While a leaking air mat on a trip can be disheartening, to say the least, it’s usually fairly straightforward to fix with a repair kit. Remember, a repair done on a trip doesn’t have to be the final one, it’s just to make the mat functional until the end of the trip. Even if you don’t have patches designed for sleeping mat repairs, you may find that first aid kit tape suffices for the rest of the trip, and you can do a more thorough repair at home.
The first thing is to find the leak. Sometimes this is easy as you can hear the air leak or see a hole. Other times, this can be much harder, especially if there is a tiny hole or a really slow leak. In these cases, it works well to use water to identify the leak (for details, see Care and maintenance on the following page). However, you need to make a judgement: is it worth getting your sleeping mat wet? Are you able to dry it adequately before doing the repair and subsequently using it? If not, given that you have a slow leak, you may be better off just accepting the fact that the mat will leak a little over the course of the evening, and you need to re-inflate it during the night. This is usually a better option than sleeping on a wet mat, with a repair that needs to be done again and again. However, if you have good sun and warm conditions, and you can dry out the mat, then locating the hole by immersing the mat in still water is helpful. It may be possible to locate the leak with soapy water – bubbles will form. Do this away from water sources.
After finding the leak, let the leak area dry, then clean it with an alcohol-based wipe from a first aid kit. Then follow the patch instructions and glue. Some adhesives need time to dry before applying the patch, curing. In general, make sure that the patch covers at least ne centimeter surrounding the hole, but follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Fixing leaks on a seam can be more challenging, so take extra care to patch well.