Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Venture WV Mattress

I found it to be incredibly noisy with all the baffles crinkling every time I moved a muscle. I am a very light sleeper, I normally wear earplugs sleeping at home due to a barking dog next door. That dog is nothing compared to amount of noise this thing makes every time you roll onto your side! I am returning it to exchange for a pad without all the baffling. I used a buddies Thermarest pad a while back that had no baffling, but I haven't been able to locate one like it, perhaps it's gone out of production? Other than the noise it was very comfortable, inflates in 20 puffs, 25 if you want it really stiff. If you are a sound sleeper, you'll probably like it, seems well made, small, light, but just too much crinkle noise for me.

It takes about 20 deep breaths to blow it up so that it is full, at which point it is quite firm. Then you can lay on it and let air out as needed for comfort. It makes a bit of noise when you move around, likely due to the internal foil that keeps you warm by reflecting your body heat, but it is not loud enough to wake you up when you roll over in your sleep. Deflating and rolling these pads up is more of a chore than inflating them, but that is a small price to pay for how light they are and how small they roll up. I sleep on my back as well as my side; my wife on her stomach. And we both felt that these pads were very comfortable.

Very nice, solid value overall. Took it on a 2 night multi-day trip where it got down to the mid 40's at night. With my 30F mummy bag i was warm and cozy. I also had a base layer of dry-release thermal underwear and fleece on top of that. I also used a layer of reflectix as a ground layer to further sheild me from rocks and the cold earth.Not nearly as crunchy and crackley as i was led to believe.I had no problems with slipping, sliding or lack of friction.Rolls up small compact and light weight.I was able to blow up the 77 inch large version in 24 breaths but i was getting faint and light headed after about 12-13. So i added the neo air inflation sack. For $30 i think its definitely $$ well spent. Its no fun feeling dizzy and light headed setting up base camp. The sack also doubles up as my clothing sack and my pillow at night... Just an awesome addition to my load!! With no weight or space penalty!!I also added the patch kit for $8-9... $$$ well spent just in case.The venture replaces a coleman air matress which has no thermal retention properties. By comparison, the neoair venture is not drafty or cold at all. With The colman i always had problems keeping my legs warm... The neoair completely solves that!![UPDATE] 12-1-2014My detailed review here, just copy-paste this URL... 8^):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK2NHfwfFRMJust got back from an overnight backpacking trip to Castle Rock state park, CA. Backpacked for ~3 miles into base camp, a mild- easy hike in and out. It dumped rain on the hike so we were trekking through mud, over slippery rock formations through heavy tree canopy. The NeoAir venture was a great part of my load-out, light weight, compact. Other trekkers in my party had their sleep pads outside their packs scraping on rocks and getting snagged in branches. The NeoAir was tucked away inside my Kelty 80L pack, for a very streamlined load that never really got away from me. You don't want to expose your sleep pad to tears and snags if at all possible.The ground at camp was soaked. My tent was located on a bed of wet leaves, ontop of a soaking wet organic (plant material) earth layer. Temps got down to 40F at night... well into hypothermia conditions. I was TOTALLY warm and comfy at night. I am mainly a side sleeper and there were no cold spots on my hips and shoulders at all. For this trip I cut down my Reflectix "earth layer". For this trip it was only long enough to reach from head to my mid-thigh. AWESOME system!!!... NeoAir together with a Reflectix sheet. I was able to deflate the NeoAir so it was really soft, bringing my body closer to the reflectix layer for added warmth.The Thermarest inflator stuff sack worked GREAT in cold damp weather. It alleviated me from blowing moist damp breath into the pad. You DON'T want to do that because moisture inside the pad can result in bacteria / mold...etc... YUK!!!I am totally happy with this purchase.

I'm very glad to useful from this product.

Purchased this item on a whim due to the good name of Neo and the cheap price. I have fused discs in my lower back and some fairly messed up hips due to that. I'm biking the Trans America Trail and comfort sleeping is one luxury I can't do without.I will update this review after my trip, but I slept on this while the outside temperature was 22°. I never woke up. I prefer to sleep on my side, and I still feel supported and do not touch the ground.I ordered the small, it is 47"x20". It took me 23 breaths to blow this up, deflating is a breeze. Can't say whether it is durable or not, but I hope so because it doesn't come with a patch kit!

I have a few other sleeping pads and the most comfortable one is Therm-a-Rest. I was on a recent trip and someone had a new one that packed way smaller and was more comfortable than what I had, so I asked my wife for a new one for Father's Day. She bought me this one and I'm pretty happy with it so far. It packs down to about a 1/3 of the size of my other pads and it's lighter. Plus, she bought me the larger one so it's actually bigger when blown up, which is nice as I'm about 6' and 220 pounds. I was a bit disappointed that it's not self-inflating, but it doesn't take long to blow up. Only reason I'm not giving 5 stars is because it's noisy.