Reviews > Sleep Gear > Sleeping Bags > NEMO Harmony or Rhythm Spoon 40 > Test Report by Kurt Papke

NEMO Equipment Rhythm Spoon 40 Primaloft Sleeping Bag

Test Series by Kurt Papke

Initial Report - July 21, 2013

Field Report - September 24, 2013

Long-Term Report - December 5, 2013

Tester Information

Initial Report

Product Information

Photo courtesy NEMO Equipment

• Spoon shape
• Pillow pocket
• Blanket Fold^tm  - this is the blue piece of fabric in the right panel in the photo below that provides extra warmth when gathered around the shoulders, or additional venting when folded down.
  
• Waterproof/breathable footbox
• Adjustable hood
• Zippered watch pocket

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.

Initial Inspection

Trying It Out

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 Fold^tm and hood adjustment.  Everything worked as I expected.  I put the bag into the supplied stuff sack:

Summary

Things I Like So Far:

• Very high quality design and workmanship.
• Appears to be very comfortable.
  

Things That Concern Me Upfront:

• Bulk - this bag takes up a lot of space.  Primaloft does not compact as much as down does, and this is the tradeoff made to achieve the other advantages of the fill material.

Field Report

Field Conditions

Carr Canyon

Arizona National Scenic Trail - West Huachuca's

I car camped near the trailhead at Parker Canyon Lake on Friday night:

Aravaipa Canyon

Crest Trail

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.

Romero Canyon

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.

Summary

Things I liked:

• Love the pillow pocket!
• Soft fabric is very comfortable against my skin
• Insulation resists compression and keeps me warm underneath, a feature I particularly appreciated in the hammock

Things I didn't like so much:

• Bulky - it is not easy to pack this bag in a smaller backpack designed for overnight use.  

Long-Term Report

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.

Summary

In addition to the things I liked/disliked from the Field Report testing, I would add the following likes to the list:

• Spoon shape allows flexibility of leg positions while sleeping or relaxing
• Blanket Fold does a great job of adding extra warmth to the throat and shoulder area when needed

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.

Reviews > Sleep Gear > Sleeping Bags > NEMO Harmony or Rhythm Spoon 40 > Test Report by Kurt Papke