saliva and air mattress

[alanm]

Does anyone know if there is such a beast as a "Siliva filter" for wont of a better term, that I can use when inflating a mattress. I have managed to delaminate the joins on 2 Exped UL SYN mat duo's. Each one lasts about 400 nights ( or three years - ish) prior to the internal seams parting. I have a friend who also uses an Exped UL, albeit a single, mattress and his has lasted about 6 years with approx the same usage as me. The only difference is, he uses a small USB air pump to pump his up. Based on this, I'm assuming it's the siliva in my breath that's causing the internal breakdown. I'm not keen on using a pump because; a) the noise, and b) I get a really good lung workout and I always notice the difference after a couple of weeks into a trip. I've tried a Google search, it just tells me to go back to bed!!!!

Thanks in advance.

Al.

[Lamont]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nux8bZ-bJV8
Buy a nylofume bag ($2 -weighs 25gms I think) from ebay and off you go. The thin ones just kept tearing for me -one nylofume has lasted a year so far.
Been doing this for a while. All credit to Franco.
I don't know about the saliva- this is just so much easier if you use an inflatable.
Three bags for my xlite. STS one bag.

[bernieq]

Make your own inflation bag - fits all mats, including exped, s2s, thermarest etc

viewtopic.php?f=53&t=21748&p=291491#p284387

[Mutley]

Exactly the same thing happened to 2 of my Exped mats and I used lung power also. I have been inflating the same way my S2S UL green mat and no problems. Not a big fan of the exped mat as it was so noisy. The S2S is the best mat I have used

[CasualNerd]

To be fair Exped mats have a reputation for splitting and in the one I opened up the plastic baffles were torn through and not delaminated at all. The plastic is melted together and quite strong at the joins, but the baffles themselves are quite thin and prone to tear.

Still worth using a bag to avoid mould of course.

[sailfish]

I have read several reviews that are of the opinion that exped mats have poor durability so I avoided them. I think most peoples experience with inflatables in general is that the most significant cause of failure is pressure. Yes, some inflatables are not as strong as others but if you over inflate at any point, you stress the seams and joins and stretch the fabric. Over-inflation includes, leaving it fully inflated during the day (as the temperature rises, so too does the pressure) and standing or kneeling on the mat causes excessive pressure. Often the failure shows up as multiple pinhole sites that are very difficult to locate. Instead, if you just roll onto a mat and never stand or kneel on it, you cause less stress and it seems to last much longer. My neoair instructions specifically advise not inflating by breath as the condensation encourages fungal growth and impairs thermal performance. I simply use a garbage bag to inflate it. Just scoop air into the bag, pinch the bag off, hold it over the valve and squeeze the bag. If done right (practice), one bag full of air is enough to fully inflate the mat. Sometimes I need to take 2 goes. You can get bag pumps, that can be used as the mats storage bag as well.

[wildwanderer]

Slight segue

How do you remove mould from the internals of a air mattress?

I have one that Id like to use again but it has some dark dots inside.

[Birdman]

I have a NeoAir Xlite and later also bought a NeoAir XTherm. That last one came with a pump sack that I nowadays use to inflate both mattresses. It doubles as a drybag for my sleepingbag.

I'm not sure if saliva (or moisture) really affects the lifetime of the mattress, but the NeoAirs have a lifetime warranty anyway. I had my Xlite replaced under warranty when it developed tiny leaks on the baffles.