For Eric P.

I completed my long standing Prolite 3S hackjob today.  Last fall, after acquiring a Prolite 3L for pennies at a ski swap, I decided to trim the fat.  The cut it, strip the foam, and reseal with an iron thing just didn’t work after two tries, so it sat idle in the fabric box until recently.

Last week it occurred to me that Mr Epic Designs knew how to do all this, after saving his T-rest from the bears on Unimak last June.  So I emailed him, and he responded generously and fast.  Aquaseal, said he, thin and in many many coats.  After sewing.

And so it was.

It just about took a week of dabbing on one coat after another or REI seam sealer (which is much thinner than the name brand stuff, and thus better for this) until all the pin holes were dead.  It still seems to leak at first, but settles to an equilibrium.  I think.  Sitting on it folded in half right now as a definitive test.

Weight?  7.6 oz.  Size?  Really darn small.  Cost?  Cheaper than a Neoair!  I don’t mind foam mats at all, but the bulk to warmth ratio of inflatables is hard to beat.  This is going in the bike racing kit, if I ever get to use it.

Speaking on that, school has made it easy to just rehab the knee, and ignore the extent to which it’s still creaky.  But I’m nearing completion, in 12 hours I’ll only have one project left to finish up, and I want to go ride!  By the end of this week the rest and rehab should start to work.  If not, that will be frustrating.

So it goes.

At least Trans Iowa and Scott provided good entertainment this weekend.