Slip-and-Slide

[Kevin Dill]

Whoa....

I bought a new NeoAir XTherm (LG/Rec) pad this year and recently used it on a trip in Alaska. I had read reviews that said it was noisy...and it was, but not a deal-breaker for me. What I didn't know was how s-s-slippery the darned thing would be. My mountainside campsite was not level (there wasn't a level spot anywhere which wasn't either wet or a rock garden) and thus I could not get my bed completely level. The upshot was that my WM bag would glide right off the XTherm with no effort at all. I fought it the entire trip and it was very annoying. The surface of the pad and the light nylon bag were almost frictionless.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any insight on how to correct it?

Thanks

 

[Elkmasterwyo]

A few dots or lines of silicone smeared on and allowed to dry will fix this☺

 

[Kevin Dill]

A few dots or lines of silicone smeared on and allowed to dry will fix this☺

Logical. Have you done it? No problem doing it, so long as the silicone adheres properly long-term and also doesn't compromise rolling/stuffing. Thanks.

 

[beachbunny]

i've done the silicone on my exped. it works

 

[BroodBuster]

I used a tube of Aquaseal I had laying around which worked fine.

 

[duchntr]

I used seam grip on my big agnes pad, it helped a bit.

 

[Elkmasterwyo]

Logical. Have you done it? No problem doing it, so long as the silicone adheres properly long-term and also doesn't compromise rolling/stuffing. Thanks.

I personally have not, I'm using a quilt so I'm right on the pad and don't have any issues. But I have heard of many ppl doing it with great results.

 

[Kevin Dill]

I'll take it. You guys all have my appreciation!

 

[dotman]

Silicone works wonders on a pad.

 

[snowcamoman]

I tried silicone on my Xtherm last year and after three days, most all of it had peeled off. Maybe Aquaseal would work or stay put better.

 

[ben h]

Silicone does work pretty good, but as Snow camo mentioned it does peel off fairly easily. I did my pad a year or so ago and it could use a refresher, but still has some silicone that has yet to fall off; the cost is negligible, it's remembering to do it and having the time that's the problem. I think the sil-net seam sealer would work too and last longer, but I have not tried it yet.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

I have used silicone, aqua seal, and even rubber adhesive dots, they all worked well, the rubber dots add a lot of weight. None of the products hinder rolling the pad up as long as they have dried before rolling.
I haven't looked into or tried the X-Therm so I don't know if it is urethane coated, or silicone coated nylon.

 

[LostArra]

it's really amazing that pad manufacturers have not acknowledged this slippery problem and addressed it

 

[Becca]

Have been thinking of using silicone on some of our pads, but have not yet personally tried it. I have however often "shimmed" up a sloping sleep area with a a backpack or drybbag of gear. Because Luke and I most often use a double quilt and pads coupled together, we often have trouble finding the perfect spot for our backcountry double bed. If I can find something mostly flat, I will often put a pack or dry bag under a sloping or low spot to keep one or both of us from rolling downhill. Just another trick to add to the arsenal...

 

[MattB]

I've had better luck with the smear than with the dots. I cleaned the area where I was going to put the silicone first, and it has held up fine.

 

[Kevin Dill]

I haven't had a chance to try the suggestions yet. AquaSeal has by far the best adhesive qualities of anything I can think of to use. Silicone is good stuff but I'm sure it will be more likely to peel off certain slick fabrics. I'm going to do a trial application of AquaSeal, after first cleaning the selected spot with a bit of alcohol. If it adheres tightly I will proceed with it.

 

[jmez]

I use Seam Sealer on my Big Agnes pad. It has been on there 3 years, no peeling and it works. I made lines not dots. Rolls up fine and not sticky/tacky at all. A tip, do both sides of the pad. I should qualify, the top of my pad has had seam sealer three years, the bottom 2. If you don't do the bottom of the pad it will slide around in your tent if not level. You will stay on top of it but then the entire apparatus slides around the tent.

 

[Upcountry]

I just did a few stripes on my new Tarptent Notch per their recommendations. I used a 100% silicone caulk thinned with mineral spirits. Got it to the consistency of a light syrup, and used a 1" wide foam brush. I did a stripe across the width of the floor of the tent every 16"(so 5 in total) and it worked perfect this weekend when lack of flat ground was a reality. I chose to do the floor rather than the pad as I sometimes run the pad in floor less shelters and figured the silicone might attract/hold extra dirt to the bottom of the pad.

 

[Hungarydog]

View attachment 28941 did the exact same thing to my nest

I just did a few stripes on my new Tarptent Notch per their recommendations. I used a 100% silicone caulk thinned with mineral spirits. Got it to the consistency of a light syrup, and used a 1" wide foam brush. I did a stripe across the width of the floor of the tent every 16"(so 5 in total) and it worked perfect this weekend when lack of flat ground was a reality. I chose to do the floor rather than the pad as I sometimes run the pad in floor less shelters and figured the silicone might attract/hold extra dirt to the bottom of the pad.

 

[snowcamoman]

Silicone sticks good to Silnylon fabrics and is the recommended method to seam seal some of them (thin with mineral spirits and brush into the seams). I'm not sure what the coating is on the thermarest Xtherm pad, but the thin strips of silicone were about useless. Aquaseal would be worth a try though and would probably stick, although not as grippy as silicone seems to be.