NEMO Tensor Elite Sleeping Pad Evaluation

The path up Mt. Katadyn, the northern terminus and highest peak alongside the Appalachian Path, usually sits above the clouds and cuts by way of car-sized boulder fields to achieve the summit. Gripping a rebar ladder rung on a vertical rock face, I fastidiously choose one other spot for my foot. I now perceive why the rangers right here have a fleet of daypacks for AT hikers to borrow. 

After summiting Katadyn, I walked into the distant woods of northern Maine with the identical pack stuffed with the identical gear I carried up the mountain. I finished to make camp for the night time in a great place to observe the sundown. I pitched my tent and started inflating the feather-light Nemo Tensor Elite sleeping pad.

This pad was model new — to me and the world. As I lay atop my sub-9-ounce mattress, I puzzled if the gossamer-thin cloth would maintain up all the way in which to Georgia. 

Over the following 2,200 miles and 100 nights, I usually seemed on the patch package I carried, questioning after I’d want it for that insanely mild sleeping pad. However I by no means ended up utilizing it. Not even as soon as.

In brief: The Nemo Tensor Elite is the lightest inflatable sleeping pad in the marketplace. For thru-hikers and gram-counting backpackers searching for a dependable ultralight sleeping pad, it delivers distinctive efficiency with out the sturdiness issues that sometimes plague this class. It has an R-value of two.4 that’s heat sufficient for summer season to early shoulder season, plush 3-inch baffles to maintain house between you and the exhausting floor, and an easy-to-use inflation valve system.

NEMO Tensor Elite Sleeping Pad Evaluation

The Lightest Sleeping Pad Out there

The NEMO Tensor Elite balances featherweight design with trail-worthy building. Its 8.5-ounce path weight contains the stuff sack (however doesn’t depend the Vortex Pump Sack). It’s the lightest inflatable sleeping pad presently out there.

I’ve used the Therm-a-Relaxation NeoAir XLite NXT for ultralight backpacking for years. The XLite, a full 4 ounces heavier than the Tensor Elite, was beforehand the lightest insulated sleeping pad out there. However now the Tensor Elite has taken that title.

The Tensor Elite virtually disappears in your pack and weighs about as a lot as 4 power bars (or a bag of Fritos for all you thru-hikers). It’s silly mild, so it’s a wise improve in your ultralight package. 

Summer season Weight Pad

Its 2.4 R-value is heat sufficient for summer season backpacking journeys. Relying on how heat you sleep, you could possibly use it in shoulder-season circumstances.

I had deliberate to change to my NeoAir XLite NXT, which has an R-value of 4.5, if circumstances turned too chilly on the Appalachian Path. I primarily had balmy circumstances for many of the path till the final 200 miles, when the temperatures dropped. However by that time, I didn’t wish to take care of swapping out pads, so I foolhardily saved rocking the Tensor Elite.

The coldest night time I slept with the Tensor Elite was about 15 levels Fahrenheit. That was past this pad’s limitations, however I surprisingly stayed heat sufficient. If I moved round or my hip was too near the sting of the pad, I may really feel the chilly air, however I’m truthfully stunned by how heat this 2.4 R-value pad saved me.

I wouldn’t plan to carry this pad for winter backpacking, however it’s heat sufficient to maintain you snug sufficient slightly below freezing. Sooner or later, if I’m not anticipating temperatures under 40, that is the pad I’ll carry.

Extremely-Snug

This 3-inch-thick pad all the time permits me to discover a snug place. It’s cozy sufficient for again, abdomen, and even facet sleepers.

I’m a facet sleeper, and if my hips are within the center 16 inches of this pad’s 20-inch width, I by no means really feel the bottom beneath. If my hips are close to the sting of the pad, I can often really feel the sting collapse. However I’m shocked by how agency and supportive it feels for a pad this mild.

In the event you’re acquainted with different Nemo Tensor fashions, which are available numerous cloth thicknesses and insulation ranges, then the Tensor Elite will really feel comparable. The Tensor Elite makes use of the identical Apex baffle building, which offers even weight distribution and stability, as the opposite Tensor fashions.

It’s not a really loud pad, both. Some ultralight pads sound such as you’re sleeping on a crinkly bag of potato chips. This pad isn’t silent by any means, however it’s not as loud while you toss and switch as others.

Straightforward Setup & Packing

The Tensor’s zero-profile, micro-adjustable Laylow valve permits you to rapidly inflate the pad and fine-tune the extent of firmness you favor. And when it’s time to pack up camp, totally open the valve, and all of the air rushes out.

The included Vortex Pump Sack (2 ounces) inflates the pad rapidly and simply with none of your lung energy. It’s additionally straightforward to inflate utilizing your lungs, and lots of who learn this are probably trying to shave ounces from anyplace. The Vortex Pump Sack works nice, however it’s not too troublesome to inflate the pad together with your lungs the old school approach, both. 

What Might Be Higher

The 10D Cordura Nylon Ripstop materials used on the Tensor Elite is barely slippery. I’m not speaking about slip-n-slide ranges of slick, however this pad tends to slip round greater than heavier pads. Thinner supplies are extra slippery, and the Tensor Elite isn’t resistant to this. But it surely’s a manageable degree of slippery.

It must also be famous that the Tensor Elite’s 2.4 R-value is comparatively low. Whilst you may be capable of get some shoulder season use out of it in some climates, that is largely a one-season sleeping pad, which limits its use.

The Backside Line: Nemo Tensor Elite Sleeping Pad

By December, I used to be standing on the different finish of the Appalachian Path, atop Springer Mountain in Georgia, having by no means even touched the patch package. Over 2,200 miles and 100 nights, my Nemo Tensor Elite by no means precipitated me a poor night time’s sleep. It by no means popped, by no means leaked, by no means crinkled. A loopy mild sleeping pad sturdy sufficient to final a whole thru-hike, plus extra? Rely me in.

With the Tensor Elite, Nemo has lastly made an ultralight sleeping pad that doesn’t really feel prefer it’s one thorn away from catastrophe. I probably obtained a bit of fortunate in by no means needing to patch this pad climbing so far as I did. The comparatively much less sharp Appalachian Mountains most likely aided with that, too.

I can’t promise that you should have the identical expertise I did, however 100 nights with out punctures is exceptional in my e book. And it offers me confidence that this pad will proceed to be dependable for a lot of extra ultralight missions.