Guest - Not logged in | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reviews > Sleep Gear > Sleeping Bags > NEMO Harmony or Rhythm Spoon 40 > Test Report by Kurt PapkeNEMO Equipment Rhythm Spoon 40
Primaloft Sleeping Bag
|
Name: | Kurt Papke |
Age: | 59 |
Gender: | Male |
Height: | 6' 4" (193 cm) |
Weight: | 235 lbs (107 kg) |
Email address: | kwpapke at gmail dot com |
City, State, Country: | Tucson, Arizona USA |
Manufacturer: | NEMO Equipment |
Model: |
Rhythm Spoon 40 Long Primaloft |
Year of manufacture: | 2013 |
MSRP: |
US $239.95 |
Manufacturer website: | http://www.nemoequipment.com |
Color tested: |
Aluminum/Riptide
(blue/gray). This is the only available color listed
on the website. |
Materials: |
Shell Fabric: 40D Nylon Ripstop + DWR
(Durable Water-Repellent) Footbox Fabric: 15D OSMO™ DT W/B + DWR (waterproof/breathable coating on the back side of the fabric and DWR on the exterior, which protects against tent wall condensation and allows the footbox to breathe) Lining Fabric: 30D Nylon Taffeta Fill: Primaloft Synergy |
Dimensions: |
Listed:Length: 84 in (213 cm)Measured: Length: 84 in (213 cm) |
Packed
Dimensions: |
Listed:
15.5 x 9 in (39 x 23 cm) Measured: same as listed in the supplied stuff sack |
Weight: | Listed: 2 lbs 9 oz (1.2 kg) Measured: 2 lbs 9.2 oz (1.167 kg) without stuff sack Stuff sack: 2.15 oz (61 g) |
A truly unique feature of this sleeping bag is the spoon
shape. It is designed to give extra room to move in the
shoulders and knees while conserving weight and bulk. As the
above illustration shows, it is also designed to allow the user to
sit "tailor" style.
I climbed into the bag on a carpeted floor and tried it
out. I am just short of the maximum height for the Long
model of the bag I am testing, and can happily report that I fit
just fine from a height perspective. The bag is definitely
roomier than a mummy design - it was easy for me to roll onto my
side without rolling the whole bag as I often have to do in my
mummy bag. On the other hand, my legs seemed a bit too long
to sit tailor-style sitting up, but I do not regularly sit that
way so it is not a capability I shall greatly miss.
I tried the various features: zipped it open/closed, put my hand
into the watch pocket, played with the Blanket Foldtm
and hood adjustment. Everything worked as I expected.
I put the bag into the supplied stuff sack:
Date |
Location |
Trail |
Distance |
Terrain/ trail type |
Weather |
Altitude
range |
June 14-16, 2013 | Huachuca Mtns near Sierra Vista, Arizona | Carr Canyon |
12 mi (19 km) |
Steep canyon |
Sunny, 50-80 F (10-27 C) |
7200-9462 ft (2200-2884 m) |
June 21-22, 2013 | Huachuca Mtns near Sierra Vista, Arizona | AZT |
19 mi (31 km) |
Sky island canyon and ridgelines | Sunny, 55-85 F (13-29 C) |
5600-8500 ft (1710-2590 m) |
July 5-7, 2013 |
Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness north of Mammoth,
Arizona |
Aravaipa |
28 mi (45 km) |
Creek running through canyon + slot canyon |
Sunny, 70-100 F (21-38 C) |
2550-4000 ft (780-1220 m) |
July 26-28, 2013 | Huachuca Mtns near Sierra Vista, Arizona | Crest Trail |
11.5 mi (18.5 km) |
Sky island canyons and ridgelines | Sunny/rain mix, 55-80 F (13-27 C) |
6600-9000 ft (2010-2740 m) |
August 10-11, 2013 | Santa Catalina Mtns, near Tucson, Arizona | Romero Canyon | 12 mi (19 km) |
Sky island canyon | Sunny, hot, 59-102 F (15-39 C) |
2600-5100 ft (790-1550 m) |
September 21-22, 2013 |
Santa Catalina Mtns, near Tucson, Arizona | Romero Canyon | 10.5 mi (17 km) |
Sky island canyon | Overnight showers, 60-85 F (16-29 C) |
2600-4770 ft (790-1450 m) |
I car camped near the trailhead at Parker Canyon Lake on Friday
night:
I returned the Huachuca Mountains looking for a respite from the
hot and humid Tucson monsoon season, only to run into
rainstorms. I didn't get in a lot of mileage in, but I did
get a break from the heat. I was sleeping on the cot as
depicted in the photos above, but in an attempt to lighten my pack
I left my sleeping pad at home. The first night I used my
fleece pullover as a pillow, and was a little chilled beneath me
wherever my sleeping bag insulation was compressed by my body
weight. On the second night I used a bundle of clothes for a
pillow, wore my fleece during the night, and was plenty warm
despite similar temperatures as night one. Unlike sleeping
on the ground, the cot allows cold night air to circulate
underneath the sleeping bag, so the insulating ability of the
bottom of the bag was as important as the top.
Overall I had very good experiences both nights with the Nemo
bag. No complaints.
This was a hot summer weekend, and I
wasn't at a high enough altitude to stress the Nemo bag's
insulation qualities and 40 F (4 C) rating, but I spent a
comfortable night in it nonetheless. I used my camping
hammock on this trip for the first time with this sleeping
bag. Many hammock campers prefer a quilt, but I've always
used a sleeping bag in mine. The photo at left shows a photo
early in the morning just before breaking camp.
I started out the evening just laying on top of the bag, then
tucked my legs in as it started to cool down, and finally zipped
it up to my waist as it cooled even more. I didn't bother to
stuff my fleece into the pillow pocket of the bag, as I didn't
intend to "mummy up" that night.
This was also the first trip that I used the supplied stuff
sack. I normally use a waterproof sack for my sleeping bag
as I am paranoid about it getting wet. On this trip there
was little chance of precipitation, and I was not canyoneering
where I might need to swim my pack, so I decided to use the one
supplied by Nemo. It works fine, it was easy to get the bag
into the sack and compress it down as the sack is not airtight as
my waterproof sacks are - an airtight sack can be a little tricky
to get the air out and the bag fully compressed. The photo
at right shows the stuff sack with sleeping bag packed inside as I
was breaking camp. My Jetboil stove is next to it as a size
reference. This bag just does not compress down to a very
small size.
I was only able to make it into the backcountry for one trip
during the Long-Term Report period, but it was a good test of the
sleeping bag.
My hike began November 16, 2013 from near the summit of Mount
Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Mountains at the edge of the city of
Tucson, Arizona. The trailhead is at about 9000 ft (2740 m),
and the outdoor thermometer in my Jeep read 46 F (8 C) at my
departure. The wind was howling up the canyons and through
the trees. I knew this would be an interesting night.
I hiked down to an area I've wanted to camp in since I first
explored the Samaniego Ridge trail. It is a tremendous stand
of Ponderosa pine, the ground carpeted by pine needles, and best
of all protected from the wind. Total round-trip hiking
distance was about 7.5 miles (12 km), but the campsite was at
about 7400 ft (2260 m), so the morning hike out was a lung-buster.
The temperature dropped to about 40 F (4 C) by the time I set up
camp, so while cooking dinner I covered my legs with the Nemo bag
which kept me reasonably warm.
I slept in my hammock that night; the temperature dropped to just
a hair above freezing according to my thermometer, and the winds
continued to howl all night long. Despite camping in a
sheltered area, I had enough wind to keep my tarp flapping
continuously, and the Nemo bag was tasked with keeping the wind
off of me.
Since the temperatures were near the rating of the bag at the
time I turned in, I slept with every stitch of clothing I had with
me: silk long underwear tops and bottoms, hiking pants, light
merino wool T-shirt, merino wool LS shirt, and my windshirt.
I stayed quite warm on the topside all night, and had just a
slight chill beneath me, as I only had an open-cell foam pad
beneath my hammock.
I appreciated the unique shape of the Nemo bag - one of the
sleeping positions I employ in my hammock is with one leg bent and
crossed over the other, like a number "4". I was able to use
this position in the Nemo due to the spoon shape. I also
spread my knees off to the sides while I was reading before going
to sleep, again a position that would not be possible in a
traditional mummy bag.
The other feature I fell in love with that night is the Blanket
Fold. As the temperature dropped I fluffed it around my neck
leaving only my nose and mouth exposed, and it really kept my
throat and shoulders nice and warm.
In addition to the things I liked/disliked from the Field Report
testing, I would add the following likes to the list:
My bottom line is the Nemo Rhythm Spoon 40 delivers on its
temperature rating, and that the unique spoon shape can add
another level of comfort when backpacking. It is a
high-quality synthetic-filled bag with several user-friendly
features that I came to appreciate in colder weather. I will
continue to use it when the nighttime temperatures are in the
rated range for the bag, and the weather forecast is for wet
conditions where synthetic insulation is called for.
This concludes my Long Term Report.
Thanks to BackpackGearTest.org and NEMO Equipment for the
opportunity to contribute to this test.