Big Agnes Insulated Air Core Sleeping Pad Editorial Review

By vegastradguy

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a cold sleeper. I’m also not a big fan of sleeping on the ground- I tend to wake up sore and unrested. I’ve always lugged around the thickest pad I could find to Camp 4 and Hidden Valley so I can at least get some sleep. I own three sleeping pads- two inflatable and one Z-rest. The inflatables are nice because they give you more cushion, and if you’re sleeping in a tent or on a tarp (especially if car camping), there’s no reason not to use one. I have the Z-rest for the odd times I need to either hike for a long ways and camp or if I’m camping on the ground and don’t want to wake up with a deflated pad. Regardless, though, most pads are lousy at keeping you warm- you rely on your bag to do that for you, and even then I’ve found myself chilled even through blankets and an inch and a half of sleeping pad.

Enter Big Agnes, a company that has a unique sleeping system developed where the bottom of their bags don’t have insulation, rather, they have a pouch where you slide your pad in. This keeps you on the pad as well as provides insulation for you on the bottom of the bag. As part of this system, they have developed what they call Insulated Air Core Sleeping Pads. These are plush sleeping pads that are insulated with primaloft- rated down to 15 degrees! So, you can bet that when they asked me last summer to test one out, I jumped at the chance.

When I got the pad, it came stuffed, and I can’t emphasize enough how small this thing packs. Check the photo below for an idea, but lets say its tiny! Specs say 3.75” x 10”, how’s that for nice to carry around? One of my biggest complaints about all of my pads (including the z-rest) is how bulky they are. Not this one, it’s miniscule.

Big Agnes vs the competition- deceptively small! J. Wilder Big Agnes vs the competition- deceptively small! Photo by: John Wilder.

Now, you might be thinking, well, if it packs that small, how plush could it possibly be? Pretty damn plush, actually. When inflated, it measures 20” x 72” x 2.5”- that’s right, 2.5” of cushion! A full inch more than the nicest pad I currently own and about 1/4 the size when stuffed. As far as thickness goes, this one wins by a landslide.

Big Agnes from the ground- 1" more than the competion. J. Wilder Big Agnes from the ground - 1" more than the competion. Photo by: John Wilder.

How comfy is it to sleep on? Very- owed mostly to how thick it is. I will also say that the I-beam construction keeps the air in place a little better and the pad feels wider than it is. It’s also very warm- even on the coldest of Jtree nights this winter (temps dropped to 18 or so a couple of times), I didn’t notice any cold seeping through the pad. Big Agnes does recommend using a closed cell pad as well when sleeping on snow covered or frozen ground. Your mileage may vary. The only thing about the pad that’s less than awesome is that it’s a bit narrow- my model is 20” wide, making it a bit narrow for my taste, but the pad is also available in a 25” model and still packs down to 4.25” x 10”. I would bet, though, that if you had a Big Agnes bag to stuff this pad into, the 20” would be no problem because there’d be no way to accidentally roll off of it in the middle of the night!

So, are there any real downsides to the pad? Only two that are worth mentioning- and both are directly related to how small the pad compacts to. The first is that this pad, unlike other inflatable pads, is not self-inflating. Being the diligent reviewer I am, I timed myself several times on how long it took to inflate, and the pad takes between two and two and a half minutes at a casual rate to inflate fully. I would add to this a bit at altitude (I would also recommend inflating it a little at a time- easy to do when tooling around camp). Compare to approximately one minute for a 1.25” self-inflating pad. Not too shabby, but not great either. However, because it’s not self-inflating, it collapses to a super-flat sheet of material, allowing it to stuff as small as it does. The second downside is that deflating it to the point necessary to stuff it can be a pain in the butt and take a while. You need to get it absolutely flat [strong]before[/strong] you make any attempt to stuff it or you’ll be back to square one. Once you figure it out, though, it only takes five minutes or so from start to finish.

Finally, some comparisons to the other pads out there. All comparisons were made off of the ‘regular’ size- approx 20” x 72” pads. If you go by weight, the other major pad on the market that is inflatable and compacts down similarly (4.8” x 11”) and weighs the same is only 1.5” thick and costs $15 more. If you go by thickness, the other major pad rolls to 21” x 5.4” costs $20 more, and weighs almost two pounds more than the Big Agnes!

Which one would you rather sleep on? J. Wilder Which one would you rather sleep on? Photo by: John Wilder.

All in all, this is a great pad. It’s relatively light (1lb, 8oz), stuffs very small (3.75” x 10”), its extraordinarily comfortable for its size, and has the added benefit of Primaloft insulation. The price isn’t bad, either- $69.95 for the regular size up to $100 for the deluxe 25” model. This pad has definitely earned its place in my camp set for any night I’m sleeping on a tarp or need to conserve space in my pack!

Specifications:
2.5" thick, 3 season Air Core pad filled with PrimaLoft insulation. M3 synthetic fill used in the 25" wide pad. Packs down to a compact 3.75" x 10" or 4.25" x 10" size

The I-beam construction technique is functionally superior to the typical welded-through construction of other air mats. Die cut holes in each I-beam allow air to flow freely between chambers giving constant support and comfort.

Durable 50 denier nylon fabric top and bottom used on the 20" wide pads and 70 denier nylon fabric top and bottom used on the 25" wide pad. Durable, water repellent (DWR) coating sheds water and stains

PrimaLoft features a silicone treatment which serves as an anti-microbial within the pad Internal polyurethane (PU) coating makes pad waterproof. Exclusive: Non-breakable, EZ-Flate brass valve for easy closure.

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Full Disclosure: The manufacturer of this product provided it free of charge to rockclimbing.com for review. Rockclimbing.com then provided this product as compensation to the reviewer. This company does not currently advertise on Rockclimbing.com. May 25th, 2007.