Isn't Spectra susceptible to damage from repeated bending and folding, or is that Kevlar? I get them confused.
The fabric skin needs to be tough against tears, punctures and stretching, and also stand up to daily folding and packing. Of course it also has to accept the airtight coating and heat-sealing of the edges. I've no idea what lightweight fabric meets all these criteria, but I'll bet the list is pretty short.
I haven't handled one of the POE Aerogel pads yet--anybody? I do know the perforated foam self-inflaters aren't as warm as the solid variety, so hopefully there's a lighter open-cell foam in our future.
p.s. I'm pretty happy with the POE/BA insulated air mattresses. Comfy as can be, and they pack really small.
Eric, I would put my money Honeywell's Spectra. Any material that is as light as Spectra and can still be used in sun umbrellas on beaches, as protective material in bullet proof vests and even woven as cut and slash hand armor protection for police and military has got to be the one to use. The proven effective use of Spectra, for us, came in the protection of our Spectra covered windows when hurricane Ivan blew across Perdido Key back in 2004.
Imagine, with a Spectra air pad we could sleep on cactus, which I could really use here. I recently punctured my 20-year-old Therm-a-Rest on a cactus... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> I'm still grieving over its loss. Now for the foam core, I'm not sure... I'll be watching this post to see what everybody comes up with. Maybe we could all get our heads together and come up with the "TLB Spectra Sleeping Pad", go public with the stock, and all retire to Mexico! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Brum
Previous Topic
Index
