That's right folks, last night my Slim Airic died on his third night's active duty. He's gone all delaminated near the valve and ends up with a big bubble that spreads radidly as soon as you add any pressure and close the valve. I hand't been blowing it up too hard, I'm pretty sure it's a one-off dud. Anyone else had this problem? I'm going to contact Alpkit and see what they say.

(In a Glaswegian accent) "It was Muurder!"

Oh no! Have you tried CPR?

Well Simon's confession suggests that it was the CPR that did for poor Airic!
"I hand't been blowing it up too hard" Simon claims. Hmm.

Lies, lies and slander! I took good care of my Airic =(

We shall await the results of the Post Mortem....

Just don't try traction... I don't think I could cope with another traction episode this evening!

Sounds like an aneurysm to me

Maybe a hernia?

I had exactly the same thing happen with a Thermarest Ultralite a few years ago. Sent it back to Cascade for replacement, and they told me that one in every few hundred fail in this way, and that it had nothing to do with over-inflating (which was 'impossible to do with breath alone').

This happened to two of our Wee Airics a couple of weeks ago. When I contacted Alpkit they were sympathetic and gave me a Freepost address to send them back, promising replacements.

Their response was exactly what you would hope for, as opposed to a problem I have with Terra Nova, but that's another thread.

Airic & Hernia?
Morecambe & Wise?

I'll get my (Goretex) coat.

I've used both of my wee airics for 14 nights each now and they seem to be faultless so I think yours must be a dud Simon! One of the best £15 pieces of kit i've bought (twice).

Saying that, of the 4 mates of mine who have Airics, one of them leaks from around the valve (he's in correspondence with Alpkit right now), and another one's valve has cracked (probably due to over-tightening, and it still works anyway).

My fat airic leaked at the fabric around the valve too (the first time I used it...) I was halfway through a camping trip, so mended it by rubbing the glue into the fabric. It seems to be fine now, although I wasn't too happy at the time when I woke up on my deflated mat. I'm glad it didn't happen in winter...

May mate and I bought one each, but his came with a leak. A dip in the bath to find it and a spot of puncture repair adhesive sorted it tho.

Coincidentally, I found and (hopefully) fixed a leak in my ME (InsulMat) last night, too. Only this is obvious scuff damage in one corner. I shall be more careful with it in future...

Mine just arrived today, will leave it inflated over night and check what its like in the morning just incase ...dont want to get out next week to find that its leaky!

Unless you are applying pressure Moggy I don't think simply leaving it overnight will be an accurate test of its structural integrity.

im going to sleep on it at some point before i go out on the hills with it just to double check ;o)

The post mortem was conclusive, from photo evidence Alpkit have informed me that Airic died prematurely of natural causes none could have forseen. I'm to cut off his valve and send it back to a freepost address so they can replace him.
Murder indeed! Hmph