This Is Now the Lightest Backpacking Sleeping Pad on the Market

The new Nemo Tensor Elite sleeping pad is a real contender for best ultralight pad at a scant 8.5 ounces.

The Tensor Elite draws obvious comparisons to the (now discontinued) Therm-a-Rest Uberlite, with similar weights, sizes, warmth, and price. Can this new kid on the block take on the reigning champ?

Nemo Tensor Elite Sleeping Pad At-A-Glance

MSRP: $200 regular / $230 short
Materials: 10D Nylon, aluminized film insulation
R-value: 2.4
Weights:

  • Pad only: 8.5 oz regular / 7.6 oz short (published weights)
    • My regular pad hit the scale at 8.7 oz
  • Repair kit: 0.15oz
  • Stuff sack: 0.3oz
  • Inflation bag: 2.2oz
  • Velcro packing strap: 0.1oz

Dimensions (L x W x H): 

  • Regular: 72” x 20” (at shoulders) x 3.0” (published dimensions)
    • My pad measured closer to 71” long and 3.2” thick (to the highest part of the baffle)
  • Short: 63” x 20” (at shoulders) x 3.0”

The Nemo Tensor Elite inside a Durston X-Mid Pro 2

Intended Use

The Tensor Elite is an ultralight, 3-season sleeping pad best used for the fastest and lightest of missions. Its thinner materials will prefer hikers with careful site selection or more durable tent floors or footprints.

Circumstance of Review

I got this superlight pad on the tail end of summer. My affinity for high-mountain hiking means it saw the most use on brisk nights around Colorado, including peakbagging trips to 14ers and a short jaunt in the San Juans.

NEMO Tensor Elite Sleeping Pad Features

Superlight Fabrics

The Tensor Elite is made primarily from a 10D nylon fabric branded under the Cordura label. While Cordura doesn’t mean anything super specific as far as fabric technology goes, they are generally regarded as a higher quality fabric maker, using premium yarns and well controlled manufacturing.

The thin 10D fabric is the biggest contributor to the scant 8.5oz weight since the shell accounts for most of the material in a sleeping pad.

Non-Continuous Baffles

Another step to creating a lighter pad is to remove as much baffle material as possible. Baffles are important in controlling the stiffness and shape of a pad; without them, your sleeping surface would be a big round balloon. Sleeping pads typically have lines of baffles arranged either along the length of the pad or across. 

The baffles on the Tensor Elite are generally arranged in a horizontal pattern. Instead of a continuous line, however, they are “dashed” to create more of a gridded appearance. Not only does this help eliminate material, but it also helps the pad feel less “directional” in its stiffness.

grey nemo tensor elite held up against the sky, showing baffle pattern

The baffle pattern on the Tensor Elite, backlit to emphasize the pattern.

Comfort

Baffle design is a big part of the comfortability of sleeping pads. I have traditionally used horizontal-baffled pads and find them comfortable enough. The non-continuous horizontal baffles were a slight step up for me in comfort, although the pad’s general lack of stiffness and temperature sensitivity erased most of those gains for me.

The comfort of a pad is highly individual, however, so I can’t really call this a pro or a con. The best thing you can do to see if a pad works for you is to simply give it a try.

Mummy Shape and Two Lengths

The mummy shape (widest at the shoulder and tapering towards the feet) is a common pad shape for those trying to save weight and fit into smaller tents. It’s 20 inches wide at the widest point, which is the standard for backpacking inflatables. 

The Tensor Elite comes in two sizes: 6′ and 5’3. The 6’ standard length is, unfortunately for me, a bit too short for taller folks but well suited for the middle 80% of adults. The shorter length will be better suited for kids and shorter adults, although its meager 0.9oz weight savings and $30 price premium are hard to justify when it might be outgrown quickly.

NEMO Tensor Elite Sleeping Pad Pros

Lightest in Category

The ultralight world is still mourning the loss of the Therm-a-Rest Uberlite. Until now, there have been no other serious contenders for a true ultralight, full-size, inflatable sleeping pad in the market. At 8.5* ounces for the regular size, the Tensor Elite is even lighter than standard-thickness foam pads.

*Mine came in at 8.7 ounces for the pad alone, which puts it neck in neck with the Uberlite rather than beating it. The weight variation was <5%, which is fairly standard for this type of product. 

Tiny Packed Size

Weight and bulk are typically correlated for like materials, and that holds true with the Tensor Elite. After folding it into thirds and rolling, I measured the circumference as just 10” (~3.2-inch diameter). That’s almost the exact size of a lidless Nalgene and quite a bit smaller than the thru-hiker standard Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite’s 15-inch circumference or the winter-weight XTherm’s 17.5 inches.

rolled up nemo tensor elite compared to yellow x-lite and grey x-therm

Left to right: Therm-a-Rest XTherm, Therm-a-Rest XLite NXT, Nemo Tensor Elite.

Quiet Materials

I expected this pad to be light when I ordered it, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so quiet. With minimal foil-based insulation and smooth shell material, the Tensor Elite is probably the quietest inflatable pad I have used. It doesn’t crinkle when bent and has minimal “swooshing” when rolling over with layers on.

NEMO Tensor Elite Sleeping Pad Cons

Super Slippery Surface

The smooth material may be quiet, but this same property also makes it incredibly slippery. Any pitch I made that was less than perfectly level had me slowly sliding towards my feet throughout the night. Other factors contribute to this problem (like a silnylon tent floor and smooth baselayers), but either way, a little more grip would help keep things in place without modifications.

Inflation Port is Annoyingly Placed

Nemo uses a one-way inflation port that is flush with the surface of the pad, located around the left ear. Because it is both recessed and situated on a flat panel, inflating it by mouth was always an irritation, especially the last 10% when the pad starts to become stiff.

This con could be mitigated by using the included inflation bag, but for such an ultralight product, bringing an extra 2.2oz is a hard sell for a minor inconvenience. Still, I think a side-mounted valve would be easier to use.

The inflation port is located near the head. Be prepared for a face full of pad if inflating by mouth.

Durability Is an Inevitable Concern

The Uberlite was often criticized for its lack of durability between punctures, valve leaks, and baffle explosions. One reviewer even tested its puncture resistance with a pine needle, a pretty low bar to clear. All that happened with a 15-denier fabric.

Looking at the Tensor Elite’s 10-denier fabric, I can’t help but think those issues will be magnified. I don’t think any special coatings or manufacturing done by Nemo or Cordura can make up the performance gap between this and the more standard 20-30D fabric used in most pads.

I personally did not experience any failures, but I also only got a handful of nights with careful campsite planning. The testing conditions didn’t match the hard use of a 5-month thru-hike. Any time I take this pad out, its potential fragility stays top of mind when sunset comes around.

Short Size Could be Shorter and Lighter

At 5’3, the short size is best used as a full-length pad for shorter people. In the ultralight world, using “torso-length” pads (2/3 to 3/4 length, or about 4-5 feet long) is a common tactic to cut that little bit of extra weight. At just 9” shorter and 0.9oz lighter, it’s not really worth creating discomfort for minimal gains.

For the true gram weenies out there, it would be nice to have a true partial-length option available.

Temperature Sensitive

With an R2.4 insulation value, the Tensor Elite is one of the least insulating pads on the market. I think the pad performed at this level, which is great for summer and shoulder seasons but not ready for the near-freezing temps I usually find myself camping in.

On a particularly chilly night along the Colorado Trail that dipped to about 30 degrees, I could feel the cold coming through the pad more than I would have expected. Of course, this is a pitfall of using a quilt instead of a bag, too; there’s no fabric or down to make up for an insufficient sleeping surface. Either way, I’ll be saving this pad for trips with predicted lows above 38 or 40 degrees.

Another drawback of low-R-value inflatable pads is that their stiffness will change as the temperature fluctuates. Have you ever blown up a pad while setting up camp, only to come back after dinner and find it squishy again? It’s not a leak. It’s the air inside becoming more dense as your warm breath meets the cooling outside air. 

I found the Tensor Elite more susceptible to this type of change than other pads and could even notice a difference when the ground temperature changed. Cold, wet ground near a river caused more “deflation” than dry, grassy ground, even across similar air temperatures.

grey nemo tensor elite inside dcf tent with orange quilt on top

The Tensor Elite paired with a Enlightened Equipment Enigma. On a cold January afternoon, the temperature differential from the frozen ground was able to soften the pad, even though it was about 40 degrees out.

Value

The Nemo Tensor Elite is the lightest pad still in circulation. Its durability and ease of use reflects that. For those looking for the absolute lightest inflatable pad, this is probably your best option. At $200, it falls right in line with other premium inflatable pads. Keep in mind the potentially limited durability while factoring in the “worth” of the price tag.

Shop the Nemo Tensor Elite

A Few Comparison Items

Therm-a-Rest Uberlight (deadstock)

Exped Ultra 1R

Therm-a-Rest XLite NXT

The Nemo Tensor Elite was donated for purpose of review

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Comments 6

  • Katie : Jan 13th

    Super interesting! I loved being able to see the shape and size of the baffles. I’m hopeful a class of thru-hikers takes this out so we can get more insight into the durability!

    Reply
  • Ryan Wanner : Jan 14th

    I had an older model of this sleeping pad.
    It has significant durability issues.
    If you plan on camping anywhere other than a pristine conditioned camp pad, you are likely to have it go flat.
    Bang for the buck, look elsewhere.
    It’s only good for car camping.

    Reply
    • Alex "GPS" Brown : Jan 22nd

      In a car camping situation, there’s no reason to get a super-ultralight model like this. Someone in that situation would probably want to look at other pads in the Tensor line, like the All-Season. Or look to a car camping specific model like the Exped Megamat.

      This material and design is new to NEMO so I will give them benefit of the doubt until a larger data pool emerges next hiker-season, but in all likelihood their 10D fabric will at best have similar puncture and tear resistance to the Uberlite’s 15D fabric. Internal baffle explosion/delamination is more at the will of their manufacturing, which may or may not end up better than the Uberlite.

      We will see!

      Reply
  • Nicholas : Jan 14th

    Why no 25″ version?

    Reply
  • Lance "Lancelot" Aileo : Jan 17th

    Good article! The prices on NEMO’s own site say the short is $200 and regular $230.

    Reply
    • Alex "GPS" Brown : Jan 22nd

      good catch! I wrote this post before their public website website was up and running. It looks like the pre-release marketing material had it wrong. I will get that updated!

      Reply

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