Exped Fail Big fail

[Thornbill]

One thing that comes to mind to is that it's not much good if your mat is uncomfortable....lying awake
because the mat doesn't work for you I doubt you'd care how durable it was.

Good points. Perhaps I should rephrase. Durability is higher on my priority list than it might be for others, but weight and comfort still come into the equation for sure. In every other way, I lean towards the Synmat UL9. But there's that little niggle stopping me. Hearing and reading that Exped's warranty/replacement procedures seem very good does allay concerns somewhat though.

[neilmny]

[...............but weight and comfort still come into the equation for sure. In every other way, I lean towards the Synmat UL9. But there's that little niggle stopping me. ..........

If I was in your position I'd feel the same way. Luckily I bought mine before I heard of any issues so it was too late to worry .

[andrewa]

ive got a couple of exped mats, and not had any problems with them, and reckon they're great, however I'm *&%$#! careful with them, and don't bounce around on them/kneel on them or leave them inflated in a tent when they may heat up. I reckon a 2 yr warranty is reasonable for what it's worth.

[Strider]

Guys we are talking about a 7 year old Exped mat here - this being well within the production period where this was a known fault and reporting of vertical baffle delaminations was quite common.

In what seemed like months of research prior to purchasing my DM UL7 a couple of years ago, I did not come across one report of this type of failure (or any failure) with recently produced Exped mats.

Go the Exped!

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[Nuts]

They are all pretty good these days (T-rest/Exped.. i suspect that klymit might hold trumps for durable seams and comfort) but understandably upsetting when paying a relatively large amount, relative to expectations. Are they RF welded? I'm sure iv'e read this too but iv'e cut up older ones and they had heat activated glue backing (ie.. they can potentially be shortened or repaired..?)

Has the horsecat bolted? : (

[stepbystep]

Hope they've come good, my first one blew its baffles. Just bought a good looking second hand one for $50. If I get a year I'll be stoked, they're damn comfy!

[Moondog55]

Hope they've come good, my first one blew its baffles. Just bought a good looking second hand one for $50. If I get a year I'll be stoked, they're damn comfy!

I'd have been happy if I got a year, it blew on me the second time I used it, but I have been using the same Thermarests for 30 years almost, a repair or two for sure but never an outright failure.

They are comfortable but the S2S are more so for some reason; at least for me they are,

[Nuts]

Shear force acts, wanting to tear their seams apart by default. Think of them as the 'value' you get from 5 star rather than three! We lost a couple of t-rests almost straight away, others have been out for Many nights now (maybe 150-200 nights) without drama. Contaminated glue join, older stock and aging glue, some alchemy there even without any additional abuse. I'm not sure i'd ever trust them to be more than a luxury..

[norts]

Exped - replaced a down mat twice, down started coming out of the valve. 3rd one only used occassionally now.
Exped replaced my pillow after the baffles blew.
Exped replaced my Lightning 60 pack while on the AT. It had only done about 700 miles. Nothing major , just straps wearing through the hip belt pockets. It was replaced within two hours of contacting the company. Good service.
I now use a Thermarest Neo Air All seasons. I had my first one for about 5-6 years including (159 days on the AT) . This year the baffles blew out on it and and I had a large bulge. This happened while on the PCT. I contact T/rest and they replaced it, didnt have to send it to them, just sent some photos of the bulge. I did tell them how old and how much work it had done. Posted one out to my next resupply town. Good service
Roger

[sim1oz]

Exped (via Bogong Equip) replaced two of our Synmat UL7 under warranty without a hassle as they failed pretty quickly. They were both mediums. The two large I bought at the same time are still going strong. I find the Expeds really comfortable to sleep on and look after them carefully. I think the original large ones we bought are 4 years old now so I hope they'll last a while yet. Happy to stick with Exped at the moment.

[Nuts]

The 'horizontal' baffles have the advantage chance of 'lucky' fails

Iv'e considered trying a commercial bag sealer, the companies seem to take them back without too much drama (as others have found).

[Moondog55]

Wow a built in pillow, that's quite a spectacular fail compared to mine
Exped won't negotiate a return outside of the warranty period even for a "Known problem" so I just have to wear it.
Perhaps the other one will last longer; I do hope so and perhaps the de-baffled unit still has some use as an under layer cushion I''ll give that a try sometime soon
But I'm happy to pay a premium purchase price to get the lifetime guarantee of S2S or Thermarest in future

[hobbitle]

Wow a built in pillow, that's quite a spectacular fail compared to mine
Exped won't negotiate a return outside of the warranty period even for a "Known problem" so I just have to wear it.
Perhaps the other one will last longer; I do hope so and perhaps the de-baffled unit still has some use as an under layer cushion I''ll give that a try sometime soon
But I'm happy to pay a premium purchase price to get the lifetime guarantee of S2S or Thermarest in future

Yes happy my new Xtherm has a lifetime warranty.

Regarding the blown baffles, mine definitely seemed to go when under point load. The first baffle went when i kind of half sat up on my side (resting on my elbow) to talk to my tent buddy, the baffle near my elbow blew. After that two more went but i feel like the problem is such that once one goes, they all are 10 times more vulnerable. I guess the key to preserving them is not to overinflated them (so as to reduce the air pressure when you put weight on them) and to try not to point load them (which is, you know, annoying - because you do want to at least be able to sit on your mat).

[norts]

Mine was a bit lower down.

[neilmny]

Nice one norts a built in lumbar support..........

[Nuts]

Great side recliner, elbow propping

[Drifting]

We have three Downmat 9 pads which have been lightly used, and one is delaminating. Not happy at all- they are 7 years old, but they haven't been used enough to justify that. I'll be replacing it with something else.

[Wingnut]

I love my Exped tents and backpack but I steer clear of their down mats...prefer not to risk it...

[Hermione]

Not such an impressive blowout as those pictured above, fine to sleep on if I put the lumpy but under my feet. I guess it will only get worse though it's about 3 years old now I think. Debating what to replace with, my downmat is soooo comfy and warm but delamination seems to be fairly common. Maybe NeoAir Xtherm, although it's a bit noisy and as I thrash around a lot likely to get me kicked out of the tent.
Ah well more first world problems I guess.

[Kingsleythelost]

I know that blow out feeling... Thankfully these happened 3 months before the end of the two year warranty period. Exped returned happily. I own another three with no issues so far

[Nuts]

Hermione. You could try a few stitches and some aquaseal (not that I have yet, just a lingering thought).

[Hermione]

Interesting idea Nuts, taking to my mat with a needle would take some courage though! Are there actually internal baffles or are the top and bottom glued/welded directly to each other? I will have to investigate further, until then there's always my trusty thermarest (just my hips don't like it).