M Make Your Own Gear: Shortening a Therm-a-Rest UltraLite Self-Inflating Pad

by Jay Ham

An online subscription ("Premium Membership") is required to view this article.

Not yet a Premium Member? Subscribe now.

Already a Premium Member? Please login using the form to the right.

Not ready to become a member, but need the article? Buy access to just this article.

Article Summary:

My personal objective with this project was to reduce the weight of my Therm-a-Rest UltraLite 3/4 by shortening it while keeping the original width and rectangular shape so it would work well as a "frame" in several of my frameless packs. The result: I reduced the length to 34 inches and the weight from 15.3 ounces to 10.9 ounces.

Disclaimer: proceed at your own risk. Cutting a Therm-a-Rest UltraLite voids the warranty and resealing it is no easy task. Depending on your skill and luck, I estimate the success rate to be slightly greater than 50%.

ARTICLE OUTLINE

  • Disclaimer
  • Overview
    • Cost: Free + pad cost
    • Weight: 10.9 oz
    • Time to Construct: 2.5 hours
    • Skill (scale 1-10): 7
    • Tools (scale 1-10): 1
  • Recommended Equipment
  • Cutting the Shape
  • Clearing the Foam
  • Sealing the Seam
  • Testing the Seam
  • Congratulations!
  • Notes about My Experience
  • Notes about Therm-a-Rest ProLite Pads

    # WORDS: 1500
    # PHOTOS: 13
    # TABLES: 1

    Buy Access to This Article

    If you do not want to subscribe and get access to all BPL articles, you may instead opt to buy this single article: "Make Your Own Gear: Shortening a Therm-a-Rest UltraLite Self-Inflating Pad"