Back in March, and after HUGE amounts of research, I bought a pair of Exped MegaMat 10's. I wanted something that would be warm and comfortable for our fortnight camping in France. Anyway, we are off on holiday in a little under two weeks, so pitched the tent yesterday in our garden and spent a night out there to check everything was as it was left when packing up last year. I had high hopes for our new mats but they both deflated overnight! I had obviously inflated them before to check them, but this was the first time my husband and I actually slept on them. I am aware that they may be slightly less firm in the cold morning than when inflated at 4pm in the warm afternoon, but my husbands was so flat (perhaps it's the extra few stone)that he gave up and moved back indoors at 4am this morning. Both were left to self inflate, then given an extra few puffs from the mini pump to quite firm yesterday, but even mine was soft enough that I could feel the hard ground on my hips this morning.
Gutted, does not even come close to describing how I'm feeling. It's not just the money for them (they are massively expensive for a SIM), but that I thought they would be the answer to getting the perfect nights sleep in our tent .
Has anyone else had this problem? I've checked the valves and all look fine. They are not the first SIM's we've owned so we're not completely unaware of their shortcomings, but I really did expect better from these...
sorry MrsClemo, for your bad experience. .I have one and am pleased with it, a bit tricky to get bag in the bag I find.
Did you leave it unrolled for 24 hours prior to first use, I think they suggest that, although not sure of logic ,but did it anyway.
Hi, yes all values were shut - the inflate and deflate ones. I did inflate both mats when they were new and left them pumped up for a few days and although they did go down a bit, I didn't think it was any more than a normal lilo would and we hadn't actually laid on them for any period of time. I'm going to call the company I bought them from tomorrow to hopefully get some replacements. I'll let you know what they say...
I'd echo Gloucester above about checking that the valves were fully closed - both input and output.
Also - and I maybe teaching you to suck eggs - they weren't too pumped up were they and thus air needed to escape when laid on????
We have two, and I can't rate them highly enough.
I've not needed to re-pump over a fortnight's use.
OK, they do take time to self-inflate if left rolled up for some while but, they are to me, the best mattress I've slept on. That's including our indoor bed.
Ice-pop: I've found a two-fold (!) approach works for me.
Open the deflate valve and loosely fold and press the mat about 12 inches at a time... involves lying on it and relaxing for a some minutes... then unfold, and re-fold much more tightly, expelling air as you go squishing with both hands and controlling it with the knees (patience is needed so not easy to do in rush). Then close the valve. It should... go back in the bag relatively easily.
Have another go and let us know how you get on.
Wishing you luck.
------------- Camping - emotional resilience in action, a triumph of hope over adversity and antidote to virtual reality.
Thanks bridgeywidge. Definitely closed all valves, checked and double checked that as I couldn't quite believe that such highly rated mats were going down. With regard to high a pressure they were when I pumped them up yesterday, I wouldn't say they were too hard - left to self inflate for 30 mins or so then given another 10 or 15 puffs from the mini pump. They were firm but still had quite a lot of given in them.
I definitely couldn't go a fortnight without reinflating, I had to give them both an additional puff before getting into bed last night having set them to the right pressure at 4pm, so they'd gone down quite a bit in 6 hours or so. I'm a tad confused as to why it's happening to both of them though, if it was either one then I could put it down to being faulty, but both of them does seem extraordinarily strange! I've tried blowing them up and laying on them with my ear to the mat to see if I could hear the air rushing out but can't so I don't think it's actually a puncture. I'm very disappointed though, especially as I only have 13 sleeps in which to get them sorted before we go on hols! I'm venturing back out into the tent now to see if I've missed something obvious and to see if they've gone down completely :(
Ok. Just gone back out to look at the mats and they are both , I'd say, not even half full, the sides have collapsed on both and are no more padded than laying on a thick blanket. All the valves seem to be fine, the little plastic gromits are in the right places. Seems these are just not performing as they should. My supplier will be getting a call at 9am tomorrow.
I have two and I slept on mine for 4 months solid, only had to top it up once or twice in that time. I have slept on it several times since and had no problems with it deflating ever.
If the valves were indeed shut as you stated the only other conclusion is that they are both punctured. From what you have described probably underneath somewhere.
One on the top face, they look like tiny catches in the fabric so I didn't particularly worry about them and it wasn't until I did the soapy solution test that I found them (about 5 pin prick holes), and the other has a minute pin prick on the side wall. My supplier was brilliant and has confessed that they must have been damaged in transit. The next problem is that there is none in the UK and not due to be here until the end of September.
I have agreed to do the patch repairs on both, as apparently that doesn't effect the warranty at all. My husband is a bit miffed that we have bought such expensive bits of kit and we are taking them on holiday for the first time damaged, but I REALLY want these mats! He did just suggest that the £260 that I paid for the pair would buy a lot of cheap lilos. Now let me think.... NO!
Anyone else done a repair? Do they hold as well as the original??
Oh, what rotten luck... I'm glad your supplier is sympathetic and willing to replace (so I should think) but what a pain. Especially as both are damaged.
I've not attempted a repair (and keeping everything crossed it wouldn't be needed!).
I guess like most things that need repair, take time and care to follow instructions and, crossed fingers, your holiday sleeps will be the stuff of dreams.
Hopefully, you won't be disappointed in fully operational Expeds - they are indeed mega.
------------- Camping - emotional resilience in action, a triumph of hope over adversity and antidote to virtual reality.
I want to buy a Exped Megamat Duo but I don't know if it is for me. I like a speed pitching camping. It is a really self inflatable mat? Or it is necesary to pump for some minutes? And for the folding, it is as easy as another SIM?
I have a Thermarest Neoair Voyager 2.5" (6.4cm) thick and regular length 51x183cm.
It has a patented Wavecore thermal heat set up on the inside. Weighs 650g..packed size 23x10cm.
The Wave Core technology slows down heat loss by using an internal single layer of horizontal baffles that form a wave shape within the mat.
Not as expensive as the Exped which I did look at but settled on the Thermarest as all their products come with Lifetime Warranty and it was cheaper than the exped.
I managed to blow it up in a short time and I have Copd.
You can buy a few variations of pumps if you want but I didn't feel I need one.
Not criticising Exped as it is a great brand, just gives you an alternative to compare.
Post last edited on 13/02/2016 20:12:06
------------- It is a wise man who has something to say.
It is a fool who has to say something.
You do have to pump, as it self-inflates but only to a point (it has it's own little fabric pump). How much depends on how firm you like your bed.
As for deflating:it does take a bit of patience but once you have the knack, not too bad. Open the one-way deflate valve, softly roll/fold it up, unroll, and re-roll tightly. I use my knees to squish as I roll. Not instant, but worth it for the comfort it provides.
------------- Camping - emotional resilience in action, a triumph of hope over adversity and antidote to virtual reality.
I have seen quite few reviews from owners reporting Exped SIMs deflated overnight and being punctured in often in more than one spots for no apparent reason - I mean this is at least what they're saying and can't prove they did actually care about them as they should although some stated there's was no way they could get punctured.
Based on this thread it appears that these Exped SIMs indeed can arrive either damaged from the factory or develop leaks (some suspect weak deteriorating over time material - in this case there's a puncture to a side?). However, both being punctured out of the box is very concerning at the super premium price they're being sold at and raises questions / doubts about QC as well as value for money.
I got two Decathlon similar SIMs for less than half the price of a single Duo Exped - €170 each. I have tested / slept on them on my 2mx2m bed and they're working just fine also very comfortable. However, I am still tempted to buy one Exped and one Nomad in order to compare comfort and usability then choose which ones to go for. Nomad (I got my Dogon 4 (+2) tent from them) sell pretty much identical SIMs but a bit cheaper and claim theirs are the only ones that have straight vertical walls and thus can be much easier put together if need be. I don't understand why manufacturers haven't come up yet with SIMs that can be properly joined together (Decathlon ones do but there still can be a silly gap about 6-10cm between them when clipped together so a bit pointless and will probably add zippers to protectors/sheets). I understand that a built in zipper could be uncomfortable or problematic so maybe SIM protectors could have them instead allowing to join them properly... they've been doing these SIMs for a long time now and there's still unsolved problems and so little improvement to them...
How Exped is shipping their SIMs i.e. is the packaging very secure to prevent any potential damage during warehouse handling and subsequent delivery? It's not a rocket science to securely pack up expensive items to avoid damages and Decathlon ones don't even come in boxes - just storage bags being exposed to all customers browsing thought their stock 6 days a week.
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Topic: Calling any Exped Megamat owners...
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