Shorten a Therm-A-Rest

[Bradley]

My girls aren't quite ready for fulblown hammock camping yet . . .
one; they haven't slept a full night in one yet,
and two I don't have enough UQing for either of them
and it is a little cool at night yet.
So for now, as I sleep in my Clark NX150 they will be in a tent beside me.

We plan on going on backpacking trips were they will need to carry their own gear . . .
. . . to a point.

Sleeping bags, quite a light tent, water . . . and Therm-A-Rest's.
(One can pack the tent, one the fly, and they can split the poles)

I am thinking that the Therm-A-Rest's are much longer that they are,
and if I were to cut them down to length, they would be carrying less.
At least not packing more than they need.
<<< I could even do it to the sleeping bags . . . they are new, but not expensive,
and the future holds changes or gearing up anyways for hammock camping. >>>

Question: has anyone done this ? ? ?

And I gues it is just a matter of heat sealing the cut end so it doesn't leak air,
or would I be better off glueing the top and bottom together and then gluing a patch around the end,
back up top and bottom for a couple of inches ? ? ?

Any Ideas ? ? ?

[Catavarie]

I would think it more economical to simply split a foam pad from WalMart instead of the thermarest. They would likely be just as comfortable and at a fraction of the cost of a thermarest. Also easier to split as there would be no seam sealing afterwards.

[Bradley]

Thing is I have 3 therm-a-rests that we will never use after anyways . . .
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[Roadtorque]

I know it has been done many times with great results. Unfortunately I don't quite remember good enough to tell you how (basically a knife and aqua seal). If no one can tell you for sure then checkout backpacking light...i read about it there.

[Bomber]

Perhaps this gives some good tips and a possible solution here

[SwampFoot]

I just cut a large thermarest ridgerest in half for that very reason , I am keeping a peice for myself and giving my daughter the other half....I made a line and then used sharp scissors to cut it , then heated up a flat peice of metal and sealed the two halves for good measure...rolls up smaller and is half of its weight.

[SwampFoot]

Perhaps this gives some good tips and a possible solution here

That is a very cool video , great idea for those that use the pads.

[mbiraman]

The girls are going to grow quickly. I would use the ccf pads for now and they'll grow into the thermarests.

[Jsaults]

As I understand it, Thermarests are not "heat-sealed", but rather RF-Welded. Getting a new seam to hold might be a problem.

Or maybe not. The girls are going to be using them in hammocks, so the mattresses will not receive the same forces applied as if they were used on the ground. Also, I imagine that the mattreses will not be filled full of air (so they will conform in a hammock).

What the hey, give it a try!

Jim

[goatnuck]

I have successfully shortened a Thermarest for my dog. Actually, it was a Mountain Equipment Coop brand inflatable pad, so its construction may be different than a true Thermarest.

The biggest challenge revolved around the construction of the pad. The foam on the inside of the pad was actually bonded/glued to both internal surfaces of the pad. I intentionally left the pad a little long on my first attempt figuring it wouldn't work. I was right, I didn't spend enough time cleaning the bonded foam from the inside surfaces of the pad. When I sealed with an iron, I didn't get a good seal.

Take 2: I cut off the end of the pad again and spent a lot of time cleaning the foam from the inside surfaces. I pulled out about 1.5-2 inches of foam and then used a scothbrite pad and nail polish remover to clean the foam bits off the surfaces that were going to be sealed together. One side of the pad was a little bit longer than the other, so I ended up with a small gap at the end after ironing. I subsequently filled the hole with repair glue using a syringe and it works great! I use it as a sit pad and my dog loved sleeping on it under my hammock!

The neoair in the video looks really easy to shorten. I would follow the video's tip about using a piece of wood and C clamps to hold everything in place, especially to squish down the foam near the end you are sealing.

Good luck! Show us the pictures!