[pct-l] NEO Air + Tyvek

[Hillary Schwirtlich]

I also used a Neo Air for my whole 2011 thru-hike. I got a couple of holes,
none of which drastically affected my sleep (I almost always get up in the
middle of the night to pee anyway, so spending an extra ten seconds blowing
up my NeoAir when I was already awake wasn't a huge issue). All of those
holes were after SoCal. And whenever I got somewhere with a shower or
bathtub, a wet Neo-Air, some soap and some super-glue meant another few
months of wonderful sleep... plus a newly clean bed. I always carried a
sit-pad (1/8" GG pad or a cut-up Ridgerest that was going to be tossed
anyway), which would double as an extra layer under my pad if I felt it
needed it.

In the end, I think a Neo-Air is a better investment anyway. Yeah,
closed-cell foam pads are cheap, but they only last you so long. I knew a
couple of people who went through two Z-rests or Ridge-rests (one who went
through two of each!) on their PCT hike. I'm still on my first Neo-Air, and
I don't see myself buying a new one anytime soon.

Then again, there are those people (Daybreaker and Roo come to mind) who
are more comfortable on the ground than in a bed. If you're one of those
people, good on you. I'm jealous!

Seahorse

On Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 12:22 PM, Edward Anderson <mendoridered at yahoo.com>wrote:

> I use a Thermarest self-inflating air mattress. It is  47'' long, 20" wide
> and inflates to 1.5". It packs down to 4" x 11" and weighs about a pound -
> perhaps a little less. It is very comfortable to sleep on. I like that I
> can adjust the softness or firmness determined by how much air I might want
> to add after it self-inflates. Of course. you must be careful to avoid
> anything sharp beneath it. I have never had a puncture. I do use a piece of
> Tyvek under it.  Also under it,are the floor of the tent (a MSR Hubba) and
> it's footprint. A precaution that I routinely do before placing the tent,
> which is free-standing, is to take the time to carefully examine the
> ground. I do that visually and ALSO use the backside of my digging trowel
> (I bring it for digging cat holes) in a sweeping motion like a windshield
> wiper to locate rocks or anything else that would be sharp. Be especially
> careful that there are no parts of conifer cones that might have sharp
>  points.
> MendoRider-Hiker
>
>
> ________________________________
>  From: Scott Williams <baidarker at gmail.com>
> To: Joe Bastian <joebastian1 at yahoo.com>
> Cc: "pct-l at backcountry.net" <pct-l at backcountry.net>
> Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 6:26 PM
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] NEO Air + Tyvek
>
> I used a Neo on the West Coast Trail, twice, the Wonderland, in the High
> Sierra and on the thru hike of the PCT.  I love it and am old enough to
> really appreciate the best night's on the ground ever.  It is somewhat
> fragile, so I'm careful, and have never had a puncture.   Years ago I put
> my crampon point right through my old thermarest when snowed in on
> Forester, alone.  I thought I'd freeze as I was on snow for several days,
> but there is that bit of foam in the 1/2 pad, and believe it or not, duct
> tape, really pushed down hard and worked into the hole, held the puncture
> together so it would keep air for about 4 hours and then I'd blow it up
> again and go back to sleep.  So, stuff happens no matter what you do.  I
> have a feeling the neo would probably hold for a few hours with a grossly
> applied strip of duct tape, but now I actually carry a repair kit.
>
> I won't go back.  The Neo is
>  just that much more comfortable on my geezer
> frame.
>
> Shroomer
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