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Big Agnes Insulated Air Core Mummy
Pad -
Owner Review
June 14,2006
Reviewer
information
| Name |
Marie-Noëlle
Augendre |
I
started backpacking
nine years ago, day-hiking in Ile-de-France all year round, and doing
several
one or two-week trips in more mountainous regions (Corsica,
Pyrénées,
Cévennes, Lubéron, etc.) each year.
In the past three years, I have gradually
lightened my pack load as I changed to a hammock, an alcohol stove, a
light pack
and running shoes instead of boots.
Nowadays, I am more and more attracted to the outdoor way
of
living, to the point I have moved to northern Quebec a couple of months
ago, in
order
to spend as much time as possible not only backpacking, but also
kayaking,
canoeing, snowshoeing, dog-sledding, etc. |
| Age |
48 |
| Gender |
Female |
| Height |
about
5 ft 2 in
(1.57 m) |
| Weight |
170
lb (77 kg) |
| Email
address |
augendre.bgt@gmail.com |
| City,
Country |
Lac-Kenogami
(QC), Canada
|
Product
information
Measurements
|
Listed
|
Actual
|
length
width
thickness
weight
packed
|
72" (183 cm)
20" (51 cm)
2.5" (6.4 cm)
21 oz (595 g)
|
71" (180 cm)
20" (51 cm)
2.9" (7.3 cm)
24.6 oz (698 g)
10.6" x 4.7" (27 x 12 cm)
|
I
wonder whether my pad might be a former model, as it is both
heavier and thicker than what shows on the manufacturer website.
A
little history
I
bought my Insulated Air Core Pad from Big Agnes in April 2004, and I
have used no other sleeping pad, either in my hammock or on the ground,
ever since. I must correct this: that was the day I got my *first* pad.
About 9 months after I got it, I suddenly discovered the pad didn't
retain air any more; I couldn't find any leaking point but the pad
wholly deflated in a couple of hours every time I laid upon it. I
mailed the manufacturer and got an immediate answer: "It sounds like a
fabric problem since you can't find a leak... last year we had a small
batch that had problems with the fabric coating and I think that is
the problem with your pad". As I lived in France at the moment, Big
Agnes declined to have the bad pad back, and simply sent me a new one.
The story might have ended here, but the new pad arrived the day before
I was supposed to leave for a two-week backpacking trip, and I failed
to do a test before leaving. Alas! Pad number 2 had the same defect as
number 1, and I had to be content with it for the whole trip
(fortunately, I was hammocking and not ground-sleeping). As soon as I
got back, I mailed the manufacturer again and received a third pad,
that I still use to date.
Product
description
The Air
Core Insulated Pad comprises eight mouth-inflatable tubes; the
four middle ones are full-length, the others beveled in order to make
a kind of coffin pattern. It is made of coated rip-stop nylon and the
inside insulation is 100% polyester. It packs in a neat rip-stop nylon
stuff bag, whose integrated flap contains a repair kit (two square
patchs, spare valve and gasket, a small adhesive tube and
instructions). It inflates quickly (around 20-25 blows for me) and
without effort; actually, I often had to
deflate the pad a bit when I lay upon it for the first time after
inflation (I just have to extend the right arm to open the valve,
release some air, then close it when I feel comfortable).
Conditions
of use
The pad
has mostly been used in the back sleeve of a Big Agnes sleeping
bag, but I have sometimes used it by itself with an ordinary sleeping
bag or a quilt. About half the time, I slept in a hammock, where it
mainly acted as an insulation layer; for the remaining time, it has
been used for ground sleeping, especially when winter-camping in a
prospector tent (heated with a wood stove) in Canada.
Conditions encountered more or less fall in two categories:
- temperate
and often humid when backpacking in spring and autumn in France, with
temperatures in the 41°F-59°F (5°C-15°C) range at
night, heights between 1640 and 4920 feet (500-1500 m). I usually
hammocked in woody areas, with enough protection from the wind, but
sometimes heavy showers, with hail a couple of times.
- a
lot of snow and very cold temperatures when I went dog-sledding in the
boreal forest in the province of Quebec. I have been able to sleep with the Insulated
Air Core Pad in
an insulated
hammock with temperatures as low
as 5°F (-15°C) without my back
getting cold. The reason I had to retire in a traditional prospector
tent with a
wooden stove when the temperatures dropped lower than that, was because
my
sleeping-bag was not warm enough and I was getting cold from top.
There, I have slept on the ground in
temperatures under -13°F (-25°C), with only a groundsheet and
some branches under my pad.
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Findings
This pad is specifically designed to be put in the back sleeve of a Big
Agnes sleeping bag; it doesn't seem very wide, but that was fine when I
used it this way as the sides of the bag prevented me to roll of the
pad: as if I were in a bed, I had to turn over "on" the mattress
because the enclosure made by the combo bag + pad forced me to
stay inside it. Things were a bit different when I happened to use it
with a quilt or an ordinary sleeping bag: I sometimes woke up with part
of my body on the floor: I had not slided from the pad, as the thick
inflated tubes form quite a steady and not so slippery surface, but
simply turned over the side during the night.
When used in a Speer-like hammock (top entry, no spreader bars), the
pad fits closely into the hammock; this doesn't necessarily prevent it
to move sometimes sideways, but the problem is easily solved as I only
have to grip the sides of the hammock to haul myself (+ pad + bag) in a
right position. It is much more difficult in a hammock with spreader
bars like the Lawson Blue Ridge I am currently testing: the pad can
move in any position in relation to the tent-like hammock, and I have
no practical means to move it back in a correct position.
It is easy and quick to set up: unscrewing the valve, inflating the pad
up to capacity and screwing back again just take a couple of
minutes.Packing it back doesn't take much more time: I usually fold it
roughly several times against my chest and press with the arms to expel
most of the air, then put it on the floor (or in the hammock) to fold
it lengthwise and roll it properly before closing the valve and sliding
it back in its bag. The valve has always worked as a charm, even in
freezing temperatures or in sandy/dirty conditions.
Though I have not taken special care of this pad, it remains as
pristine as on its very first day; it doesn't attract dirt or soil
easily, it can be wiped with a sponge or a bandana, and isn't damaged
by water; in fact, I have even slept a couple of times in a pool of
water and noticed it only when getting up in the morning.
Likes and
dislikes
- this
mattress is very, very comfortable: given the choice, I'd rather sleep
on it on the floor, than in a bed (because of backaches, I usually
sleep in a hammock all year long); and I've sometimes brought it with
when I had to sleep by some friend.
- it is
really warm; in fact, I insulated my hammock only because of the very
cold temperatures in Quebec. In every other circumstances, either on
the ground or in a hammock, the Insulated Air Core Pad has kept me warm
by itself.
- it is
not any fragile or easily damaged, and doesn't need to be protected
from water; if wet, it dries very quickly.
- dislikes?
there is nothing I don't like in this mattress, and I wouldn't change
it for any other.
Read more reviews of Big Agnes gear
Read more gear reviews by Marie-Noelle Augendre
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