NEW! NEMO Sleeping Pads 2023 – 2024

I honestly felt like the Nemo Tensor was more comfortable and less noisy than a NeoAir XLite.  I have a bad back and I tossed and turned a lot more on the Neoair. None are perfect.  Heck I toss and turn on my memory foam mattress at home as well.

Honestly hammock camping is the best sleep I’ve had.  I’ve never done it backpacking as I’m still tinkering and I have heavy hammock gear. (esp my underquilt)

I’m happy to hear that the Nemo is making a difference for you, Jeff, I can definitely relate to your issues. I also have lower back problems and I’m pretty much crippled in the morning until I can find a place to sit with bent knees for about 20 minutes. The Nemo Tensor hasn’t helped for me, and neither has Big Agnes, or either Thermarest I’ve tried. They’re all the same to me. There may be a slight noise difference, but it’s just not noticeable to me, and since my only tent partners are canines, I don’t really care about noise anyway.

Dan,

That’s really unfortunate.  Have you tried hammock camping?  It’s not viable for every situation, and the lightest tent setup will always be lighter than the lightest hammock setup.  But it may be a reasonable alternative to feeling crippled for 20 minutes every morning. That sounds awful.

Actually, in that video, it looks like all of the pads, except the neo-air, DO have uneven insulation: some spots are warm, and some are less warm. I think it proves my point (except wrt the neo’s that have a surprisingly even thermal profile).

I think it’s important to look at the temperature ranges represented, and not just the colors. The temperature range of the Nemo Tensor was 7 degrees, compared to 5.7 degrees for the NeoAir.   That’s not that big a difference.  The Static V had a whopping 18.4 degree temperature variation.

Also, the “warmest” area (where the most heat was being lost) detected by the NeoAir was 66.5 degrees, compared to 67.6 degrees for the Nemo and an awful 79.3 degrees for the Static V.

I don’t recall where I read it, but I seem to recall at least one person claiming that the Klymit Pads are better used with a sleeping bag that has loft on the bottom of the bag that can fill in the uninsulated gaps between the ridges.  As a quilt user, the Klymit pads would be one of my last choices for a sleeping pad if cold ground was a concern.  I own, among others, a Klymit Static V Insulated Lightweight, a Klymit Static V Insulated UL, a NeoAir Xlite, a NeoAir XTherm, and a Nemo Tensor.  The Klymit pads are mostly relegated to summer time camping with my grandkids.

I’ve not been impressed with the S2S Etherlight XT based on reviews and specs.  It seems to perform poorly given how heavy it is and how large it is when rolled up.  Also, I consider the NeoAir Uberlight to be borderline “stupid light”, or a summer season only pad for mild temperatures when pack weight is a person’s primary concern.

Jeff, you read on the Klymit site somewhere that the loft of your sleeping bag is supposed to fill in the gaps in their pads’ grooves. That expectation started with their X-frame pad which is just a few strategic tubes. Until this year I was using a Klymit pad even after I’d heard their ASTM R-value was less than half the marketed rating because I find their pads very comfortable to lay on. I just kept telling myself I woke up cold because my quilt was leaking or my socks were too tight…

Also Jeff, I got the whole WB hammock system a few years back and I sleep better in that than at home. Another selling point of the Klymit pads was that their shape worked so well in hammocks, which seemed to be true except that again I kept waking up cold. This made me leery of UQs at first, but it finally made me suspect the pad was the problem.

I finally grabbed a used Nemo pad and I’m a little less comfortable, but because I’m waking up too warm. The problems now are more logical like a quilt rated for colder conditions, socks too thick, etc. I feel like I can trust the Nemo pads more, but of course we’ll see how the results of the live human testing goes here against the new models.

“all equally uncomfortable.”

Comfort is a relative thing, I suppose. If you ever slept on one of the ensolite pads in the old days, EVERYTHING these days would seem extremely comfortable…

I remember when I got my first orange thermarest 3/4 length pad. I thought it was heavenly, coming from closed cell foam before..and nothing before that!

Then, over time I noticed that my arms were falling asleep…..then, enter the air pads..WAY more comfortable. Not as reliable as the old thermarest open cell foam inside the orange fabric though!

Tensor Extreme is available now at retailers and on their site: https://www.nemoequipment.com/collections/ultralight-sleeping-pads/products/tensor%E2%84%A2-extreme-ultralight-mountaineering-pad

Justin Outdoors review of the pad doesn’t seem to give it a ringing endorsement. 32F/0C and he said he felt cold coming through the pad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMgfc0Ys-ag&ab_channel=JustinOutdoors

Think I will stick with the Xtherm.

Stevens freezer test was a fail also, weird test though..

Devin/backcountyexposure is testing all season one and likes it – review should be coming soon.

If a windbreaker increases the insulation value of a sewn through down coat, it seems that a cover would add insulation value to a pad with thin spots like a Klymit.

Terran Terran I slept with my Klymit pad inside the chair kit/cover a couple of nights. It may have felt slightly warmer, but that may just have been the softer fabric. Inconclusive.

Still glad I grabbed a Nemo. The marketed R-values are about the same, but the Nemo is much warmer.

I have two REI FLASH mattresses, the 3 season at R 3.2 and the “All Season” at R 5.2. Currently the 3 season pad has a slow leak that I can’t find in a “bathtub test” so it goes back to REI. If they don’t stand behind it my next 3 season mattress will be a Sea to Summit light mummy B/C my StS pump bag the REI mattresses, REI valves being under license from StS, mates with StS mattresses. Besides, StS mattresses have known durability, sorta unlike REI’s insulated mattresses.

“Comfort is a relative thing, I suppose. If you ever slept on one of the ensolite pads in the old days, EVERYTHING these days would seem extremely comfortable…”

Yep. Even the old Thermarest pads were too thin for me. But I’m a side/stomach sleeper. Nights became truly awful. The BA pads made backpacking fun again when they came out. I could sleep! and felt far better throughout the hike. Maybe if I slept on my back, this would less of an issue.

It might be helpful if folks mentioned if they’re back or side/stomach sleepers. It makes a difference.

P.s. the ‘test’ in the video was done with no one actually lying on the pad. Surely this makes a difference, especially over time, as body warmth and ground coldness play such important factors. And what sort of insulation you have beneath you (if any).

Looks like BA is not a sponsor here. No links.

Anyone got one of these new 2024’s yet ? Among other things, I’m curious about the weight

on a related note, i c that REI lists an extreme.reg.wide at 1lb 8 oz.  Yet Nemo’s website states a 1lb 5oz weight

Someone on ultralight reddit posted that they got one of extreme wide pads and it was way over listed specs, like 5+ oz heavier..

I’m a 3+ – season guy/don’t camp in the dead of winter, and will bring/use a roll of 5 mm thick, 60 cm by 180 cm Evazote foam when the going gets cold (or rocky).  Adds maybe 4 or 5 oz. to my carry weight and noticeable warmth and comfort.  If the ground is frigid, counter-intuitively, I might put it on top of my air pad because it makes the pad so much more comfortable (don’t feel the tubes/baffles).  If rocky, it goes underneath for protection.

Roll straps many places on my pack and is basically unnoticeable (unless seriously bushwhacking, which I do less and less of these days).

You are correct that we published the wrong weights for these pads and there is a discrepancy. In unraveling this publishing dilemma our product team was able to discover with our factory partner is that the weight of the pads increased slightly between development and production and this caught us off guard. Steps are being taken right now to correct this mistake and put a process in place to prevent this issue in the future. So far, it looks like the difference between actual and published is less than 5%, but in this realm of backcountry gear, we know every gram counts.

We are testing a large sample of pads right now and will use the average weight from those results to correct the published figures. There is always some variation between pads, so any one pad may be plus or minus by 1-3% or so, but should not be more than that.

As of Oct 20th, the website displays corrected weights and our team is urgently working to update packaging on pads that have not shipped yet.

Btw. This is the response from NEMO, from an inquiry I sent earlier this month

Im 5-7, 210 lb. Used Neoair for years until I developed hip peoblems.  Tied the Tesoe, fairly comfortable most nights but my hip revolted at times. PLus REI CS saig the Tensor had a high return rate. Exped had juat come out w new U series 3 in thick. R of 2.9 or close to 5. Here in SE US, 2.9 is fine most times, a Thinlite is fine at upper 20z. Reg wise wt is slightly more than Tensor. But being a sise sleeper the vertical baddle conform mUch better. As I am in late 60s, comfort for good sleep rules!

“UNCOMFORTABLE”….. Not sure the level of inflation people are using for their sleeping pads, but I’ve been using an older red REI wide mummy shaped pad with the hex pattern for the last 5 years or so and while the first one developed leaks at some of the seams, the replacement (thank you REI) has held up just fine and IS comfortable.  I’m unsure what people mean when they say their pads aren’t; I find myself barely filling it up with air so that it conforms to my body rather than pumping it up full which results in an inflated board, which WOULD be uncomfortable!  Same for my Sea to Summit air pillow; might as well sleep with a rock under you head if you fill it up, but slight air pressure and it conforms and is “soft” around the head and shoulders.