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A guy at REI in Denver said my sleeping pad R value does not matter below 40 degrees, and I am not sure he is wrong
I was in the Denver REI on a Saturday killing time before a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park and started chatting with this older guy who worked the floor. He asked what pad I had and I told him my old Therm-a-Rest with an R value of 4.5. He said below 40 degrees the ground pulls heat out of you no matter what the pad says, and the thing that actually saves you is what is underneath. I have been using a closed cell foam pad under my inflatable for 2 seasons now, mostly because it was cheap, but I never thought about why it worked. He said the inflatable traps air and your body heats that air, but the pad itself does nothing if cold air sits under it. I tested it last trip at 28 degrees near Estes Park and slept in just a base layer, which I never do. I am starting to think the R value number is mostly marketing and the real trick is stacking a $20 foam pad. Has anyone else tried ditching the expensive inflatable for a basic foam setup in cold weather?
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hayden_rivera1mo ago
Man, that REI guy was onto something. I always thought R value was the whole story until I froze my butt off on a 25 degree night with a 5.0 pad. The cold from the ground just cut right through it. Now I throw a cheap foam pad under my inflatable and it's a totally different world. The foam blocks that cold air from sitting under you and stealing your heat. You don't need to spend 200 bucks to stay warm, you just need to stack what you already got.
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