Did you ever read the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale The Princess and the Pea? Little known fact: it’s actually about me. Slight exaggeration, but where comfort’s concerned, my standards when it comes to sleeping outside are high. On Outdoor’s recent shenanigans up in Cape York, sleeping out among Mother Nature was the order of the day for the fortnight long adventure. Arriving at one of our campsites, I pounced on the Nemo Tensor 20R Mummy Sleeping Pad before anyone else had a chance to take the keys out of the ignition. I’d already slept a number of nights in a swag, but it was time to try a different kind of bedding. I pitched a Nemo tent (stay tuned for a review on that in an upcoming issue) and threw the sleeping pad in, before it was time to shake the dust out of my hair and relax with a cold beverage.
TAKE A LOAD OFF
If you’re after a lightweight addition to your travel kit, then this is perfect. Our vehicle was bursting with gear on this trip and there wasn’t excess space for much in the way of sleeping luxury, so this particular Nemo Sleeping Pad at just 410g was a lifesaver. It’s light, and packed down it’s smaller than some of my water bottles. If you’ve got far too many bad memories of wrangling mammoth sleeping pads that require every bit of air in your lungs to inflate, then this is the pad you’ve been looking for. Thanks to the handy built-in inflator pump I had it ready to go in a flash. My only complaint with this was that the ease of set-up meant I had too long to wait for my travel companions to set up their gear so we could go exploring.
HOW DOES IT MEASURE UP?
Sure, it might set up easily but the real test is comfort. The sleeping pad in question is 183cm long and 51cm wide. For a vertically challenged individual like myself (clocking in at 161cm – yes, that centimetre is important), my feet dangling over the edge wasn’t an issue at all. However, as a restless sleeper who wriggles around and often ends up diagonal, I would have preferred a bit more width. If you’re someone taller than me or broad shouldered, you’re probably going to wake up a few times wishing for extra centimetres. The thickness of the sleeping pad is eight centimetres, so while I couldn’t exactly feel a pea underneath, after a little deflation it was slightly less comfortable than the first night. However, this was easily fixed by re-inflating. I even stepped up the comfort level by putting the mattress on a sleep stretcher one night, which resulted in a dreamy sleep. If you’re in the market for a new sleeping pad, then this should definitely be high on your list of considerations, but be warned, at $119.95 it’s on the pricier side. However, you get what you pay for, and it’s made from low-stretch lightweight baffled fabric, and feels sturdy when you’re sleeping on it. Should you get a tear, it comes with a repair kit to easily patch things up. And in the morning just deflate and pop it into the handy drawstring bag, while you wait for your mates to pack up.
PROS
- Lightweight
- Packs down to nearly nothing
- Fast inflation
CONS
- Could be a bit narrow for broad folks
- At the higher end of the price range