Exped Synmat UL 7

Please be fair and thoughtful in your opinions. No rants please.
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Farawayvisions
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Exped Synmat UL 7

Post by Farawayvisions »

I'm a small lady and use this mat on bikepacking trips.

It's less than 0.5kg, folds small and although a tad pricey, is doing alright so far. Please feel free to read the full review

http://www.farawayvisions.com/exped-synmat-ul-7-review/
Last edited by Farawayvisions on 2 Nov 2015, 3:56pm, edited 1 time in total.
GoLiteGuru
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Re: Exped Synmat UL 7

Post by GoLiteGuru »

It's a nice mat. I had to upgrade when my Thermarest Prolite (Small) let the cold through in NZ. R-value of 2.2 compared to the Synmat's superior 3.1 (-4 deg c).

Certainly worth the added comfort and cost. I paid £59 for my Synmat UL (S) from OutdoorGB. It's only 100g heavier (410g), yet 42cm longer, which makes a big difference: At 6ft, only my feet/calves dangle off the Synmat. It blows up to 7cm, much thicker than the Thermarest (2.5cm)

I also found a chairkit on eBay for £25, which is a really nice feature to impress your friends when camping. It gives more protection to the mat, as I did find it was a bit prone to punctures. I'm a wild camper though.
mrjemm
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Re: Exped Synmat UL 7

Post by mrjemm »

Low marks for mine.

Just over 2 years old (the warranty period Exped give on their ultralight products), and the internal baffle welding has been separating so that at the ends it's fatter now, and down the middle to about the midpoint, theres one section that's like a sausage where 2 sections are merged. And the moisture from my breath has caused some lovely mildew that looks not exactly great as black speckles against the yellow.

Until the above problems, it was indeed nice, comfy, warm and light, but...
GoLiteGuru
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Re: Exped Synmat UL 7

Post by GoLiteGuru »

Oh, that's interesting. I remember watching a YT video about the mildew situation from breathing into them. Wasn't sure if it was over cautious, but I bought the pillow pump anyway and so have rarely, if ever, breathed into mine. Hopefully this helps with the other issue, but...."wait for it".....I won't hold my breath! :p
mrjemm
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Re: Exped Synmat UL 7

Post by mrjemm »

GoLiteGuru wrote:Oh, that's interesting. I remember watching a YT video about the mildew situation from breathing into them. Wasn't sure if it was over cautious, but I bought the pillow pump anyway and so have rarely, if ever, breathed into mine. Hopefully this helps with the other issue, but...."wait for it".....I won't hold my breath! :p


:roll:

:D

I often wished I'd bought one of those pillow pumps- blowing them up is hard enough work as it is after a hearty ride. I tried using my bike pump, but soon realised it relied on the tyre valve to make it one way...
bikepacker
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Re: Exped Synmat UL 7

Post by bikepacker »

I use one of these: http://www.exped.com/en/product-category/mats/mini-pump

A bit slow to inflate but it gets there.
There is your way. There is my way. But there is no "the way".
PH
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Re: Exped Synmat UL 7

Post by PH »

With the mats that have a flat valve, the Exped Schnozzel bag/pump is fantastic, inflates the mat in moments and acts as a good compression stuff sack as well.
http://www.outdoorgb.com/p/Exped_Schnoz ... tAod_g4ABw
GoLiteGuru
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Re: Exped Synmat UL 7

Post by GoLiteGuru »

I really like the Schnozzel bag, but came across it after already purchasing the pillow-pump. The p-p isn't comfortable enough to warrant as a pillow. It's not bad, but would rather use something else and have the schnozzel bag as a decent waterproof stuff sack and flotation aid. Plus it looks loads quicker to inflate. The p-p takes at least 20-30 pumps over 2-3mins.
mrjemm
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Re: Exped Synmat UL 7

Post by mrjemm »

Not a good pics, but...

Pad1sm.jpg


See it's sausageyness, and the black mildew staining at the top.

And as ever, it made my head spin blowing it up... :oops:
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andrew_s
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Re: Exped Synmat UL 7

Post by andrew_s »

mrjemm wrote:And as ever, it made my head spin blowing it up... :oops:

The head spinning bit is trying to blow it up too quickly. If you blow at your normal breathing rate it won't happen.

Alternatively, you could try blowing it up whilst running on the spot. :wink:
The light-headedness is because you are breathing out more CO2 that your body is generating, and the Ph of your blood is going down. Vigorous exercise generates more CO2, and will allow/require you to puff faster.
mrjemm
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Re: Exped Synmat UL 7

Post by mrjemm »

I do it quite slowly, but puff in and out much deeper than usual. I suppose this means I am in effect trying to breath out more CO2 than I would otherwise be creating. Maybe a bit quicker than my initial estimate... hmmm, I'll pay more attention next time...

At least with a thermarest you only breath into it to top up...
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meic
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Re: Exped Synmat UL 7

Post by meic »

As a concession to my age, I finally gave up on a life time of closed cell mats and bought a Synmat UL7.

It is lovely warm and comfy. I no longer wake up all night with a nagging pressure on my hip.
It is far too slippery even on the gentlest of slopes you are tending to slide off it. That may be because I inflate it fairly hard but by lung power alone.

After less than 20 nights with it, I woke up to find I was leaning over to one side and a baffle had separated as in the photos above.

It is also more hassle to roll up than a closed cell mat, you have to do it once to remove air and another time to fold it neatly in three before rolling in order to fit the sack.
Then there is the nagging worry about a possible puncture.

Buying it mail order may have been a mistake if it is going to add repeated postal charges to the rather steep original purchase price.
Yma o Hyd
mrjemm
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Re: Exped Synmat UL 7

Post by mrjemm »

Seems we are not alone. A few folk over on CGOAB also having same issues.

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/reviews ... sted=0&v=G

Shame as it was so comfy.
memnoch
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Re: Exped Synmat UL 7

Post by memnoch »

I've had to return two of the UL versions to exped due to the baffles failing as per the image above. Though both of them were on 5 week+ tours so were fairly hard used. No arguement or issues with the customer service as they were instantly swapped.

Upgraded to the standard version now, is a little bigger and heavier but much stronger.
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Farawayvisions
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Re: Exped Synmat UL 7 - Update one year on

Post by Farawayvisions »

I had an issue and updated the review.
http://wp.me/p3yZa1-Yq
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