Exped SIM Light CF 7 pad deconstruction

[Rain Man]

Some years ago when still mostly a ground-dweller, I purchased on HF or WB a used Exped SIM Light CF 7 insulated inflatable sleeping pad, which was my cold-weather "go to" pad for some time. Heavy, but comfortable and warm. However, last time I tried to use it, it began delaminating internally as glue began to fail and various of the tubes began popping loose until it was no longer usable. Since then, it has been collecting dust in my garage. Today I decided that I really needed to get it out of the way and throw it into the trash, but first was inspired to cut it open and see what's what. Here are some photos I took.

Surprisingly, the inside was stuffed extremely full (IMHO) of foam rubber "peanuts." I put them into 5-gallon buckets and filled three and a half buckets. That's almost 18 gallons of foam rubber peanuts inside the Exped Light SIM CF 7.

The first pic is the logo & name printed on the pad (ignore the power cord). The second is the initial cut and some of the "peanuts." The third shows bigger foam rubber pieces in the end of each tube/channel on the valves end of the pad. Finally, the fourth pic shows the four 5-gallon buckets containing all the "peanuts" from the guts of this pad.

Another thing that surprised me was the lack of moisture or mold inside the pad. I blew it up many times with my own breath. That's supposed to cause moisture and mold, or so I've read.

Anybody want some foam rubber peanuts before I throw them away? The fabric from the pad itself?

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[dkurfiss]

Very interesting. I have Synmat 9LW for ground dwelling so seeing the inside of yours was informative.

[OlTrailDog]

The newer synmats have synthetic insulation somewhat like primaloft type filling and not foam peanuts. I you do a Inet search and check the images tab you will see what I mean.

[TrailSlug]

Rain Man,
How small did this pad pack down? With all of this filling It must not have packed very small.

[Rain Man]

I had to roll it twice each time to get it to fit in its original stuff sack. And no, it was not as small (or as light) as I'd liked.

Rain Man,
How small did this pad pack down? With all of this filling It must not have packed very small.

[Rain Man]

That's what I thought I'd find.

The newer synmats have synthetic insulation somewhat like primaloft type filling and not foam peanuts. I you do a Inet search and check the images tab you will see what I mean.