Therm-a-Rest ToughSkin: Puncture-Proof Sleeping Pad

by Alicia MacLeay
August 13, 2006

Heading to the desert or other prickly, puncture-prone locales? Then you’ll want to check out the new Therm-a-Rest ToughSkin sleeping pad, which recently won a Silver OutDoor Industry Award for innovative technology at the 2006 European OutDoor Trade Fair. The ToughSkin is composed of a top layer of open-cell, self-inflating foam and a bottom layer of closed cell foam, for protection from punctures by thorns, sticks, and sharp rocks, which would otherwise render a self-inflating pad useless.

Therm-a-Rest found that 95 percent of sleeping pad punctures penetrated less than one-tenth of an inch, so they made the ToughSkin’s puncture-resistant material a minimum of one-eighth of an inch thick. In the unlikely event that the inflated portion of the pad is punctured, you’ll still retain the insulation value of the closed cell foam bottom for an insulated night’s sleep.

The Therm-a-Rest ToughSkin will be available in November of 2006.

Small
Size: 20" x 47" (51 cm x 119 cm)
Thickness: 1.5 inches (3.8 cm)
Weight: 1 lb 10 oz (750 g)
R-Value: 5.2
Suggested retail price: $99.95

Regular
Size: 20" x 72" (51 cm x 183 cm)
Thickness: 1.5 inches (3.8 cm)
Weight: 2 lbs 8 oz (1140 g)
R-Value: 5.2
Suggested retail price: $119.95

Filed under: Gear News

Comments

jerthebehr

0 reviewer rep
9 forum posts

August 15, 2006 at 11:29 a.m. (EDT)

If 95% of all punctures are one-eighth inch depth, then designing a skin that is one-tenth of an inch thick, will ASSURE that 95% of the new pad penetrations will result in a leak!

one-eighth is 0.125" depth.
one-tenth is 0.100" depth.

Did I miss something? Is there a typo in the article?

Bill S

TOP 10 REVIEWER REVIEW CORPS

824 reviewer rep
4,911 forum posts

August 16, 2006 at 7:15 p.m. (EDT)

The Cascade folks say that 95% are LESS than 1/8 inch, or whatever number they gave (I forget the exact numbers they gave out and have on their web page). Idea was to reduce the number of leaks by a substantial amount. Personally, I haven't had any leaks in something over 30 years of using Thermarests. But in leading scout outings I have seen at least one among the youth every outing (always the tentmate, never the youth himself that causes it) and one among the adult leaders every 4th or 5th outing. I have also seen a couple on high altitude mountaineering expeditions (thorns in snow????). Anyway, the ToughSkin is supposed to avoid the vast majority of punctures. The demo they gave at the Outdoor Retailer Show was pretty impressive. I think that someone's cat was supposed to have clawed the one on display.

Alicia

TRAILSPACE STAFF

256 reviewer rep
2,609 forum posts

August 22, 2006 at 8:27 p.m. (EDT)

Hi Jerry,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to your question about the ToughSkin's thickness (I've been out hiking and backpacking for the past week and am only now back online).

You're correct that there was a typo in the article and the numbers were inadvertently switched. Sorry for any confusion. Also, thanks to Bill S for his helpful comments as usual.

The corrected sentence now reads: "Therm-a-Rest found that 95 percent of sleeping pad punctures penetrated less than one-tenth of an inch, so they made the ToughSkin’s puncture-resistant material a minimum of one-eighth of an inch thick."

-Alicia

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