Weighing just 1 pound, Alps' Swift is one of the lightest air mats you can buy – and one of the most affordable. The Alps Swift Air Mat is the best backpacking sleeping pad for summer as it's lightweight and very affordable.Ĭons: Mouth inflated, patch kit isn't user-friendly The pad comes in five sizes, including mummy and rectangular shapes. And when I broke camp, I pulled the cap of the deflation valve and the pad emptied instantly. The zero-profile, micro-adjustable valve let me tune the pad's firmness to perfection. The pad also stayed inflated for an entire week-long camping trip. Rather than being self-inflating, the Tensor comes with a stuff sack inflation bag which was quick and simple to use - it only took five bags of air to inflate fully. It was comfortable against my bare skin when I was lying on it playing cards, and easy to clean with soap and water at the end of a trip. The Tensor's outer surface is light and puncture-resistant 20 denier fabric that was also tough against dog toenails and other popping hazards. Unlike some other pads, the insulating film wasn't crinkly when I flipped and flopped in my sleep. Even for spring and fall adventures, I never felt ground chill. The Tensor's baffles are lined with dual layers of body heat-reflecting metallic film that insulate the pad to 10-20☏. Though it's thick, the internal structure kept it stable. The Nemo Tensor has a baffled design which distributed my weight better than other pads I tested, so I never rolled over and felt the ground with a hip or elbow. It's also super compact when deflated (slightly bigger than a liter Nalgene), which made it easy to pack for any adventure. Insulated and 3-inches thick, the inflated Tensor is a lot of pad - which is precisely why I love it. Pros: Warm, compact, thick, spacious, uses a pump sack I got the best night sleep of any pad on the Nemo Tensor, which is a wide, long, and well-cushioned luxury pad that's light and compact enough for a backpacking pad. Packability/Weight: I evaluated each pad on both the space it took up and, also, how easy or difficult it was to squeeze the air out and fold it back into its protective stuff sack. I evaluated ease of setup based on how easy a pad was to both inflate and deflate based on the recommended technique for each one. I measured each pad's success or failure here based on how warm I felt throughout the night (which meant I wasn't losing body heat) and how much I could feel the coldness of the ground through the pad.Ĭomfort: Half of a sleeping pad's purpose is comfort, so I considered how cushy the surface of the pad was to lay on, if I could feel the ground when I rolled over, and if the pad made me feel sweaty/clammy or if the surface breathed well, since you don't always want to be in your sleeping bag.Įase of set-up: Sleeping pads can inflate by mouth, with an inflation bag, or be self-inflating. Warmth: Camping sleeping pads provide a barrier between your body and ground. I also tested winter-rated pads camping in December. I slept in campgrounds and in the woods in tents, lean-tos, and the back of my truck from April to October. I tested 15 inflatable sleeping pads while bikepacking, backpacking, and car camping throughout Vermont, New York, New Hampshire, Colorado, Utah, and Mexico.
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