Over the past few weeks, Everett and I have overhauled our entire winter backpacking sleep system.
We first started getting more serious about winter backpacking at the start of this season, and we wanted to reuse as much of our summer backpacking gear as possible. While we did upgrade our sleeping bags to bags rated to much lower temperatures, we decided not to replace our sleeping pads.
However, when we were backpacking through Mazama Ridge at Mount Rainier National Park on New Years 2023, we had an unfortunate failure in our sleep system. Everett woke up in the middle of the night letting me know that he was cold to his core. Somehow overnight, his sleeping pad, which he'd owned from before he had met me, had deflated. Because his body was so close to the ground, it was sapping heat out from under him.
I checked the clock, and it was only midnight -- 8 more hours before sunrise. It was going to be a long night. What a way to spend the first few minutes of the new year!
Like a good fiancé, I suggested that we could try sharing my sleeping pad. Now, Everett is by no means a small person, 5'11" with a strong build. The two of us shared a small women's sleeping pad, tossing and turning between spooning and jetpacking, until we finally landed on me planking awkwardly on top of Everett before we both fell back asleep.
We realized that night that we needed a new sleep system -- pronto!
Our New Sleep System
I want to start this section by saying that none of the products mentioned here are sponsored. Any links that I have added are solely so that I can provide you with the best information possible in case you decide to replicate it.
1. Closed-Cell Foam Sleeping Pads
We used 2x Nemo Switchbacks, which have an R-Value of 2. R-Values are a measure of how insulative a sleeping pad is -- I won't go into it much in this blog post.
I had never been a fan of foam sleeping pads due to the bulkiness that they add to your pack, but I have heard great positive reviews from plenty of other summer-time backpackers who swear by the Nemo Switchback foam sleeping pads. Despite how bulky these foam pads are, they're actually surprisingly light at 14.5oz, considerably lighter than our old sleeping pads.
Based on our experience with Everett's inflatable sleeping pad unexpectedly deflating in the middle of the night, we decided to introduce foam sleeping pads into our sleep system as an additional element of redundancy. While an R-Value of 2 is below the recommended 4 to 5 for camping in the snow, this style of sleeping pad will never be at risk of springing a leak, meaning you'll always have a minimum R-Value of 2 even in a worst case scenario.
An additional benefits of the closed-cell foam sleeping pads are that they're water-proof. We found that even if we strapped these to the outside of our packs, the snow will shake right off. If you camp in a tarp during winter like we do, the water-proof nature of the closed-cell foam sleeping pads may allow you to forgo having a ground sheet altogether.
2. Inflatable Sleeping Pads
We used 2x Nemo Tensors, which have an R-value of 4.2.
These inflatable sleeping pads pack so much more for their punch. When inflated, these have double the insulation of the closed-cell foam sleeping pads at a fraction of the packable size. When compressed, these sleeping pads can be packed down almost as small as a Nalgene bottle.
We opted for a rectangular style sleeping pad we valued having our two sleeping pads nest better together at the price of a couple of ounces. We previously had two mummy-style sleeping pads that would always leave our feet hanging awkwardly off our pad.
Both sleeping pads together had a much higher R-value for a much lower base weight than our original set of sleeping pads.
3. Velcro Straps
New additions to our sleep system that we're especially proud of are our new Velcro straps. Previously, Everett and I have had issues where our sleeping pads would drift apart overnight. These straps have made all the difference. We purchased a large roll of Velcro one-wrap straps from Home Depot and cut them to length.
We attached 2 sets of straps around all four of our sleeping pads, which kept everything together almost like a large mattress all night long.
4. Sleeping Bags
We used 2x REI Magma 15's (1x Men's REI Magma 15 and 1x Women's REI Magma 15).
There are a few key differences between the Men's and the Women's version of this sleeping bag. Other than length, these sleeping bags also differ in that their comfort ratings go down to different temperatures and they zip on opposite sides. Women's versions of the same style of sleeping bags tend to be rated for lower comfort temperature levels than Men's at no additional cost. Opposite-sex sleeping bags of the same brand are also typically designed to zip together.
Other sources on the internet suggest that it's actually a little less thermally efficient to zip sleeping bags together, but we've had good luck with it so far. We know that if we need to, we can always re-zip them individually in a pinch.
5. Inflatable Pillows
We used 2x Nemo Fillo Pillows.
Last summer, our previous inflatable pillows both developed leaks from repeated use, so we upgraded to these Nemo Fillo Pillows, and I can't imagine ever going back. They have a luxurious cotton feel to them and pack down relatively small. A good night's sleep just isn't complete without pillows at camp.
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