Eureka! singlis st, ul, lite, regular and large bad valves, defective construction - Eureka Singlis ST Regular

The Eureka! SINGLIS ST, UL (ultralight), Lite, in the regular and large sizes are all basically the same sleeping pad with color variations, and differences in width. What they all share is the same brass valve twist closure, the same plastic nylon or plastic-like epoxy resin valve seat block (that goes in the corner, and is glued to the air pad canvas. The brass valves are press fit into this plastic-like block. The pads I have of this ilk have suffered two maladies, either alone making the air pad useless, and both together in one pad calling to question (or really making an undeniable statement on) the quality control at Eureka!. Or rather the total absence of any quality control. The brass valves can be double threaded, right out of the factory. This is very frustrating in the field, as you thread the cap onto the valve neck, twist a full revolution or more, get it tight, and find that the valve is not closed, and that it will still pass air in (if you blow), or out (as the air pad deflates). In 20 close attempts, 1 in 20 will work (grab the good thread, not the bad cross thread) and 19 of 20 will grab the wrong thread, no matter how slow and careful you go. Completely unacceptable quality, or really a statement on complete lack of quality. The other problem I have personally experienced with a brand new out of the box sleeping pad in this Brand family is that the valve seat (a plastic block) was not glued properly to the pad canvas. So little glue was present, that you could see where it was glued, and where it was not, and the places where it was not were complete aiir holes in the system. A good 1/4 inch in diameter as air rushed out of the pad. With this defective contruction, there is ZERO chance that this air pad EVER held air at any time in the factory. This means Eureka! (Johnson Camping) either does not test their air pads before shipping, or else they test them, and then ship the bad ones anyway. Either way, this is not a pad you want to pay money for. Buy a pad where you can believe in the company making it, and that they care about their brand enough that they will not ship defective bags, ever. I slept on the hard ground the first night I used that pad out of the box, and then cut short a backpacking trip (solo, fortunately), else I would have had to tough out several nights on the hard ground, and my trip was ruined. You might get a good pad, you might not. But since I received a bag that LITERALLY had two 100% fail defects in it that were unrelated (glue on the valve seat) and a cross threaded brass valve, I have to say that Eureka! has absolutely no quality control. They expect to ship this to the customer, and then deal with the fallout (which is typically none, because who has the time. You just buy another pad from someone else.) Just skip to the that last step without wasting your money here, buy something else.