Future Trail Home

As you should already know, part of the deal with being a Thru-Hike Syndicate ambassador is the gear we will utilizing on our thru-hike. Pieces have been showing up over the past couple weeks, but we’re really excited to share about a huge piece of equipment: our “house”. Nemo Equpiment has provided all THS ambassadors with a tent, sleeping bag and sleeping pad. All super important items if, you know, you like to be warm and dry. Neither of us have previously used any Nemo gear, so we really had no idea what to expect. Their website was helpful and reviews seemed promising, but you never really know what works specifically for you until you use it.

  

We’ll list what we are using from Nemo first, then elaborate next.

Tent: Dagger 2P
Bags: Nocturne 15L (his) & Rhapsody 15 (hers) Both down
Pads: Astro Insulated Lite 20R (both)

Tent: This tent is roomy! The online description of “ultralight roomy backpacking tent” wasn’t lying at 90×50 dimensions and 3lb 7oz weight. We previously were using the Big Agnes Copper Spur 2, and have been extremely happy with it, so we were glad to aquire a tent that seems to fit us both just as well. With a nice rectangular floor at 90 inches long, the Dagger is long enough to fit Quade and the lack of a tapered bottom prevents a squished feeling. Spacious vestibules on either side so neither of us have to wake the other to get something or to get out to use a facilitree. A nice surprise with this tent is that each side is a mirror image of each other. You know what that means? We don’t have to flip it around to find the head/foot end of the poles or fly, which will come in handy when every second counts as we’re trying to get out of the rain. On the inside there are snaps, which we figured out were to snap in a paw pad? For your dog to protect the bottom of your tent or just extra protection in general, we don’t have a use for that feature so we might just snip off those clips.

Bags: Nemo makes these spoon-shaped bags that were…odd. But OMG, once we got in them they were like a dream! This “spoon” shape gives more wiggle room around your elbows and knees for those who curl up in a spoon position, or side sleeping, if you will. We zip our sleeping bags together, it feels more like a bed and the body heat helps make those cold night bearable. That extra room due to the spoon shape makes our combined bed humongous! No more claustrophobic sleeping because we can’t move in our tight mummy bags stuck together, with this system we can sprawl out and actually be more comfortable. The down is fluffy and the fabric is so soft to the touch. They also have this little neck blanket thing? I have no idea what to call it, but its this extra piece that can cover up your face hole, I find it cozy. We have opposite side zipped bags that make it possible to zip together, very important unless one of you like to have the hood over your face.
Pads: We both chose the same pad. We were given a choice of two different kinds and opted for the one that was a tad bit heavier because of it’s better temperature rating and built in pillow. (It’s the little things) Personally, I was hoping for an option that had the foot pump built into the bottom, but we can make due with a little inflator we already have. We
ordered, seperately, some straps to tie our pads together so that neither of us will have to sleep in that dreaded crack.
So far we are both extremely happy with the choices we made with Nemo and have already camped out in the backyard to test them out. Everything seems to be made with high quality and we can’t wait to get it all dirty!
Stef