Cascade Designs description: The NeoAir mattress represents the world�s most advanced engineering in ultralight comfort. Beyond being the lightest air mattress available, we�ve utilized two patent-pending internal technologies, making it up to three times warmer and far more stable than any other uninsulated air mattress available. Revolutionary by design, the gossamer NeoAir mattress makes comfort one less thing you�ll need to compromise when traveling fast and light. Ultralight & Compact: packs down to the size of a 1-liter water bottle. Unrivaled Warmth: Our patent-pending reflective barrier returns warmth to your body and reduces heat loss to the ground, keeping you three times warmer than any other uninsulated air mattress. Sleep Stable: When inflated, patent-pending Triangular Core Matrix technology creates an internal truss system, resulting in the most stable non-self-inflating air mattresses. Lasting Performance: Achieving thermal efficiency without down or fiber insulation means the NeoAir mattress can be inflated directly without the added weight of a pump, or worrying about exhaled moisture wetting insulation and decreasing performance

Specs

Weight and sizing

The quoted weight is accurate for our size Small NeoAirs:- 270g including the stuffsack. The Small size equates to the old ¾-length in the self-inflating mattresses.

First tests: 29 Jun 2009

The launch of the NeoAirs caused much excitement and anticipation but also some raised eyebrows: here we have essentially an ultralight ultra-compact version of the common �lilo� airbed. Unlike the self-inflating Thermarests such as our ProLites which are foam with a (relatively) small amount of air for inflation, these are entirely air, and shortly after launch there were disparate reports about their ability to maintain that inflation.

First of all we must be reasonably clear about expectations for this type of mattress. As the enclosed Thermarest leaflet correctly points out:-

In other words, with this type of mattress a certain amount of deflation is inevitable, especially when temperatures differ greatly between day and night, but how much is within tolerance before the sample is deemed faulty?. When we first unpacked the NeoAirs I tied a little piece of cord to one of their stuffsacks to distinguish them during their trial period, and in my tests the result appears clear: one is fine, the other is not.

We tested both our NeoAirs over the course of four backpacks and several nights.

On my solo Lower Eskdale backpack I took one at random and it performed very well, the small deflation being well within expectation and actually a welcome benefit: a fully inflated NeoAir can feel a bit hard after a while. At no time did I need to blow more air into it.

The North Berwyn backpack was a joint trip and I used the new untested one. The first one behaved very well again on its second outing and never required more air, but mine was soon suffering: I woke up after a couple of hours and the mattress felt a bit flabby. At first I couldn�t really say if the deflation was entirely due to temperature and pressure changes, but I put a couple of puffs of air in to reinflate it and settled down again. By morning the difference between the two was very striking: mine was badly deflated with my shoulder and hip touching the ground but the other was fine.

On my solo Central Cairngorms backpack I took the good one, I didn�t want to invite problems on a trip of 5 days. That NeoAir again performed very well throughout.

The last test was my solo North Western Carneddau backpack, a short 2-dayer, and I took the suspect NeoAir. Same result as before, it deflated quite badly twice during the night and required significant reinflation each time. In the morning I fully inflated the NeoAir and lay forwards on it to squeeze the valve end in an attempt to feel or hear any leaks in that area, but no success.

Interestingly, one other backpacker had a deflating NeoAir and he tried a much better submersion test in water, but detected no leaks either from the seams or valve: a curious result but there it is.

Second test: 16 Jul 2009

I returned the duff one and received a rapid replacement which I took on our Llantysilio Mountain & North Berwyn trip.

I�m pleased to report that this one was just fine, in fact its performance was quite the reverse of its predecessor:- it didn�t show any sign of deflation at all. After several hours it was still as tight as a drum and I actually had to let a little air out because it was feeling uncomfortably hard. I don�t think the temperature and barometric pressure were particularly favourable on that night, the other NeoAir behaved exactly as it did on the previous nights: just a little deflation, well within tolerance and quite welcome.

In use

I must say that having grown accustomed to the feel of our self inflating mattresses, the NeoAirs didn't inspire confidence at first when I took one out of the box and blew it up: the material seemed awfully thin and it felt rather like lying on a squashed balloon. Having rostled around in a tent with it and generally mauled it for several nights, my faith has grown immensely: the NeoAir is much tougher than it appears. I would have no hesitation in using it on any terrain, and it's worth remembering that for anything to puncture it from below, it would have to penetrate the tent groundsheet first: if I'm confident about the pitch, no worries with the NeoAir in that respect. I still take particular care from above with anything metal or remotely pointy or sharp.

The large thickness of the NeoAir enables it to ride out small lumps with ease and gives a very comfortable sleep provided it isn't inflated to the point of hardness. In the sleeping position the weight is evenly distributed and well supported, but in the sitting position my bum was practically in contact with the ground:- no problem at all for most of the year of course, but for this reason I wouldn't use the NeoAir if I expected the ground to be very cold despite its generous thickness, it will still be the Exped Downmat 7 for winter trips. The 'lilo' nature of the NeoAir does give it a slightly bouncy-castle feel when I'm not in the lying position, unlike the old Prolite which felt more solid and better for sitting or kneeling, but you can't have everything!.

I thought it a good idea to take a small 7g tube of Seamgrip just in case of a careless puncture, although I'm not sure how well or quickly such a repair would work in practice - it's outside my experience. If I did manage to puncture it against the odds and I couldn't mend it, it would provide no cushioning or insulation at all, unlike the old Prolite 4 which would still offer a significant amount through the foam matrix.

Conclusion

Update: 21 Aug 2009

I've heard on the grapevine that the problems in the first batch of NeoAirs were not due to any fault in the design or manufacture, but rather a post-production problem during the handling stages which has been identified and corrected.

Reports posted by other backpackers with the deflation problem confirm that their replacement NeoAirs performed very well.

Once I received my excellent replacement NeoAir I appreciated it more for the low volume than the low weight:- my LiteSpeed pack suddenly has a lot more available space on solo trips. It has also enabled me to take the LiteSpeed on most joint trips as well (I carry most of the kit for both of us) where I previously needed the Quest, and I save around ¾kg on weight altogether for these backpacks.

Air beds are not universally popular and some people just don't get on with them, but they do afford a superbly comfortable sleep and for me the advantages of the low volume and weight are impossible to resist.