My dog (65lb), wife and I (both 5’9″) are looking to upgrade our current backpacking sleep system with the foresight of adding our future children into the mix soon. I have been looking at down quilts and, from another thread here, am almost sold on a single Feathered Friends Condor Nano 30 Regular length sleeping bag and ground sheet. I like that the Condor is rectangular, wide enough to also fit one or two small children (and dog inside at our feet), and I can use it on solo hammock trips. If anyone has any alternative suggestions, I would love to hear them!
I’m having more trouble deciding on sleeping pads. I would prefer two single wide (25″ each) pads rather than one duo pad, for redundancy and for use of a single pad in a hammock. I know that there are a lot of trade-offs to consider, so here is a list of my priorities (from high to low):
- Width: 25-26″ (to fit little kids as well)
- Comfort: for during pregnancy (also, I move around a lot and sleep on my side)
- Quiet: my wife is a very light sleeper (so no loud crinkly pads)
- Durable: for 65lb dog’s claws
- Shape: rectangle (good for coupling)
- Edges: uniform loft (not raised edges) and edges don’t collapse (for those sleeping in between pads)
- Insulation: at least 3-season. Mainly summer trips, but some spring and fall (Michigan temps from low 25°F to 90°F high)
- Budget: around $150 per pad ($250 per pad absolute max)
- Weight: prefer <4lbs per pad
- Packed volume: less important (currently strap self-inflating pad to the bottom of packs with no issue), but will be doing some kayak camping with limited cargo space.
- Length: regular preferred, but long acceptable (25″ width more important)
