Latest news with #sleepingpad
WIRED
11-05-2025
- General
- WIRED
The Best Backpacking Sleeping Pads for Every Season
The Therm-a-Rest NeoLoft Sleeping Pad (8/10, WIRED Recommends) isn't the lightest at 25 ounces, but it packs down respectably small (about an inch thicker and taller than a Nalgene water bottle), and inflates to a massive 4.6-inch cushy pad that looks more like a luxury car camping pad than something for the backcountry. Looks are not deceiving, either. If you prize sleep quality over weight, this is the pad for you. It's especially great if you're a side sleeper, where that extra height from the vertical side walls allows for more pressure relief without bottoming out, helping to keep you more comfortable. The R-4.7 rating isn't that great considering the weight, but it's more than enough for three-season use. (I would even call it conservative. I tested this pad down to 15 degrees and found it fine, though I am a warm sleeper.) Part of what makes it so comfortable are the triangular horizontal baffles running through out the pad. There's two layers of baffles, with the top layer being of a stretchier fabric that helps provide pressure relief, especially for side sleepers. This, combined with the stretch-knit top fabric, which is also excellent for pressure relief, is what makes this pad so comfortable. At the same time, the side baffles help provide support, and I never had this pad "taco" on me. The stretch-knit top helps cut down on that swishy nylon sound (this is a very quiet pad). It also makes sleeping on the pad with a quilt (rather than a sleeping bag) much more comfortable. The weight makes this pick best for those who prize comfort above all. This is most comfortable sleeping pad I've ever used. It's a wonderfully comfortable pad that will have you forgetting that you're sleeping on the ground. Specs R-Value 4.7 Weight (Regular) 25 oz (708 grams) Sizes Regular, Regular Wide, Large Photograph: Nemo Equipment Nemo's Tensor Extreme Conditions Sleeping Pad has the highest R-value of any pad we've tested. It is the only backpacking sleeping pad that can compete on warmth with car camping pads like Exped's MegaMat, yet the Tensor somehow manages to pack down to about the size of a Nalgene water bottle and weight just 21 oz. (587 g). Nemo manages this by packing four sheets of metallized thermal film into the trapezoidal chambers. The film is light, packs down small, and both reflects body heat back up to you and stops radiant heat loss to the snow. I was initially skeptical of this pad. It's one thing to claim an R-value in lab tests; it's another thing to spend a sub-zero night on the snow in a Wisconsin winter. But that's what I did, and this pad performed extremely well. Paired with a Z-Rest (see below) and a -10F sleeping bag, it kept me toasty down to 4 degrees Fahrenheit. The 3.5 inches of loft is nice too, allowing for side sleeping without bottoming out (for reference, I am 5'11", 165 pounds). My only gripe with this pad (and all Nemo pads) is the regular is insanely narrow. If you don't want to feel like you're on a big wall bivouac, go for the wide versions. Specs R-Value 8.5 Weight (Regular) 21 oz (587 grams) Sizes Regular, Regular Mummy, Regular Wide, Long Wide
WIRED
09-05-2025
- WIRED
The Therm-a-Rest NeoLoft Will Make You Forget You're Sleeping on the Ground
My favorite place to wake up is in a sleeping bag, which is good because I tend to wake up a lot when sleeping in a sleeping bag. It's not the bag, it's the pad underneath me. I've tried them all (it's part of my job), and while some are definitely better than others, I've never found one that quite fulfilled every backpacker's dream—a lightweight, packable sleeping pad that feels just like the bed you left at home. Until now, that is. The Therm-a-Rest NeoLoft sleeping pad isn't the lightest at 25 ounces—goodbye, ultralight readers—but the 4.6-inch cushion is a true luxury, and it offers a great night's rest, which can be more valuable than shedding a few ounces. The Great Weight Debate Photograph: Scott Gilbertson There are two problems with carrying a big sleeping pad in the backcountry. First, there's the weight you have to carry, and then there's the amount of room it takes up in your pack. The ultralight community online will try to convince you that camp comfort—that is, your shelter and your sleeping set up—aren't as important as keeping weight down, so you can move fast. Depending on your goals in the backcountry, that may indeed be true. But after trying it for quite a few trips, I've found it's not the case for me. For me, carrying a little more weight in the form of a heavier tent and sleeping pad affords me a better night's sleep, which helps me (on average) to hike further than I do with less weight but poorer sleep. Therm-a-Rest's new NeoLoft pad steps into this weight/size/comfort debate by leaning heavily on the side of comfort. It is undeniably big, relative to something like Therm-a-Rest's XLite pads or Sea to Summit's Ether Light series (our two favorite ultralight sleeping pads). For all that, though, the Neoloft isn't that big when packed down, especially considering how big it is when you inflate it. The NeoLoft reliably packs down to a size that's just larger than a Nalgene water bottle—about an inch bigger around and an inch taller for the regular wide size pad that I tested. It's a tight squeeze fitting the NeoLoft in my Hyperlite Junction 40 with the rest of my gear, but it works for shorter trips where I'm not carrying a ton of food. For trips longer than three or four nights, I'd want a 55L pack. (Naturally, this will depend a lot on the size of the rest of your gear. You can see what I carry at LighterPack.) I'll confess that I was dreading testing this pad. I didn't want to lug it with me, but when I actually loaded it up … I didn't really notice the extra 8 ounces over the Nemo Tensor I usually carry. Again though, I am not trying to win any ultralight prizes. Rather, I'm looking for the right balance between weight and comfort. Sleeping Pad Technology Photograph: Scott Gilbertson I test organic mattresses for WIRED, and I use roughly the same criteria to judge sleeping pads. Comfort while sleeping comes down to how well your pad keeps you warm, how well it relieves pressure, how well it provides support, and how stable it is to sleep on.
