Big Agnes Air Core temps?

“I am thinking about taking my short big Agnes Air Core on my trip up in Maine. Any of you that have these, is it going to be warm enough? I love the comfort of the pad but I am wondering about the warmth? It could get down to the 30's at night.”

“I find that a short pad is not suffcient for me in cold weather. I have serious nerve damage in my feet and they need insulation from the ground just like any other part of my body. In other words.... if your feet stay good and warm in the winter, you might be alright. If they get cold or you have circulation issues, you might need a longer pad.”

“I slept with a full length therma ridge at about the same time in '05 and had no problem. I'm a warm sleeper. It's all about you, big guy. Have fun.”

“I'll use my pack under my feet. I usually use a short pad unless there is snow on the ground. I am more worried about the air core making my body cold. Extended weather forcast is for temps in the 30's at night in piscatuague(sp) which I am sure is lower than I am going to be on the trail.”

“Nimble, thanks. I have never used the Aircore in those temps and I don't really know that I want to test something new out there.”

“Grab a z-fold wanna be and cut it to length to provide the extra insulation. Put it under the Air Core.

Or maybe a space blanket on top to reflect body heat back up... or maybe both.
last edited: 9/15/07 7:32:58 AM”

“Find a fat woman, lay the air core on top of her, etc. That should work.”

“Tried that I keep rolling off.”

“Is this just the air core or the insulated air core. I have used my insulated air core in temps in the low 20's maybe even upper teens and did alright. Also, the air cores aren't short pads, at least mine isn't. Its the same length as my sleeping bag.”

“I've used my BA air core in the 30's with no problem.”

“Mine isn't insulated it is just air.”

“get an exped downmat. they are the bomb for cold weather camping. i use the 3/4 length + a pack under my feet. toasty.”

“Yeah I don't think my wife would understand another new sleeping pad right now. The downmats are cool though.
Maybe I'll just bring my prolite 4 full lenght.”

“the prolite 4 is very nice, you won't go wrong there. just a tad heavy but it will work very well.”

“Yeah but the aircore is much more comfortable.”

“I have used an aircore in the 30's and it doesn't insulate. It sleeps cold. The easy fix is to take along a thin insulated closed cell foam pad to put on top of the air matress. The foam pad I use is 4 or 5 ounces.

I own lots of thermarest pads. The Luxury Edition works OK. But the Aircore is really comfy and only 1/5 lbs.

Also, I slip the foam pad into a Thermarest chair kit and have a chair for 16 ounces.”

“I agree with Phil. But, I understand women sleep a bit colder than men. I layer my next days clothing under my bag, on top of my pad. I also carry some black pipe insulation ( 2'x 1.5'x 1/2" foam sheet) to sit on and place that under my torso. I thought an insulated version would be a huge improvement but found the insulmat (same design as BA air core, almost exactly, but insulated), doesn't make much difference.”

“the downmat 7 short is on sale at backcountryoutlet for 77 bucks!”

“I have the insulated and non-insulated air cores. I really can't tell a nickles worth of difference between them. In cold weather, I supplement the pad with a ridgerest. It works great.”