Heather vs. Therm-a-Rest

I made a horrible discovery during the Deschutes River Rafting Trip last month: my beloved Therm-a-Rest had a hole in it.

A Therm-a-Rest is no ordinary sleeping pad. It's a self-inflating slice of heaven. A Therm-a-Rest provides a soft cushion of air between you and roots and pebbles. It's so much preferable to a foam mattress, which has no give and take. AND, the thing compresses to fit inside my sleeping bag stuff sack with my sleeping bag and weighs only 2 pounds. BUT, when your Therm-a-Rest has a small leak in it, it is no longer your friend.

It's hard to notice a pinhole in a Therm-a-Rest right away. The first night, you assume that you didn't close the valve tight enough. The next night, you worry that your worst fear is true. By night three of being woken up at 3am because your hip is asleep and nicely wedged on a rock, which you can feel fully through the compressed, non-inflated foam separating you from rock, you weep with bitterness. Your self-inflating dream pad has failed you!

Have no fear, though. Submerge your Therma-a-Rest in water, and its secret leaks will be revealed by bubbles of air. According to Kurtis, you should first start with the valve, because they are often problem areas. Submerge the valve in a cup or a sink, and try to squeeze the air out of the closed valve. If you see bubbles, replace the valve. If the valve is fine, then move onto step #2--checking the pad for holes. To do this, you must submerge the pad in a filled bathtub. This morning, I discovered this is easier said than done, because you have to simulateously be squeezing air out of the inflated mattress while trying to submerge it and check for bubbles all at the same time. It's a difficult balancing act.

At 6:30am this morning, barely awake and still in my PJ's, I ran a bath and inflated my Therm-a-Rest. I stared at the whole situation quizzically. I mean, my Therm-a-Rest is 6 feet long, and my bathtub is about 4 1/2 feet long. Hmmm...I rolled up the bottom-half of the mattress to create an outward airflow for the top half...and I put the top half in the water. Actually, on the water because it wouldn't submerge without me holding it underwater. But, I was already holding the rolled up bottom half and squeezing it. How am I going to do that??? So I end up squatting down, the rolled-up bottom-half wedged between my chest and knees, freeing up my arms to reach into the water to submerge the top half. I felt like I was playing an underwater full-body bagpipe.

As soon as I was properly balanced and holding the top-half underwater, an immediate stream of tiny bubbles rose to the surface from an otherwise undetectable pinhole. I squealed with glee! The culprit was discovered! I drew a black dot over the hole and proceeded to double-check the rest of the pad for holes. Hole #1 was the only leaky culprit.

So. This evening, I will show my Therm-a-Rest who's boss by repairing it with a fine Therm-a-Rest patch kit. My sleeping pad may have wreaked havoc on the Deschutes Trip, but when I'm on the Owyhee River next week, it WILL fulfill its duties.