase (such as me) then keep reading. In this article, I will explain everything you need to know about tent fabrics.

There are other things to consider to understand a tent’s fabric quality. You need to look at the specs of the fabric as well, in general, fabric specifications are shown like this: “68D 330T Ripstop Nylon 3000mm polyurethane & silicone“

What are the Main Parts of Tents?

Tents have 3 main parts which contain fabric;

Canopy
Rainfly
Tent Floor

What are the Canopy, Rainfly, and Tent Floor made of?

All three parts are generally made of either Nylon or Polyester. Both Nylon and Polyester are lightweight and durable synthetic polymer-based materials.

But for tents, Nylon is the better option, it’s lighter and yet more durable than polyester. And nylon stretches more than polyester, therefore, packs down smaller.

But as you might have guessed Nylon tents are more expensive compared to Polyester tents.

What are the specs of fabrics the tents are made of?

Just looking at the fabric type wouldn’t say much about fabric, there are other things to consider when it comes to identifying a fabric’s quality.

Generally, brands provide the specifications of fabrics like this:

“68D 330T Ripstop Nylon 3000mm polyurethane & silicone“

All those numbers and texts represent a feature of the fabric, therefore I’ve explained each by color-coding them.

Ripstop nylons are reinforced nylons with different techniques to prevent tearing, If you want a more robust tent then go for a tent that features a ripstop nylon fabric.

How dense is the fabric?
What is the thread count of the fabric?
If it is Ripstop or not?
How waterproof is the fabric?

Let’s take a look at each one.

What is the fabric density?

It’s a unit of density based on the length and weight of a yarn or fiber. Even though there are other factors that affect the durability of a tent’s fabric such as nylon type, usually, the more the denier the more the durability. But also it gets heavier as the denier of the fabric increases.

Generally, ultralight backpacking tents are made of 10 to 30 denier fabric and it goes up to 300D for bigger car camping tents.

And in general fabric floors of tents’ are made of more denier fabric to prevent rips and other damages.

What is the thread count?

It is a measure of how many threads are woven into one square inch of fabric. Although there are several other factors that affect the durability, a higher thread count represents tighter weave in the fabric, and usually, the larger the thread count the more the durability.

What is Ripstop?

Ripstop fabrics are the reinforced fabrics that are more resistant to tearing and ripping. To make ripstop nylon, the reinforcing yarns are interwoven in a crosshatch pattern at frequent intervals during weaving.

How waterproof is the fabric?

Woven fabrics such as Nylon and polyester fabrics are not waterproof, so they get coated with PU or silicone coating to make them waterproof.

If you want to learn the difference between PU and Silicone coating I would recommend reading this article.

In general waterproofness of a tent is measured via a process called hydrostatic head (HH) testing.

Waterproofness rating (Hydrostatic Head testing results) for tents are measured in millimeters and it varies between 1.000mm to 10.000mm. Although there are some other factors that affect the waterproofness of a tent, usually, the higher the rating the more waterproof the tent fabric.

Generally, backpacking tents’ fabric ratings vary from 1000mm to 3000mm. And 3000mm is considered good for a backpacking tent, for instance, Nemo Hornet’s Rainfly fabric is rated 1200mm, MSR Hubba Hubba Nx’s Rainfly is rated 3000mm.

Summary

In the last decades, tents are made of Nylon and Polyester fabrics, Nylon is better but also the more expensive option since it offers more durability with less weight.

But there are other things to consider to understand a tent’s fabric quality. You need to look at the specs of the fabric as well, in general, fabric specifications are shown like this: