Therm-a-Rest. Three guys, a gardening pad and the quest for a better night's rest under the stars. "We got started because I wanted a better mattress," says John Burroughs, co-founder of Therm-a-Rest. As an experienced mountaineer, John knew that the thin, closed-cell foam mats of the early 70's left a giant opportunity for the creation of a mattress that offered greater comfort. He also knew that demand would be strong for such a solution, but more importantly, he wanted to help people better enjoy the mountains and the wild places that he loved. In many ways, we now operate in much the same way we did over 40 years ago. Not far from where we began, in the SODO district of Seattle, John Burroughs still comes to work every day. And though we are bigger, we're proud to maintain a single-minded commitment to quality and innovation by designing every product from a wealth of personal experience and producing the majority of what we sell with our own hands. Maintaining these founding values has allowed us to consistently achieve what John Burroughs set out to do those many years ago - to help people make the most of their precious time outdoors.