When camping in a cold environment it is extremely important to use a good sleeping pad. The sleeping pad acts as a barrier between your body and the ground. Your sleeping bag will become compressed when you lay on it and lose almost all insulation value which means that your sleeping pad becomes essential in cold weather.
I was fortunate enough to learn the importance of a good sleeping pad first hand when I was camping in the snow. The middle of the night in the middle of nowhere is not the ideal time to find out that your sleeping pad no longer inflates. The freezing conditions provided an excellent illustration of how cold you can become if you are not properly insulated from the ground.
Inflatable vs Foam
There are basically two types of sleeping pads to choose from. You have inflatable pads and closed cell foam pads. There are pro’s and con’s to each style.
Pictured here is the Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Sleeping Pad, a basic example of an inflatable pad. The pro’s of this style of pad are size and warmth. The cons are primarily cost and reliability.
PRO’S
Size: Since these are able to be deflated, you get a lot of bang for your buck when backpacking. It would take a much larger and heavier foam pad to offer the same comfort of a pad of this style.
Warmth: The engineering of the higher level inflatable pads offer a considerable amount of warmth. The primary method of insulation is simply the air that ends up trapped between you and the ground though. A general rule of thumb here is that the higher the R-Value, the more the unit will weigh.
CON’S
Cost: The unit in the picture sells for $170 at REI. (http://www.rei.com/product/781098). Speaking as a relative cheapskate, it is difficult to justify spending that much money on a sleeping pad. The ceiling for the cost on these is approximately $200.
Reliability: Just like any other inflatable item, these can eventually fail to inflate. This failure can come from a simple puncture or a seal failure. Personally, if I am going to spend $200 on a sleeping pad I would really hope that it is a one time purchase. I have a Therm-a-Rest pad that is about 10 years old now and it no longer holds air. Now 10 years is a long time but I still don’t look forward to replacing it.
Pictured here is the Therm-a-Rest Ridge Rest Deluxe Sleeping Pad. It is the top model that REI offers and it can be purchased for $45. The pro’s of this style of sleeping pad are mainly cost and reliability and the con’s are insulation and comfort.
PRO’S
Cost: As I mentioned previously, this pad is the nicest that REI offers and it can be purchased for under $50. That is a price that I can justify. You really have to be honest with yourself and determine if you really need the additional comfort that an inflatable pad provides and if it is really worth the additional cost..
Reliability: You don’t have to worry about these failing you. You can not pop a foam pad and if you store it properly, this style of sleeping pad should be able to last you a lifetime.
CON’S
Warmth: Foam pads simply don’t offer the same insulation value as their inflatable counterparts. If you want a foam pad with a high insulation value, you really end up with a large pad that would be difficult to lug around in the wilderness.
Comfort: Again, it is difficult for a foam pad to compete with an inflatable in terms of comfort. It is simply something you have to balance, cost vs comfort.
In the end, the choice for me is the foam pad. If money was no object though, I would probably buy one of each.
-NWW 1/29/2010
Tags: Sleeping Pad, Winter Camping
February 3, 2010 at 8:15 am |
It can’t be stressed enough; you need to get up from the ground to avoid the cold.
The general “Joe Schmoe”seems to think that a thick blanket will “git’r done”, but as long as you are not getting some distance from yourself and the moist coldness of the earth, you will freeze, no matter how much you have on top of yourself.
Anecdote from the army:
Got separated from my patrol and lost in the middle of the night an wandered off. Found another patrol and decided to join them until morning light (I had no radio and my packpack with all supplies were in our basecamp). They had no place for me to sleep (unfriendly basterds!) so I had to make my own.
I found a pretty thick spruce, cut off the lowest layers of branches and made a little bed (it was about three layers of thick, rich branches). I rolled myself up in fetal position and tried to get some sleep.
I woke up at early dawn and realized that my hood had frozen to my cheeks and that my water bottle was frozen solid.
I said to the guys who had been at an observation post not far from me that I hadn’t got any sleep for the entire night.
They were quick to state the opposite and that my snoring had probably alerted every enemy within a 10 mile radius!
Note that I did not have a sleeping bag or pad, nor a tent. Not any other heat source than myself and temperatures were below freezing. All I wore was the ordinary uniform (no winter gear besides long underwear).
Despite this I (apparently) slept pretty well!
So take it from a guy who knows, a good sleeping pad is about twice as essential as a good sleeping bag. The cold is not above you, it’s below!
/Raud, Sweden