Nemo Tensor Ultralight Insulated Sleeping Pad (2024) Review: Unparalleled Comfort

Nemo Equipment’s Tensor sleeping pad was my introduction to ultralight sleeping pads. I’ll confess that after I unwrapped the Tensor (I went for the insulated model) and inflated it for the primary time 5 years in the past, I instantly considered a hiker joke I’d seen on Reddit: Inflatable sleeping pads are for individuals who wish to sleep on the bottom, simply not immediately.

How would this impossibly skinny, gentle, seemingly fragile pad not go away me on the bottom after just a few nights on the path? Fast-forward 5 years and that very same sleeping pad has been below me for over 40 nights now, and it nonetheless hasn’t left me wherever however snug and well-rested. That’s to not say it will possibly’t fail—many a pad has left me on the bottom over the many years, however the Nemo Tensor remains to be going sturdy.

Last fall, the corporate despatched me evaluation samples of its new Tensor line, which has been revamped for 2024 and consists of three pads, every with various levels of thickness and R-values (how a lot insulation the pad gives, which I clarify in my Best Sleeping Pads guide), tailor-made to particular backcountry wants.

Three Little Pads

The three pads embrace the Tensor Trail, which is the lightest however has the bottom R-value; the Tensor All-Season, which has an R-value of 5.4; and the Tensor Extreme Conditions, which boasts a whopping 8.5 R-value and has the best warmth-to-weight ratio available on the market.

All three are available 4 sizes: common, common mummy, common extensive, and lengthy extensive. Put all of it collectively and that is 12 pads to select from—from a single lineup from one producer. This is why we’ve got a whole guide devoted to sleeping pads that will help you decide the very best one in your wants.

Two of those pads, the Tensor Trail and Tensor All-Season, are updates. They see marginal temperature boosts, however the building stays like earlier iterations. Nemo nonetheless makes use of a quilt-like design that helps baffles keep inflated and eliminates that springy sensation you get with vertical baffles. The insulation consists of a number of layers of bonded mylar.

The distinction in R-value between the Trail and All-Season comes right down to what number of layers of insulating metallic movie every pad has. The Trail makes use of one layer, the All-Season will get two layers, and the Extreme makes use of 4 layers of what Nemo calls Thermal Mirror insulation (a metalized movie). It additionally makes use of a distinct baffle kind (extra on that beneath). Also new this 12 months is the beefier cloth on the underside of those pads. Nemo now makes use of 40-denier nylon on the underside, up from 30D nylon, which makes it extra sturdy. Take that, Reddit humorous man.

Nemo’s new pads are made from Bluesign-approved nylon (Bluesign certification seems at each environmental impression and employee security) and include the corporate’s Vortex pump sack, which works properly to inflate your bag by way of the zero-profile valve. I want there have been a typical for these valves so I might use the Nemo pump sack with different pads, however there is not. There’s additionally a stuff sack to retailer your pad, with a helpful restore package within the closure flap. The Nemo lifetime guarantee covers any manufacturing defects, which is sweet, however for extra instant options to that much-feared puncture, simply bear in mind the restore package is within the stuff bag.

All-Season All the Way

If you need an all-around sleeping pad that may preserve you snug not solely in the summertime but additionally throughout these shoulder seasons, the All-Season is the best way to go. The All-Season’s second layer of mylar movie will increase the R-value to five.4 and provides solely 2 ounces of weight. The packed dimension is sort of the identical. At solely $30 extra for a barely heavier pad with nearly double the R-value, I believe that is the very best sleeping pad for most individuals out of Nemo’s present Tensor lineup.