The valve works well, but it’s on the top of the pad, rather than the edge. This is awkward when rolling around in the night. An air pad with twist and pull valve usually takes this many breaths to inflate. You’ll be huffing and puffing. Looking for something a bit warmer? Have a look at the ThermaRest NeoAir XLite NXT instead. Durability The rest of us sane people however tend to take a more measured approach and know that there is a time and a place to use a sleeping pad. For example, whilst a lot of campgrounds, forests and mountain tops are kind of moist, soft and ok to sleep on, others are just not. Also, if you are camping in icy conditions then hard frozen ground can ruin your night’s rest and your vertebrae at the same time!

The Tensor insulated is one of the lightest mats for its R rating so is a good option if you are looking to travel in colder conditions but are still wanting to save as much weight as possible. Part of the popular Tensor series the insulated version offers a solid 4.2 R rating that will keep you warm most of the year round.Nemo Tensor Insulated range – superb blend of weight comfort and warmth, hits the sweet spot for this type of mat. A fancy valve that lets you inflate and deflate easier than other twist and pull valves. More on sleeping pad valve types in our Guide. Through thermal modeling, NEMO engineers figured out how to interlace a piece of plastic TPU film throughout the pad to choke off the convective currents. (Previously, NEMO used aluminized film.) Standard with for Regular-sized pads. This mummy pad tapers to 16 in (41 cm) at the feet. The Tensor products with “25” in their name have a 25-inch width. The Insulated version of the Popular Tensor mat, this version offers a very good weight to R value rating so is perfect for colder conditions where every gram still counts. Nemo says:

Insulated models leverage 2 layers of suspended Thermal Mirror™ metallized film for a lighter and remarkably quiet sleep when compared to the competition.From 2020, there is a new industry standard for measuring the R-value (level of insulation) of sleeping mats – ASTM F3340-18. This new standard is the sleeping mat equivalent to the EN rating for sleeping bags. Two Layers of Thermal Film Insulation– Thermal Film Insulation is lightweight and quieter than the competition. The Tensor series of sleeping pads has always been popular with customers and staff alike. They are highly supportive and comfortable, regardless of whether you are a side sleeper or not. The Tensor Extreme lives up to its predecessors, providing excellent comfort and support as you toss and turn. This is a 20-inch width pad with a tapered mummy shape. You can see it’s not heavily tapered. If you want a larger Tensor, consider the 25-inch width model. Very thin material, almost see-through. About the thinnest you can go with a sleeping pad. More on Denier count in our Guide.