Dead Chuffed with Cascade

When the ThermArest Neo Air first hit the UK it was a bit of a sensation to say the least. A massive leap forward. Sheila and I both bought one in the small version. Since then we have seen an amazing revolution in sleeping mat weights, warmth and packability from lots of OEM’s. On the down side there have been durability issues and with the NeoAir we had the deflation issue.

Sheila’s mat has always held air content with very little change in comfort even when temperatures fell during the night. The slight reduction in pressure was negligible.
Mine on the other hand suffered badly. Being almost completely flat after a nights use.

I tested it in the bath to find out where it was leaking but i never found a puncture of even the smallest proportions. 

In the mean time we fell a bit out of love with the horizontal tubes because we found it quite easy to slide off the mat. I tried a number of mats with vertical tubes and preferred the support they gave. There definitely isn’t as much movement of the mat when the tubes are vertical imo.

Sheila actually found that her hips were sore in the morning when sleeping on a tubed mat, any tubed mat and eventually she decided to try a Trangoworld micro lite foam self inflating mat. This proved a success and she still prefers it although a little heavier.
She sold her NeoAir.

My NeoAir was relegated to the museum of hardly used equipment. Stored in a wardrobe in the spare room. It must have been there now for a good 3 years maybe. It was only recently when changing the room around that we had to empty the wardrobe and the NeoAir saw the light of a new day. I thought it a crying shame that such a good bit of revolutionary kit was now a discarded bit of old plastic. I was considering throwing it out or reusing it in some way or other, anyway i inflated it hoping that it had matured with age and had self healed its leaking wounds. It hadn’t, it just arched against the wall all sad and empty in the morning.

Then a couple of weeks ago i was having a chat with a member of staff in the Cotswold shop and i mentioned about my Neoair. He said he remembered sending quite a few of the early ones back  to the factory because of a fault and he suggested i email the company about it. I must admit that i didn’t hold out much hope as it’s a few years old although it probably has only about 10 nights usage all in. I should have looked into sooner i know that but i sent an email to Cascade. Well they could only say “no” at worst couldn’t they.

I was very quickly contacted by Ciamha at Cascade in Ireland. She told me that the mat would be evaluated and if it could be repaired it would cost £15. If it was beyond repair it may be replaced depending on the evaluation. 
Now as i wrote above, the mat’s condition was not an issue, and i couldn’t find a leak as to why it was deflating. So i was absolutely over the moon to receive a reply from Ciamha that Cascade are going to replace the mat FOC. Even after all this time.

What can i say except “Now that’s what i call going the extra mile service”. I will get the use of my mat back. I will have a light weight option without spending more money. I am so grateful to Cascade and my contact Ciamha for doing this and i am very pleased i had that chat in the Cotswold shop. 

Just thought i would share the experience.