mastertangler wrote on Oct 22^nd, 2010 at 12:05pm:

Whoops my bad...........ST, why not just leave the valve open during the entire process? I'm not getting that.  :-? I know your mostly a sharp guy ;) ;D and if there's a better way I want to know.

If you leave the valve open during your second cycle, your thermarest will actually suck in air for a couple of turns in your roll.

I actually roll twice ... open the valve, do a "loose roll," tighten the valve, (fold the thermarest in half length-wise ... I have a guide lite 1" pad), then make my second roll, opening the valve again about 3/4ths through and tightening again at the end.  (My mattress is about the size of a football when I'm finished.)

And another tip for those that are changing altitude between roll-ups ... if your are using a snug fitting "stuff sack" for your air mattress, make sure your valve is on the outside/exposed end of the bag.  Its amazing how much the residual air will expand as you gain 2-3000 feet.  I made the mistake of putting the valve on the "wrong" end once and was nearly unable to get the thermarest out of the stuff sack the next night.

dd