Sleeping Bag Pads

A good sleeping bag pad is necessary if you want that sleeping bag temperature rating to be meaningful. Without a pad, the ground will conduct away much of your body heat. The bag may insulate you well above, but you are laying on and crushing that insulation below, putting your shoulders, hips and more against the cold ground - or against a good pad.

Want a four-ounce sleeping bag pad? Buy a plain blue closed-cell foam pad from any backpacking supplier or department store. It should cost you less than $10. The 3/8-inch ones will weigh about 12 ounces or so. To make it a 4-ouncer, start cutting.

Sleeping bag pads are usually made 2' x 6', which is larger than necessary. All you really need is a pad that reaches from your shoulders to your hips, in order to cushion the pressure points, and insulate them from the heat-stealing ground. Cut the pad to this length, and cut it as narrow as you can as well. You might even want to cut it to a tapered shape, with the wider end for your shoulders.

Basically you want the pad as small as you can make it, but big enough to insulate your torso from the ground. Your head can be on a pillow made of spare clothes, and your legs can lay on your empty backpack to insulate them. If you need more padding, try two of these 4-ounce creations. At 8 ounces total, this set-up will still be more comfortable than one 12-ounce pad.

You can also cut pieces out of the pad. Putting many small holes of about 1/2" each in the pad doesn't seem to make it any less comfortable. Cut out a hundred little pieces of foam, and you might save another ounce. You also get bragging rights with other fanatical ultralight backpackers.

To be comfortable with a thin pad, or none at all, you can sleep where the ground is soft. Sometimes under a grove of pine trees a layer of needles has built up into a six-inch mattress. Areas with thick grass are nice too.

For more cushioning, an inflatable pad isn't out of the question for lightweight backpacking.For example, there is REI's Big Agnes Air Core Pad, a 3/4-length pad that weighs just 16 ounces and is an incredible 2 1/2" thick! If you have slept with Big Agnes, drop an email and let me know how comfortable she is.

There are several other self-inflating sleeping bag pads that are reasonably light. Thermarest and other pad makers are always improving their models. At least a couple self-inflating sleeping bag pads are under a pound.

Key Points

1. Down sleeping bags are the lightest for the warmth.

2. A synthetic-fill sleeping bag is a better choice if you will be getting it wet.

3. Get inside a few different sleeping bags to determine what you need.

4. A good lightweight three-season sleeping bag can weigh two pounds or less.

5. Sleeping pads are what make sleeping bags live up to their temperature ratings.

Every chapter has tips for lightweight backpacking and wilderness survival.