Has anyone used a neoair in single digit temps. with added ground insulation such as ridgerest or blue foam pad, or GG thinlite, and still been warm? When the sidewalls of the pad are that high (you can tell I'm sleep deprived from using a 1" pad too long when I call 2 1/2" sidewall "high")I wonder about heat loss on the sides as well as to the cold ground.

Single digit, no, but close. I've used it down to about 14 degrees with a Ridgerest underneath and stayed comfortable in a bivy. This was on snow, with a polycro and a tyvek groundsheet underneath it all.

EDIT: I should add I was wearing RAB vapor rise pants and a Nunatak Skaha vest. And Chugach booties.

Edited by idester on 01/19/2010 14:39:04 MST.

Maybe you saw this thread?

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=27625

Experiences and opinions seem to differ widely. I find that the Neo starts getting cold in the low 40s.

Brad thanks very much for that link. I had missed that thread. I know we all want the same thing. To be highly insulated with no weight penalty! Oh, and a good nights sleep in cushy comfort.

Brad I'm wondering if you had used an additional insulating pad such as a blue foam or ridgerest when you experienced the chilly temps. I layed on a neoair at REI the other day and had a strong rush of gear envy. (I've had it before so I know how to recognize it.) That thing is just a tad cushier than the torsolite I've been using for the past couple of years.

I was considering a blue foam underneath and possibly a GG thinlite 1/8" on top of it. Technically that gets me past the R-value of 5 that I think I have read is my minimum insulation to stay temperature neutral at a 32 degree ground temp. As mentioned before, I was thinking about the side wall heat loss and I see that I'm not the only one with that concern.

Hi, John- I didn't use an additional pad; I just took the Neo on a 13-day trip. I put my 16" square sitpad under my back a couple nights, and spent a few of the coldest nights in a VBL fashioned from an emergency blanket.

The comfort of the Neo is great, but I personally don't see it as anything more than a summer pad. If you combined a shorty ridgerest it would add 9 ounces, and a thinlite would add another couple ounces. Weight for the 3 pads would be about the same as a Women's Prolite Plus (~25oz), but I think the effective warmth of the P.Plus (R-4.5)would be greater. Again, a personal preference, but I really don't want to mess around w/carrying 2 or 3 pads. In terms of comparison, the Exped Downmat 7 short weighs 22 ounces and is roughly 30% warmer. Full-size weighs 31 ounces, R-5.9.

Again, realizing that much of this can be personal... I think the Neo is a remarkably comfortable, light, compact summer pad. I suppose that if you carried another pad for warmth and the Neo more for comfort you'd have a workable system in 3-season use. The question to me is whether or not there's a more effective system. I guess the prime benefit w/the Neo/CCF rig is that you can ditch the weight of the CCF for summer trips...

If you look down a few threads, see the end of my "A few newbie winter camping questions" and you'll see I was fine on a NeoAir with 1/2" CCF at -2 F along with what clothes I used to reach that in a 20 F bag. Slept just as good as I would have in my bed (except harder to roll over in a bag).

Edit: There was minimal wind though as I was in my garage.

Edited by topshot on 01/20/2010 19:48:04 MST.