The Best Way to Patch a Sleeping Pad

By Neil

PUBLISHED Mar 13, 2025

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Sleeping pads. You either love them or hate them. They can give you a great night’s sleep or be the reason you wake up every hour. If you’ve ever used an inflatable sleeping pad, you know they’re expensive, fragile and punctures are inevitable. But there are things we can do to extend their lifespan, some of which I’ll admit I’ve neglected myself. In this guide, I share some tips to avoid punctures and advice on how to find and fix one. You can watch my video guide below, which is followed by a written version with photos. Let’s get into it.

The first question we might want to ask is, “Why are we continuing to use inflatable pads?” Well, they’re great for their packability, lightweight design, and insulation. But they’re also fragile, and nothing is worse than realizing you’ve punctured one in the middle of the night, suffering until morning, pumping it up every hour, and spending precious time trying to find the leak.

I’m especially motivated to create this little guide because this happened to me on a recent trip. It wasn’t a catastrophic failure, just a slow leak that had me waking up every three hours, but it was still frustrating. So, let’s start with how to prevent punctures in the first place.

Preventing Punctures

• Buy from a reputable brand or a brand you trust, and buy a pad that’s realistic for your trip. We suggest a pad with a thick-denier bottom.
• Before setting up camp, remove sticks, sharp rocks, and any debris. If you’re in an area with cactci or thorny bushes, be extra cautious; they can hide in the soil. And if you move anything around, remember to leave it how you found it.
• Keep your tent or bivy floor clean. Tiny bits of grit can sneak their way inside, so before setting up your pad, sweep or shake out your tent.
• Before you put your pad in the tent, feel the tent floor with your hand to ensure there are no sharp goatheads or sticks protruding through.
• Don’t track dirt inside. Take your shoes off and brush yourself off before getting in. Sounds small, but this is what I think happened to this most recent puncture. I had something on my shorts, and it came into my sleeping system. Brush yourself off or change cloths before you get into your sleeping system, especially if you’re using a quilt and sleep directly on the pad.
• Keep the door closed in windy conditions. Wind kicks up dust and debris, which can find its way into your tent and under your pad.
• Use a ground sheet. A Tyvek sheet, footprint, Polycro, or any extra layer adds protection. I don’t always do this, and I regret when I leave one of those at home. Relying only on the tent floor isn’t ideal, both for moisture control and durability.
• Pack it up with care. Before rolling it up, brush off any dirt and grit. Doing this outside your tent helps keep everything clean. And use the little stuff sack it comes with. It’s the one sleep system stuff sack I use, and it’s worth it. It keeps everything nice and neat and is another barrier from other things that might be stuck on your tent or sleeping bag.
• Know when to skip the inflatable pad. Sometimes, the best move is to leave it behind. My buddy Joe Cruz recently did this in the spiky, thorn-filled terrain of Arizona and went with a closed-cell foam pad instead. They have their downsides, but in certain environments, they make more sense.

Field Repair?

Let’s be real: repairing a pad in the field is tough. You’re dealing with dirt, elements, and and probably tired from the day’s ride. Plus, finding the puncture is often the hardest part. On my recent trip, I had a Nemo repair kit with me, but despite inflating the pad, listening for leaks, and even using water, I couldn’t find the hole. If it had been a larger tear, it would’ve been easier to fix. But for slow leaks, it can be a big challenge.

If have one nearby, you can try using a lake, a pool, or whatever water source is available to locate the leak. But in my case, with two nights left on the trip and a drought in Arizona, I decided to just deal with waking up every few hours instead of spending more time searching. It wasn’t ideal, but it didn’t ruin the trip.

Finding a Leak at Home

The best time to fix this stuff and properly clean your pad is when you’re back home, and that’s what I did. I finally tracked down the leaks in a couple of my pads. One was from a zipper and was very obvious, and the other was from that Arizona trip. There are two main methods to finding punctures:

• Soap method. The most common approach is spraying soapy water on the pad. Start with a few baffles at a time and give them a good spray. If there’s a puncture, escaping air will create bubbles, making the leak visible. This method takes a bit longer but usually gets the job done. As a bonus, your pad gets a little sudsy bath.
• The dunk method. The method I usually go straight to is submerging the pad in a few inches of water in a bathtub. This makes leaks much easier to spot. Not only will you see bubbles, but since you’re applying more pressure to the pad, you’ll actually hear the air escaping. I find the dunk method especially useful for tricky spots like junctions, seams, or the valve, where the spray method isn’t always fully reliable.

For both methods, once you find the leak, circle it with a marker so you don’t lose it. I always check one side of the pad first, then flip it over and do the other, just in case there’s more than one puncture.

Patching the Puncture

I almost never use the patches that come with pads unless I’m in the field. And as I mentioned, finding a puncture in the field is tough, and those patches tend to fall off rather quick. They work great in a pinch, but I think I’ve been successful maybe once with them. Instead, I usually dig through my bin of random camping crap and grab Seam Grip adhesive and Tenacious Tape. It’s a method I’ve relied on since my college backpacking days, and it’s never let me down.

But this time, both of my tubes were pretty dried up, So, I headed to Ace Hardware and picked up Loctite’s flexible adhesive for vinyl, fabric, and plastic. I’d seen others have success with it on sleeping pads, so I figured I’d give it a shot. Here’s my method:

• Clean the area. Use rubbing alcohol and a rag to scrub well beyond the puncture. This is the most important step—don’t rush it. This will ensure the adhesive and tape stick for the long haul.
• Apply the adhesive. Spread Seam Grip or whatever adhesive you use in a circle well beyond the hole.
• Cut and apply the tape. Cut a circular piece of Tenacious Tape to match the area of the adhesive (about 1.5 to 2 inches around the puncture) and press it down hard. The important thing is to have the adhesive all the way to the end of the tape so as not to create a flap in the future.
• Wipe off excess glue. Use that alcohol-soaked rag to clean up any extra adhesive. This is something you want as it’s going to reduce the likelihood of that flap.
• Let it dry. It sets up fast, but I usually wait a few hours before testing.
• Test it. Spray or submerge the patched area in water again. If you see bubbles, you’ll have to start over. If not, you’re good to go!