REI Co-op - Flash Insulated Air Sleeping Pad

That style of thermal welds creating small individual pillows is a fundamental design defect. The welds will peel slightly and create leaks. The REI Flash pads were notorious for this design with many reports of leaks. Here's pic of a patched pad: https://i.imgur.com/imj5JYy.jpg Buy your own pad and enjoy creating photos like the above after a few uses.

To add on, I could never sleep on an air mattress. They killed my back and I’ve never had a bad back. I have just hated and refused to sleep on these. I would rather sleep on the floor. My favorite sleep is in a hammock. With that said, if I’m tent camping. I will sleep on a sleeping pad, air mat. It’s Better to have one per person. They give you the insulation value you need without the crazy fluctuation of those massive wasteful air mattresses. I don’t know why they are so common in campers and spare rooms but they are horrible. I feel like at least in the us people think they need to be elevated when sleeping, but it’s so much less comfortable to me. Edit to add I use an rei flash and an exped mat for two people. The flash is great for the price but very squeaky. In my hammock I switched to an under quilt from a sleeping pad. But that wouldn’t work in a tent.

Glad you made it and are camping now! I’m also a kayak camper, and I broke my back in a 30 foot fall while backpacking as a teenager. I am now able to use backpacking sleeping mats like the REI Flash, but this one looks interesting if you had big enough hatches (or were willing to put it in a dry bag bungeed to your deck): https://www.rei.com/product/233662/nrs-snooze-pad-3-sleeping-pad?color=BLUE

I went from an OK REI inflatable to a NEMO tensor and then a Sea to Summit Etherlite XT. The waffle-looking baffles on the two latter pads were a huge improvement in comfort. I think the Etherlite is slightly more comfortable but I switched mostly for durability reasons. 3+ inch thick pad with the waffle pattern is the way to go in my book. Back feels better in the morning and I wake up way less often because some body part fell asleep.