Therm-a-Rest Trail Comfort – Initial Report

Personal biographical information:

• Name:  Josh Cormier
• Age: 26
• Gender: Male
• Height: 5’ 11” (1.80 m)
• Weight: 175 lb (79 kg)
• Email address:  swifteagle1 at hotmail dot com
• City: Los Gatos, California
• Date: 12-Jul-06

Backpacking background:

I started backpacking with the Boy Scouts when was 11 and have been camping and backpacking ever since. I’m now geared more toward challenging trips ranging from week-long to weekend in mountainous areas covering from 7-14 miles a day. I would classify my gear as mid weight although now I am trying to move more toward lightweight. I now go backpacking at least once a year in the Sierra Nevada Mountains as well as monthly car camping trips with the Scouts.

Product Information: (information taken from Therm-a-Rest website)

- Item Description: Therm-a-Rest Trail Comfort Mattress (Long)

- Listed weight (long): 3lb 3oz (1.45 kg)

- Measured weight (long):  3lb 2oz (1.42 kg)

- Listed Rolled Dimensions (long): 26 x 5.1in (66 x 13cm)

- Measured Rolled Dimensions (long): 26 x 6in (66 x 15cm)

- Listed Dimensions (long): 77 x 25in (196 x 63cm)

- Measured Dimensions (long): 77 x 25in (196 x 63cm)

- Listed Thickness: 2 in (5cm)

- Measured Thickness: 2 in (5cm)

- R-value: 5

- Material: 150D ripstop polyester

- Manufactures web site: http://www.thermarest.com

- Year of Manufacture: 2006

- MSRP: $79.95

- Item Received: 3-Jun-06

- Initial Condition: The item was received in new condition

- Package Includes: Therm-a-Rest Trail Comfort mat, plastic sleeve, and instructions on its use and care.

Field information:

I camp with the Boy Scouts up to 11 times a year in different locations. Each of these campouts consists of two nights of camping in various places. We camp rain or shine in all kinds of terrain, so this should give me a good all around testing of the Therm-a-Rest Trail Comfort. The great testing weather we normally encounter is moist air, fog, cold nights, and occasionally heavy wind and rain. The places we usually camp include redwood forests, grassy meadows, rocky slopes, and ocean front campsites. The usual temperatures found here can range from 35 – 90 deg F (2 – 32 C).

The other area I camp is in the much-loved Sierra Nevada Mountains, elevation 3,000 – 10,000 ft (914 – 3048 m). The climate here varies from hour to hour; expect fog, rain, hail, snow, wind, and warm sunny days. The terrain is all, mountainous with many trees and lots of granite. The temperatures found here can range from 20 deg F (-7 C) in the winter to 95 deg F (35 C) in the summer.

Packaging:

The mattress came wrapped in a plastic sleeve that keeps the mattress rolled tight. The sleeve has information on the model, dimensions, weight, and other information about the mattress. Between the sleeve and the mattress was the instruction sheet on use and care. The instruction sheet is printed in English and 3 other languages that I can’t comfortably identify. The instructions cover first time setup, winter use, deflating, storing, repairs, cleaning, and protecting the mattress from damage.  Once I took the mattress out of the original packaging it was very flat and did not want to self inflate immediately.

Initial Impressions:

The mattress itself is a nice green color, with a little blue in it. The material is made of ripstop polyester that has a good durable feel to it. All the seams are even and look well sealed. The valve where air is let into or out of the mattress is some sort of durable plastic, feels like ABS to me. The valve closes and opens by screwing it clockwise or counter-clockwise, and is easy to turn either way. The valve is set into a piece of plastic that is integrated into the corner of the mattress. This gives the user something firm to grasp while twisting the valve.

First Time Setup:     

The instructions state that the first thing to do after getting the mattress is to slightly over inflate it and let it sit overnight. This is supposed to help it overcome the effects of being rolled very tightly for who knows how long. I did this the first night I got the mattress. Once I had “initialized” the mattress I stored it in my closet, folded in half. This is the way I will store the mattress throughout the remainder of the test. Once the mattress had been “initialized” it self inflated most of the way by itself after being folded or rolled by me.

The initial test was done on the floor inside my house due to time constraints. To setup the mattress for the night’s test, I removed the mattress from my closet, opened the valve, and laid it on the floor to allow it to self-inflate. After a few minutes I put two breaths into it and closed the valve. Next I placed my pillow and sleeping bag on top of the mattress and got inside my bag. Lying on my side I opened the air valve slightly and let the air slowly leak out until I could feel my hip and shoulder sinking into the mattress. Once I was comfortable, but before my shoulder and hip touched the ground I closed the air valve tightly. This lets my body sink partially into the mattress allowing it to support my weight in many areas rather than a couple of pressure points.

Lying out on the mattress with my pillow up to the top edge, only my toes hung off the end when my feet were extended. The mattress was wide enough that I was able to turn over without falling off. When I did turn over or scoot around on the mattress the fabric made a whooshing noise that woke me up most times. This will take a little getting used to before it doesn’t bother me. The mattress stayed inflated all night and I was comfortable, though I think I will let a little more air out next time. Putting the mattress away was as easy as opening the air valve and folding the mattress in half.

To roll the mattress up for storing I folded the mattress 4 times and sat on it as the instructions suggest. Then I closed the air valve and rolled the mattress toward the valve forcing the remaining air that direction. Once there was enough air collected in front of my roll to impede tightly rolling it, I opened the air valve and continued rolling the air out. Once I finished rolling the mattress to the desired size I closed the air valve and it was ready to pack away. After my initial rolling I was unable to fit the mattress back in the original bag. If I tried a few more times I believe I could have rolled it smaller, practice makes perfect. Overall the mattress was easy to setup and put away. Getting it filled with the right amount of air to maximize my comfort will take a little more experimenting. I look forward to taking this on my next backpacking trip to continue the testing process.

My test plan:

I plan on testing the gear based on several different objectives. First and most importantly is dependability, does the gear work when it counts. Secondly is efficiency, does the gear do its job well. Lastly would be ease of use, is the gear easy to put together and easy to use. Throughout the test I will seek to answer the following questions.

Dependability:

Does the pad hold up well to use?

Does the pad develop leaks easily?

Does the pad valve develop leaks with use?

Does the valve develop leaks?

Efficiency:

Does the pad keep me warm at night when sleeping on cold ground?

Does the pad keep me comfortable when sleeping on uneven ground?

Does the pad keep me from touching the ground when I lay on my side?

Ease of Use:

Does the pad self inflate as it should after being rolled for a while?

Is it easy to inflate the pad by mouth?

Does the pad keep me from sliding off during the night?

Is the pad wide enough that I won’t roll off during the night?

Does the long version of the pad fit in a standard tent?

Is the pad easy to pack up and stow away?

Thank you, to Therm-a-Rest and BackpackGearTest for allowing to me test this great item.

Josh Cormier