Bushwalk Australia

Has anyone had experience/bought a downmat/prices etc ? Am thinking of getting one to boost sleeping temps for my wife, as she tends to be a cold sleeper. Have to keep her happy if she is to contnue walking with me! Apparently higher insulation values than Thermarest ?
Cheers
Phil.

Exped Downmat experience? Strewth yes - Wife bought hers (Downmat 9) for the insulation factor as we usually always camp on snow. I persisted for another year using two mats, till I borrowed hers. I could not believe the warmth let alone the comefort. I now have a downmat 7 and have had to downgrade sleeping bags as I get too hot.
We recently traversed the Frankland range and suffered a lot of rain, tent floor also decided leak alarmingly. Both myself and my mate were using Downmats (7). Because of the height afforded (ie thickness) we were able to keep our bags dry. My worry about wet mats proved unfounded, it seems they are totally waterproof. Cannot recommend them highly enough.
Cheers,
Randal.
PS I don't have shares in Exped.

Both Thermarest and Exped list the R value of their mats.
The Exped DM 7 is R 5.9, the closest by Thermarest is the Basecamp, 1150g R size, R5.
The ProLite Plus is R3.8.
Having used the DM 7 and the ProLite Plus I take those figures to be accurate as a comparison.
So that means the DM retains 55% more warmth than the ProLite Plus.
Franco

They work! Found cheapest price from Bivouac in NZ. Ensure you get latest design with internal pump,much easier to inflate. Cheers.

Exped mats are great!
I tried a downmat now just use the synthetic version for tours (have found them warm enough in snow).
Seven were returned with delamination issues (apparently caused by moisture). It was unclear whether this was moisture from the air in them or from getting wet.
The result was numerous 'pincushion' type holes/leaks in large areas of the mats. Exped replaced them (no worries but did take some 'discussion'...).
With the new version we use (Exped) mat covers and treat them with 'kid' gloves.
Repairing them can be a pain. After finding the hole, they then need to be dried to apply the patch, not easy in Tas.

I have the older style that uses the bag for a pump. The newer integrated pump is a major improvement compared to that system. Depends what you are after as I have a Therma-rest Prolite 4 and find I nearly always use that due to lighter weight and ease of inflation. For hard bunks in huts at winter time the Exped is much nicer and if camping on snow it is the way to go but then again I did not find my Therm-rest too shabby either. If I was snow camping mainly I would go with the Exped but for all round trade-offs the Prolite 4 is the better mat.

Cheers Brett

Heavy but amazingly comfortable. We no longer stay in caravan park cabins when we travel about, as it is more ocmfortable sleeping on our exped mats!

I have the a three quarter length and my partner the full length. Agree with the comments about being a very warm and comfortable mat BUT it is bulky and can be awkward to pack compared to my old 3/4 Thermarest. I have begun to experiment and combine my three quarter Exped with a very lightweight booster sleeping bag (in order to keep the overall weight and bulk down). I'm amazed at how warm I can keep with this combination. Not warm enough for winter in the snow but comfortable in autumn conditions.

hmmm. anyone had one come apart between the separate chambers/baffles yet??

i had all the down come out the valves. It was replaced.

My downmat 7 arrived today. I paid $215 and purchased online from mainpeak (a web special).

I had to watch the demo video on the exped website to get the hang of inflating it. It's quite easy to inflate and deflate once you are shown how.

I'm impressed with it's relatively light weight and it doesn't take up much space when packed.

I like the design of the mat and it's stuff sack that allows the sack to be used as a pillow when stuffed with clothing (you turn the sack inside out and there are ties for lashing the sack to loops on the end of the mat).

There expensive and heavy but soooooooooo good. Like sleeping on a cloud. And they get warm at night. The thermarest just wasn't doing it for me and I ended up with sore shoulders the next day. But then, cause I had the extra weight, I ended up sore anyway, but atleast I slept well.

I have the old exped downmat 7 but still think it's fantastic, even if it does take a bit longer to pump up using the bag. I'm not sure about you all saying it is heavy or bulky - mine packs up smaller and is the same weight as my old thermarest - does the new pump system weigh more or make it more bulky maybe?
I have an old, due for replacement Neve three season sleeping bag, which only has down on the top, and the mat slips in the back. We were up in the Walls of Jerusalem in the snow last week and my sleep system consisted of thermals, down jacket, beanie, socks, thermolite reactor? liner, bag and mat. It got down to minus 6 overnight and I was toasty. It definitely makes a huge difference to warmth and also to comfort, meaning you sleep better and therefore function better during the day.

On the weight my Pro-lite 4 is 950 grams with the Exped down mat & being around 1100 grams with packed size being much of a muchness Unless you are shaving grams not a huge difference.

Cheers Brett

I have had an exped synmat 7 over the last year and love it. No baffles or other problems so far. It does feel somewhat more easy to damage than a prolite but as a side sleeper I couldnt go back.

My hubby & I have the Exped Downmat 9 which we join together with our s/bags.
It's a "couples thing"!
Bought special coupling from US but my wide pant-elastic homemade coupling was miles better & easier to put on & off. You need 2 or 3 around the top 2/3's. Great comfort & warmth for camping.

If you can find the pennies, invest. You won't regret it. We bought ours from NZ Bivouac.

Exped mats are great - till they leak. I have a synmat (slightly lower R rating & a fair bit cheaper) that I was in love with till this last weekend when it slowly let all the air out over night . Still, appear as though its repairable

n

So are they less rugged or more rugged than Thermarest; which is all I have experience with, every T'rest I have ever owned started to slow leak air with-in 4 years, it doesn't seem to matter which nylon is used either, I have a heavy weight 1.5inch in 4 oz Taslan that is now a seive, may have to coat that one with dilute silicon and see if it fixes the leak.
Sorry for the ramble.

My take is with the Exped down mats the original with the bag inflation was reliable (punctures aside but that is the risk with any blow up mat) but the first of the internal pump ones had delamination issues due to a bad batch of materials. From my readings of this site Exped after a bit of nudging honoured their warranty. Best to pack a repair kit with any blow up mat. However, according to a big user of mats you still have the issue that the mat needs to be bone dry for the adhesive to work. No problem at home but I would imagine on day three of rain filled trek this is not so easy.

Have not had an issue with either Therma-rest or Exped but could just be lucky or excessively careful one but it sounds like it will only be a matter of time. Regardless though I could not live with a foam mat again.

Cheers Brett

I have had my Exped Downmat 9 for nearly two years & I have encountered a couple of interesting things.
1. When I store them inflated, they do over time loose their near maximum inflation but have never gone flat(after 2-3 months). They are normally stored for long periods of time over the winter when it's obviously cooler.
2. I have not had them go flat overnight, but on really cold nights, it has lost it's tightness (colder air contracted?).
3. In hot conditions (Hinchinbrook Island), the air inside expanded more than I had inflated it but still didn't seem to leak at either/returning stages(when the night got cooler).

lyndoor

lyndoor wrote:I have had my Exped Downmat 9 for nearly two years & I have encountered a couple of interesting things.
1. When I store them inflated, they do over time loose their near maximum inflation but have never gone flat(after 2-3 months). They are normally stored for long periods of time over the winter when it's obviously cooler.
2. I have not had them go flat overnight, but on really cold nights, it has lost it's tightness (colder air contracted?).
3. In hot conditions (Hinchinbrook Island), the air inside expanded more than I had inflated it but still didn't seem to leak at either/returning stages(when the night got cooler).

lyndoor

Yep, I wandered if mine was simply reacting to atmospheric pressure as it got very cold over night.

Two things though:

1) Body heat should nearly have countered any losses due to ambient pressure drop,

2) After the 4th time blowing mine up, I was kinda leaning towards a leak - pretty strong evidence, no?

n

hi i have used an exped for 3three years now and love it. the first one i had did have the delamination problem which occured after 18 months when returned to the manufacturer it was replaced free of charge with the new version. So far so good. I like it due to its smaller size(i use a 3/4 mat as i'm short) and its comfort is superior to my old thermarest.

crap or good, downmat 7s are on sale at Bivouac NZ now for $157 with Free delivery and i got one.

http://www.bivouac.co.nz/

I brought a 3/4 Exped Downmat about 4 years ago.
Was great for about a year then the valve started to come undone in the middle of the night, all the time.
Very disappointed. Had to replace it with a light Thermarest. Had no problems with the Thermarest.

I noted they have a 5 year warranty
Did you try to contact them for repairs Melinda?

Hi ninjapuppet,
I did try to take it back to the shop I brought it from.
The owner just kept saying that I wasn't doing it up properly, etc,etc.
And he wonders why I don't shop there much any more!
But you are right, I may still have the receipt, if I can find it, I might have another go.