PSA: The sleep pad R-value chart is lying to you cold sleepers

I trusted a 4.5 R-value pad down to 25 degrees in the Smokies last weekend and woke up shivering at 3am. The test standard measures at 68 degrees room temp, not actual ground contact, so I lost about 10 degrees of warmth. Has anyone else found their pad rating runs warm compared to real nights?.

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rubyreed18d ago

Yeah I used to think those R-values were gospel until I froze my tail off on a 30 degree night with a 4.0 pad in the Ozarks. Ground temps and body heat loss make a huge difference, so now I just add ten degrees of buffer to whatever the chart says. That lesson cost me one rough night but it sure fixed my setup planning since.

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