Sleep is one of the most important things to enjoy life. Isn’t that equally so for a cycling life?
You need to be sufficient energized to cycle high passes, long distances, dusty hot regions, rainy seasons and for every day performance, however short the distance.
Not only a comfortable mattress is important, the quality of such a mattress is equally essential for you don’t want a comfortable mattress which last only 4 weeks.
Another important matter is the strength of the mattress, it should not get punctured easily nor making sounds like reclining on a bag of chips. Preferable a mattress should not blow up when you are far away from having send another one to you, or buying a new one.
Simple, wouldn’t you say: comfort, strength and quality. Every outdoor lover needs that, and preferable light weight too.
For me there is only one outcome, and I have tried several kinds: Therma-A-Rest all-season self-inflating air mattress. My experience is that this is a comfortable, strong mattress which last for years.

Positive
-
It has a women’s design; shorter, rounder shaped
-
It packs compact
-
Easy to clean
-
Easy to repair punctures
-
Quick to inflate and easy to deflate and roll up
-
It prevents cold coming through
-
It does not shove during the night
-
When encountering problems, the manufacturers provide you with prompt reply and help (during warranty period)
Negative
-
Although it packs compact, not as small as the other air mattresses
-
The ground needs to be free of sharp items as not to puncture the mattress
-
The stuff back is tight; the mattress need to be rolled twice in order to have it fit into the stuff back
-
The price is about €100 which is not cheap, but considering the number of nights sleep getting out of it, well worth the amount of money

My Therma-A-rest self-inflating air mattress started to delaminate after uncountable nights of deep sleep. In total I must have slept on the mattress for over 2 years, nearly every night, which roughly comes to 365 x 2 = 730
730 : €100 = € 0.13 each night

Then I had to buy a new self-inflating air mattress which lasted only 4 weeks Having slept for 4 months on two thin, low quality mattresses I was not getting sufficient rest, turning around like a roast chicken on a skewer during the night, bones hurting from the hard surface. I finally got hold of a new Therm-A-Rest Pro Lite Plus Woman’s All-Season Self-Inflating air mattress, and will look forward to endless deep sleepy nights.



7 replies on “Therma-A-Rest Self-Inflating Air Mattress”
We have been rocking ours for 10 years now, still going strong!
LikeLike
That’s wonderful. I ask myself though, did you use it every day for 10 years or only now and then? It seems to me that when using it daily and, especially with pressing too much on one particular spot it might suffer more.
LikeLike
We don’t use them everyday, just for trips or when we need an extra mattress. Even so, it is a long time for a piece of gear to last.
LikeLike
I agree! It’s a long time indeed. A wonderful product. Yet I think that today’s products are intentionally made of lesser quality in general. Or so is my experience with high end brands. Not with this mattress though!
LikeLike
[…] Well, the mattresses are very comfortable, I reckon the best among air mattresses. However, it takes quite some effort, for me, to inflate them. A hand pump was an extra piece to carry with not much of being a help so I send that home. Although the air mattresses are comfortable, they eventually all break down. I think they’re just not meant to be for long, rough cycle trips. After two ripped mattresses I choose an other form of bed, see link. […]
LikeLike
[…] thank you to Therm-A-Rest (for a replacement mattress), Juan […]
LikeLike
[…] Finally I am reunited with the Therm-A-Rest mattress which was on its way from Ireland to Argentina to Paraguay (review here). […]
LikeLike