Exped Megamat Review – 5 Years Later

TL;DR - The Exped Megamat for the RTT continues to be one of my most "worth it" purchases, and Exped (the company) stood behind it - years after my initial purchase - when it developed a slow leak.

Worth every penny.

Every chance I get, I rave about my Exped Megamat to anyone who will listen. At the time I got it, I shuddered at the cost - right around $375 - but there weren't a lot of competitors on the market, and the few references I found to it on the internet suggested that while pricey, it was worth it.

After 5 years, I can say that it has been worth every penny and more. Coming from a standard, 3-inch-thick foam RTT mattress, the Exped is better in every way but one, but Exped (the company) has that solved too. Let's get into the five-year review!

A Refresher on the Exped for New Folks

If you're curious what the Exped is, I'd recommend reading the Rig Review where I first got it. Essentially, it's a combination foam/air mattress that comes in a multitude of sizes, where you can almost always find a size (or combination) that will fit nicely in an RTT.

for a 56" wide tent, get the Exped MegaMat Duo 10 LXW (Long & Wide) at 78" x 52"
for a 48" wide tent, get the Exped MegaMat Duo 10 (Medium) at 72" x 41"
for a single sleeper, get the Exped MegaMat 10 LXW at 77" x 30"

Five Years Later

I'll just start off by saying that my one-year review of the Exped still feels quite relevant. I eon't go over all the same details here since the whole point of this review is to share new thoughts after using it for even longer, but there will be some inevitable overlap.

It is SO comfortable- this is the most important aspect of any mattress, and the Exped has this nailed. Without hesitation, I can say that it is more comfortable than most full-fledged beds I've slept in. Seriously, it's that good.
Durability is good but ... the warranty makes it GREAT - this will naturally depend on the user, but I've found that with a (homemade) fitted sheet over the mattress, it still looks like new after 5 years, and it functioned like new for 4.5 years. Over the last 6 months it has developed a very slow leak, and when I reached out to Exped, they immediately supplied me with a brand new replacement mattress free of charge. (see below for details)
It's worth it to get an electric pump. I refrained from purchasing an electric pump for a long time for several reasons: (a) I didn't like the idea of a loud noise when filling the Exped, (b) I didn't love the idea of a $50, single-use device, and (c) I wasn't a fan of the micro-USB charging, since those connectors seem so flimsy. The official Exped Widget pump still uses that crappy connector, but I picked up a FLEXTAILGEAR Zero Pump, which uses USB-C charging, and it is glorious. I just leave it in the tent - just like the hand pump - so it's always there when I need it.

Customer Support Rocks (and so does the warranty)

In the five years I've had the Exped, I've slept on it approximately 458 nights. Probably a few more than that, but it's hard to count once I get past my fingers and toes, so that'll have to do. Whatever the number, that's a lot of inflating and deflating. Three quarters of those nights - I'd guess - two people slept on the mattress, and the other quarter was just one.

At any rate, about six months ago, I noticed that the mattress seemed to be less firm when I woke up in the morning than it had been when I went to sleep. I chalked it up to the ambient temperature being cooler, and thus the air contracting inside the mattress. I also thought it might have been due to my leaving the hand pump attached to the fill valve, perhaps allowing some air to leak out slowly.

A trip or two later - now consciously sealing the fill valve every night - I noticed it again. This time it wasn't significantly cooler in the morning, so I started to worry that there might be a leak.

Over the next several months, my suspicions were confirmed. At first, I only had to refill the mattress once during the course of a night, and only if both @mrs.turbodb and I were sleeping on it. Slowly however, that transitioned to twice a night, and eventually to every 2.5 hours or so, or approximately three-ish times per night, depending on what time we climbed up the ladder in the evening.

Knowing there was a leak, I did what we all do - I procrastinated. Eventually, however, at the end of our Return to the Desert, we pulled the mattress out of the tent to see if we could find the hole. I figured that it'd be near the RTT hinges - perhaps where the mattress had gotten pinched - near the middle of the mattress. I figured that if we could find it, I'd just use one of the provided-at-purchase patches (also available as a kit) to button everything up and we'd be good to go.

After filling the mattress so it was quite firm, we looked, listened, and felt for any leaks. Near the RTT hinge, along the seams, and at each of the valves, nothing seemed to be amiss. Then, I noticed a bit of a bulge in the fabric at three of the eight (4x top/bottom) corners.

Not finding any other issues, I determined these to be the problem.

It seemed that the inner rubberized plastic envelope had failed, allowing air to escape. The outer fabric was still trying to hold that air in - and doing a valiant job as it bulged out - but over time, the air would slowly seep through the fabric and eventually the mattress would need a refill.

I had no idea what Exped would say, but I figured it couldn't hurt to reach out and send along the photos of the situation. They did have a statement on their website that gave me hope:

Our goal is to keep gear out of the landfill by doing repairs whenever possible. Should you need repair or warranty assistance with your EXPED gear, you will need a return authorization number.

To start this process, please complete the Warranty & Repair Service Request form below.

Exped USA

After filling out the form, I poked around on the site a bit more and discovered that the warranty on these matts is amazingly long - 5 years! And, Exped reserves the right to repair or replace a mattress even after that timeframe has passed. Cool.

A day later, I got the following message:

From: EXPED USA Service
Sent: Wednesday, November 6, 2024 11:52
Subject: RE: You have new warranty & repair service request RA XXXXX

Hi Dan,

Thank you for reaching out to us and for sending in your information. We are sorry to hear your mat has a broken weld. Unfortunately, this is not repairable, however, we are happy to replace it for you.

Your return authorization number is RA 30509. Please reference this number should you have any questions during this process.

To proceed, please follow the steps listed below.

Please write your RA number on the mat in permanent marker near the valves.

Send us a picture of the RA number written on the mat.

Please also confirm the LOT number of your mat. This will be a white 4-digit number found along the seam of the mat. A good starting point is near the valves.

Once we have this information, we will place an order for a new mat to ship to you (an equivalent one to what you currently have). Please dispose of the damaged mat upon receiving the replacement.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Cheers,
EXPED USA / Tacoma, WA

That was amazing, and I wasn't shy in saying so to the Exped rep who'd contacted me. I then related the situation - with my mat being a thousand miles away - and asked if they could send a new mat prior to me sending photos of the old one, which I'd do on my next trip south.

I hoped they'd understand, but I wasn't holding my breath and I was already super-thrilled with the service I'd gotten.

Of course, being outdoor enthusiasts, they did understand, and so now I've got a brand new Exped Megamat 10 LW+ waiting to fly down to Las Vegas with me on my next adventure.