Initial Report: Big Agnes REM Hinman Pad

Biographical Information:

Name: Chuck Carnes

Age: 34

Gender: Male

Height: 6’0” (1.83 m)

Weight: 175 lbs (79 kg)

Email address: ctcarnes1@yahoo.com

City, State, Country: Taylors, S.C. United States

Date: April 26, 2004

Backpacking Background:

I have been influenced to go camping and backpacking all my life. Every summer for the first 5 years of my life, my parents took me camping. I was in the Boy Scouts at the age of 12 and have been backpacking, on and off, ever since. Needless to say, I love the outdoors. I enjoy taking a lot of STUFF in my pack and can’t seem to get my total pack weight down - I wonder why. I usually hike around Pisgah National Forest and The Great Smoky Mountains. I go at any time of the year and try to hit the trails when there is no rain. If it does rain, it’s okay. Trail terrain, such as rocky trails or muddy trails, is not that big of an issue with me. I just like getting out and enjoying nature.

Product Information:

Manufacturer: Big Agnes, Inc.

Type of Pad: Air Core, solid foam

Year of Manufacture: 2003

URL: www.bigagnes.com

MSRP: $69.95

Weights and Measurements: (Scale: Pelouze model K-5)

Listed weight: 74 oz (2.10 kg)

Weight as delivered: 78 oz (2.21 kg)

Listed Dimensions (unrolled):25 in (64 cm)W x 78 in (198 cm)L x 2.5 in (6.35 cm) Thick

Dimensions as delivered (unrolled, from edge of seam to edge of seam):

            26.5 in (67 cm)W x 79” in (201 cm)L x 2.25 in (5.72 cm) Thick

Listed rolled size: 7 in (17.78 cm) x 26 in(66 cm)

Rolled size as delivered: 7.5 in (19.05 cm) x 26 in (66 cm)

Delivery:

            A very large brown box was sitting at my door step that had only a shipping label on it. Inside the box was the Big Agnes REM Hinman Pad and the Big Agnes Hog Park Sleeping Bag (see my Initial Report for the Big Agnes Hog Park). The pad was secured by a clear plastic wrap that seemed to be shrink wrapped to the pad to keep it from unrolling. I did not see any kind of stuff sack for the pad, I don’t know if one was to be shipped with the pad. The pad arrived in show room condition.

Initial Inspection:

            Before I removed the plastic wrap, I took measurements and weights since I knew I could not get the pad back to its original roll (See weights and measurements above). I carefully removed the plastic wrap from the pad and allowed it to unroll by itself. At first it did not unroll completely but after a minute or two the pad was almost fully unrolled. I opened the valve to see how long it would take to inflate itself. It took two minutes to inflate as much as it would by itself. I gave it seven more full puffs of air before it was completely inflated with no more room for air.

            I am very impressed at the firmness of the pad at full inflation. I normally do not sleep on this firmness of a pad but it is very assuring to know that if I had to sleep on rocks or a very hard ground that I would have a nice thick pad to sleep on. The top of the pad is a blue soft nylon fabric for a comfortable feel if sleeping on the pad alone with nothing on it and the bottom is a black, slicker finished nylon for durability against the ground. The pad comes with a hag tag that has general information about the REM Hinman Pad series. It states that REM stood for Rest Easy Mama. It also states on the back of the tag, some specs and more general information about the pad. The tag states the same information that I found to be informative on their web site about the pad.

            The seams of the pad seem to be very well constructed and there was no sign of leakage at full inflation. The valve is a black turn style closure with a brass insert. The web site states that the “brass valve seals tighter due to its fine threading”. After full inspection I released the valve and attempted to roll the pad back to its original rolled size. No luck, the tightest that I got it was about 8.5 in (21.59 cm) diameter. At this point I realized again that there was not a stuff sack to put the pad in. I decided to fully inflate the pad and store it in this manner. Besides, that’s the proper way to store a pad.

Initial Impression:

            I really did not expect this pad to be this thick and to be this comfortable. I really like the thickness of the pad so that I have a variety of comfort levels: soft, medium and firm. The web site gives the impression that their pads are big and comfortable. That’s what I was hoping to get, and that’s exactly what I got.

Test Plan:

I plan to test the Hinman Pad along with the Big Agnes Hog Park sleeping bag as part of a sleeping system. The web site states that the Hinman Pad is good to a temperature of -30°, I assume this is Fahrenheit (that would be -34°Celsius). I don’t know that I would ever be in weather this cold, but I am glad to know that I would have this kind of insulation. For a trip to the Great Smokey Mountains, the temperatures are usually 35°F to 45°F (1° to 7°C). I plan to test the pad during this trip in April. I will go on several weekend get-a-ways through out the test period.

I will be testing features of the pad through out the test period such as:

• Durability – how well does the top and the bottom hold up to constant friction of the sleeping bag and the ground? Do the seams stay sealed? How well does the valve function in drastic temperature changes?
• Comfort – How comfortable is it on hard rocky ground? Is it wide enough for my style of sleeping?
• Ease of packing – How easy is it to carry this size of pad around? Will I be able to do without a stuff sack? Will it be to heavy and bulky for long trips?

Other tests will be conducted and noted for the Field Report. I look forward to testing this luxurious pad as it will become my full time sleeping pad.

Thank you Big Agnes and BGT for the opportunity to test this pad.