An interesting and promising alternative to Thermarest.
These were on sale at £26, so they would seem to be something of a bargain.
I had expected something decent, but sub-Thermarest, but this turns out not to be the case.
The valve system is different - you push to open, push again to close - takes a little getting used to, but it works; There is a fairly slight possibility you could press the valve in your sleep….
Materials look good, nothing looks or feels shoddy. Couldn’t find an R-value anywhere, but guessing it’s somewhere around 2-3; This is a 3cm thick, 119cm long minimalist ultralight mat, after all. Probably not for the depths of winter.
Speaking of length - this is a deliberately short mat (most are full-length, anywhere between 180 -190cm) - this is for those keeping weight and bulk to an absolute minimum.
Inflated these (bought two) and they held their air well overnight. They are comfortable to lie on (far better than any closed cell type mat). They don’t make much noise, as those absurd Thermarest neo types do ( who thought crossing a crisp packet with a helium balloon was a good idea?). And they look much less likely to puncture, but if they do, a repair kit is included (Thermarest charge £10 for theirs).
So, all in all, bar a proper field test, these look good and seem entirely worthwhile.
Update: one of the two has developed a split along it’s seam, approx 4mm, and the repair kit employed to good effect as far as I can tell.
The mat itself has, however, only had around a fortnight’s use and wasn’t abused, jumped-on or overloaded.
I would observe that absolutely any item may fail for one reason or another, and that this one problem does not necessarily condemn the product outright, but that we have NEVER had a Thermarest puncture or tear (in 30 years of wild camping), although we have had two valve failures in mats much more than 10 years old.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: New