Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Torrent Air Pump Camping Mattress Inflator

This air pump is my "alternate" for car camping since it's larger than the original little Therm-A-Rest product (which also works well). It inflated my sleeping pad in a couple of minutes. I had to "top off" the fill with a couple breaths by mouth, but the inside of the pad is NOT filled with moisture laden air rich in germs... which would be the case if I used my lungs to inflate the pad over and over. A CLEAN way to get the air into the pad... works great.

A good little pump! Definitely better for a NeoAir Dream than the useless little NeoAir mini pump. Blows up the mattress in about 2 minutes, and gets it to pretty good firmness (unlike the mini) although you'll still probably want to top the mattress off with a couple of good exhalations, depending on how firm you want your mattress. I sent the mini back because the best it would do was get the AirDream about halfway there, and even that took 4 minutes or so. (I assume the mini would underwhelm on most air mattresses; it's mostly just a compact supplement.)This also features an actual on/off switch. It uses long lasting lithium batteries (but be warned, it requires 4), or just use the car lighter attachment as cheaper alternative. (And, if you're carrying around a neoair Dream, car camping is probably what you're up to anyway).Not as tiny or light as the mini pump, but that's because it will actually do the job where the mini only gets you about 1/2 - 2/3 of the way there. (At least on a NeoAir Dream). It's a bit smaller than a man's closed fist.The main negative and 4-Star rating is that you can't hear or tell when it's "done." Like the mini, it only has so much power to do whatever it can do, and there's no easy way to know when it's reached that point. Even a slightly higher pitched noise doesn't necessarily indicate that it's finished. So you have to make the call when to pull it off rather than let it keep spinning its wheels. But give it a couple of minutes total and you should be in good shape.Pros- Fast, fairly light- Capable; Actually DOES inflate a NeoAir dream camping mattress- Long lasting lithium batteries or car lighter attachmentCons- Can't tell when it's "done"- A bit bulky and heavy for serious backpacking (almost 10 ounces)- Cost of batteries- Pricey

I would recommend getting the smaller one more actually, even though it pumps a little slower this one takes weird batteries, it's bigger, heavier, and louder I definitely wouldn't take this in my backpack but I would take the other version which is much smaller and lighter on my backpacking trip with me.

Is this really a Therm-a-Rest product? The build quality, features and function suggest a cheap Foreign design. Yes, it works. So long as the batteries haven't died due to an exposed switch and you haven't lost the soft rubber nozzle.As far as I know there isn't a better solution for a battery powered inflator for something like the NeoAir Exotherm which requires more air pressure to inflate. I have used a Thermarest micro inflator for years. It is reasonably well designed albeit the battery cover is fragile and breaks easily. that inflator is not powerful enough to fill the Exotherm.This Torrent device is missing the hallmarks of a Therm-a-Rest product. Issues include:No way to assure that the power switch remains "off" during transport except to remove batteries. But..Battery removal is extremely difficult. Really. I did it a number of times. Royal pain given the design and placement of the battery terminals. Further, the design of the battery terminals is such that I expect them to break or fall out and get lost with frequent battery replacement.Flexible rubber outlet cover falls off easily and is easy to loose. In fact, mine disappeared before my first outing. Gone. Poof.To summarize: i) parts fall off and get lost, ii) runs on 4 expensive batteries (that isn't the issue) and yet has no way to de-activate the power switch which is exposed and easily clicked to "on". In fact, I'd say it is hard to avoid turning it on if you put the device in a pack, duffel bag, or whatever, next thing you know, you get to camp with no battery power...at a replacement cost of close to ten bucks for four batteries iii) Batteries are very hard to replace - this matters because the only way to de-activate the power switch is to remove the batteries. iv) I anticipate battery terminals to break or fall out with frequent battery replacement. Seriously, I don't believe that Therm-A-Rest designed this.

This thing, whatever it should be, isn't worth the material it is made from. It just doesn't work!

Not high pressure at all, you know that upfront. Does need a cheap universal silicone adapter for other "blow up" air products but did job for Therm-a-rest. Probably not great on foam, but air core products do well.Light enough to justify after up-hill hike before setting up camp.