New Sleeping Pad – NEMO Tensor

Sleeping in a camping hammock provides an always level, no rock or root under you, soft supportive bed. If you sit in the middle with your legs over the side of the hammock, it’s a first class chair. So the bar is very high when you move to a tent and the ground. A sleeping pad needs to keep you off the rocks and roots, be supportive when you are laying down without too many pressure points, support you when you sit up, and not be too slippery so that you slide off if there is a slight incline.

Back in 2019 on the Continental Divide Trail, I was using an old unreliable sleeping pad. It leaked air slowly, so every 90 minutes I would wake up on the ground and have to blow the air mattress back up all night long. For several weeks, I never got a good nights sleep, meanwhile hiking 20+ miles every day. It was terrible. So when I decide to try a tent again, I wanted a first rate sleeping pad to go with it.

I went to REI and got the latest generation sleeping pad (Nemo Tensor). I admit I was skeptical of the pad. There are two widths to choose from these days, regular (20) and wide (25). I first tried out an uninsulated wide pad overnight in the 55 degree basement. I loved the size, but I got cold from below through the pad. I took it back and tried out a regular width insulated pad, which is lighter than the wide, but although I didn’t get cold I kind of felt like I was balancing on top of a balloon all night. So I took it back and got the insulated wide. That one was just right. So, along with my new tent, I took off for the coast.

As I mentioned last time I camped at Tahkenitch Dunes along the Oregon coast. After setting up the tent on a pretty flat spot I unfurled the air mattress. The mattress is blown up using the provided semi self inflating sack which is so clever it is almost worth the price alone. 

Briefly, the sack is about the size of a small bathroom trashcan liner. One end clips to the opening on the pad and the other end is open. By blowing one breath toward the open end of the sack your breath entrains outside air into the sack and fills it up with 30 liters of air. Much more than your single breath of 6 liters. You then roll closed the open end of the sack and squeeze the air into the pad and repeat. Took me 3 breaths to blow up an 88 liter pad! Amazing, and should not be under rated as blowing up a pad every night is usually pretty exhausting! (Pun intended) But I digress. 

This wide pad means you can roll over without worrying about falling off. And by filling it up and then letting a little air out you can adjust the softness a bit. I slept pretty well on the new pad. The sleeping pad got a solid 7 out of 10. I would rate a hammock as 9/10 or 10/10 most of the time for comfort, but this wider pad was definitely ok. It was not particularly slippery so I didn’t slide off the pad, and it was reasonably supportive without much in the way of pressure spots. It did bottom out when I sat up, but just barely. Over all, considering I was on the ground, it was a success.

So now I have a good tent and decent sleeping pad. I have sent my trusty sleeping bag off to Rainy Pass Repair in Seattle to work their magic at rejuvenation. Their launder and odor removal service is next to none and it looks like a new bag when it comes back. I’ve used them since hiking the PCT in 2014.

Next time, mapping the route and thoughts on itinerary.