Long lost Thermarest mattress

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Postboxer
Posts: 1929
Joined: 24 Jul 2013, 5:19pm

Long lost Thermarest mattress

Post by Postboxer »

Rummaging through the mess in my loft earlier I found my old self inflating mattress, I actually thought I had left it inflated behind the wardrobe in the flat we left 13 years ago. So it's spent the last 13 years tightly rolled up in the loft so now I'm seeing what state it's in. So far I've unwrapped it and opened the valve, unsurprisingly, it isn't doing much so far, going to leave it for a while to see if the air starts to find it's way in and it unrolls itself, if not I'll slowly unroll it and inflate it to see if it's still airtight, then see if it will inflate itself next time.
mattsccm
Posts: 5103
Joined: 28 Nov 2009, 9:44pm

Re: Long lost Thermarest mattress

Post by mattsccm »

Give it a bit of puff to help it first time.
Pendodave
Posts: 531
Joined: 3 Jun 2020, 8:27am

Re: Long lost Thermarest mattress

Post by Pendodave »

Sometimes mouldy if inflated by puffing, so don't suck...
NickWi
Posts: 208
Joined: 28 Apr 2011, 8:14pm

Re: Long lost Thermarest mattress

Post by NickWi »

I don't know if this will work or not, but close the valve and give it a bit of gentle heat, a hair drier or proping it up next to a radiator should do it and let physics do the rest. At worst it'll soften the fabirc to help it unroll.
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pjclinch
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Re: Long lost Thermarest mattress

Post by pjclinch »

Pendodave wrote:Sometimes mouldy if inflated by puffing, so don't suck...


I've often heard about this notional problem, but never first hand from someone that's come across it themselves.
My original T-rest, bought 30 years ago, has always had extra blows for a firmer mat and there's no sign of a mould problem.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
DevonDamo
Posts: 1036
Joined: 24 May 2011, 1:42am

Re: Long lost Thermarest mattress

Post by DevonDamo »

pjclinch wrote:
Pendodave wrote:Sometimes mouldy if inflated by puffing, so don't suck...


I've often heard about this notional problem, but never first hand from someone that's come across it themselves.
My original T-rest, bought 30 years ago, has always had extra blows for a firmer mat and there's no sign of a mould problem.


Different sport, but if you Google 'Mike firth aspergillosis' you'll find a particularly nasty worst-case example of what can happen if you inhale from anything which has had a chance to grow mould - i.e. damp, warm and unventilated. He was a member of a diving forum I used and it was a shock when he posted what had happened to him and then we gradually heard how he was deteriorating. It's a rare occurrence, but being overly careful about avoiding accidentally inhaling from any bits of dive kit, inflatable kayaks (and now thermarests) which have been hanging around damp at room temperature is probably not the worst paranoia to have.
Cyclewala
Posts: 277
Joined: 7 Nov 2019, 11:07am

Re: Long lost Thermarest mattress

Post by Cyclewala »

Postboxer wrote:Rummaging through the mess in my loft earlier I found my old self inflating mattress, I actually thought I had left it inflated behind the wardrobe in the flat we left 13 years ago. So it's spent the last 13 years tightly rolled up in the loft so now I'm seeing what state it's in. So far I've unwrapped it and opened the valve, unsurprisingly, it isn't doing much so far, going to leave it for a while to see if the air starts to find it's way in and it unrolls itself, if not I'll slowly unroll it and inflate it to see if it's still airtight, then see if it will inflate itself next time.


Well, did it work?
Pendodave
Posts: 531
Joined: 3 Jun 2020, 8:27am

Re: Long lost Thermarest mattress

Post by Pendodave »

pjclinch wrote:
Pendodave wrote:Sometimes mouldy if inflated by puffing, so don't suck...


I've often heard about this notional problem, but never first hand from someone that's come across it themselves.
My original T-rest, bought 30 years ago, has always had extra blows for a firmer mat and there's no sign of a mould problem.

I can't see through the casing of my old orange thermorest, but I also had a lilo-style multimat which definitely showed signs of growth. Although, of course, that had a lot more humid air blown into it.
Current neoair is inflated with a stuffsac to avoid possible contamination - it's too expensive to risk it!
Postboxer
Posts: 1929
Joined: 24 Jul 2013, 5:19pm

Re: Long lost Thermarest mattress

Post by Postboxer »

Unsurprisingly it didn't self-inflate, eventually I unrolled it, it felt quite supple, not like the insides were cracking or anything, I've had it near the radiator and occasionally I'm blowing into it a little bit. Will wait until it's fully inflated, assuming it is still airtight, then leave it a while then pack it down and see if it will instantly inflate itself at all.
djb
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Joined: 24 Mar 2013, 9:27pm
Location: Canada eh

Re: Long lost Thermarest mattress

Post by djb »

I’d give it time. We were once given one that had been kept rolled up for ages and it seems to me that it very gradually expanded properly.
But only time will tell.13 years is a good long period.
Seems to me even when still slow expanding, extra puffs still worked well getting it to the right pressure for sleeping.
djb
Posts: 435
Joined: 24 Mar 2013, 9:27pm
Location: Canada eh

Re: Long lost Thermarest mattress

Post by djb »

djb wrote:I’d give it time. We were once given one that had been kept rolled up for ages and it seems to me that it very gradually expanded properly over weeks and months.
But only time will tell.13 years is a good long period. I think ours always stayed slow self inflating.
Seems to me even when still slow expanding, extra puffs still worked well getting it to the right pressure for sleeping.
cycle tramp
Posts: 3532
Joined: 5 Aug 2009, 7:22pm

Re: Long lost Thermarest mattress

Post by cycle tramp »

DevonDamo wrote:
pjclinch wrote:
Pendodave wrote:Sometimes mouldy if inflated by puffing, so don't suck...


I've often heard about this notional problem, but never first hand from someone that's come across it themselves.
My original T-rest, bought 30 years ago, has always had extra blows for a firmer mat and there's no sign of a mould problem.


Different sport, but if you Google 'Mike firth aspergillosis' you'll find a particularly nasty worst-case example of what can happen if you inhale from anything which has had a chance to grow mould - i.e. damp, warm and unventilated. He was a member of a diving forum I used and it was a shock when he posted what had happened to him and then we gradually heard how he was deteriorating. It's a rare occurrence, but being overly careful about avoiding accidentally inhaling from any bits of dive kit, inflatable kayaks (and now thermarests) which have been hanging around damp at room temperature is probably not the worst paranoia to have.


Thanks for the warning - its greatly appreciated and something I'll keep in mind when I dig out my thermarest. However given the situation that a percentage of thermarest are bought and used by cyclists, that thermarest never made a model that could be pumped up using a bicycle pump - thereby avoiding any potential risk in the first place
Motorhead: god was never on your sidehttps://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&client=m ... +your+side
Pendodave
Posts: 531
Joined: 3 Jun 2020, 8:27am

Re: Long lost Thermarest mattress

Post by Pendodave »

cycle tramp wrote:
DevonDamo wrote:
pjclinch wrote:
I've often heard about this notional problem, but never first hand from someone that's come across it themselves.
My original T-rest, bought 30 years ago, has always had extra blows for a firmer mat and there's no sign of a mould problem.


Different sport, but if you Google 'Mike firth aspergillosis' you'll find a particularly nasty worst-case example of what can happen if you inhale from anything which has had a chance to grow mould - i.e. damp, warm and unventilated. He was a member of a diving forum I used and it was a shock when he posted what had happened to him and then we gradually heard how he was deteriorating. It's a rare occurrence, but being overly careful about avoiding accidentally inhaling from any bits of dive kit, inflatable kayaks (and now thermarests) which have been hanging around damp at room temperature is probably not the worst paranoia to have.


Thanks for the warning - its greatly appreciated and something I'll keep in mind when I dig out my thermarest. However given the situation that a percentage of thermarest are bought and used by cyclists, that thermarest never made a model that could be pumped up using a bicycle pump - thereby avoiding any potential risk in the first place

My interest was piqued by this, so i looked online assuming that someone had knocked one up. Apparently not.
Fwiw, i use the thermarest dry bag which has a plastic gromit on. It takes a few squeezes, but not many.
cycle tramp
Posts: 3532
Joined: 5 Aug 2009, 7:22pm

Re: Long lost Thermarest mattress

Post by cycle tramp »

cycle tramp wrote:
DevonDamo wrote:
pjclinch wrote:
I've often heard about this notional problem, but never first hand from someone that's come across it themselves.
My original T-rest, bought 30 years ago, has always had extra blows for a firmer mat and there's no sign of a mould problem.


Different sport, but if you Google 'Mike firth aspergillosis' you'll find a particularly nasty worst-case example of what can happen if you inhale from anything which has had a chance to grow mould - i.e. damp, warm and unventilated. He was a member of a diving forum I used and it was a shock when he posted what had happened to him and then we gradually heard how he was deteriorating. It's a rare occurrence, but being overly careful about avoiding accidentally inhaling from any bits of dive kit, inflatable kayaks (and now thermarests) which have been hanging around damp at room temperature is probably not the worst paranoia to have.


Thanks for the warning - its greatly appreciated and something I'll keep in mind when I dig out my thermarest. However given the situation that a percentage of thermarest are bought and used by cyclists, i'm surprised that thermarest never made a model that could be pumped up using a bicycle pump - thereby avoiding any potential risk in the first place
Motorhead: god was never on your sidehttps://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&client=m ... +your+side
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