NEMO Vector 20

The new NEMO Vector sleeping pad is a premium product that’s lightweight and meant for true trekking endeavors. It’s not the lightest pad available on the market, for that you’ll need to turn to a NeoAir XLite from Therm-a-Rest or perhaps a Sea to Summit Ultralight XS. But at just over one pound, you get a lot of pad – including a weightless integrated foot pump that doubles as a tiny pillow while barely adding to the packed size.

Like its pumpless cousin the Tensor, the Vector is endowed with NEMO’s Spaceframe lateral baffles, constructed of quiet, non-stretch fabric, eliminating some of the bounciness found in other pads. Another really cool thing about this pad is its multiple air valves. It makes it much easier to roll back up to its original packed size. The company says it features a three-inch height, depending on your fill preference.

Universal Attributes

Performance: 5
Super high performance from a high performance brand specializing in backpacking sleeping pads.

Design: 5
It’s a basic rectangular shape but basic stops there. Everything else about this pad is highly sophisticated.

Durability: 3.5
The pad bottom is slightly more durable than the embossed top with reinforced nylon, which is a good thing, because it’s really not a lot of material. But it's fairly durable by any conventional standard.

Innovation: 4.5
The Vector is innovative in many ways. Its contoured, embossed surface is a unique take on a sleeping surface, turning normal horizontal baffles into a patent pending, low-stretch Spaceframe Baffle system, reducing weight and increasing stability. And the built-in foot pump is second-to-none.

Features: 5
For such a lightweight sleeping pad, the Vector is jam packed with features. In addition to little things like the included cinch strap and integrated repair patch kit, the Vector feature set goes on and on. Embossed 20-denier lightweight fabric is comfortable to the touch, abrasion resistant, and packable. A thermal mirror layer (lightweight aluminum film) serves to reflect radiant heat back toward the body without added weight. The integrated foot pump is a nice touch, and shockingly doesn’t add too much weight or bulk.

Universal Tests

Comfort test: The unique surface contours on the Vector really work. This is an extremely comfortable pad.

Weighted overnight test: No air loss whatsoever through the night with this Nemo sleeping pad.

Durability test: We didn’t push this pad to failure, primarily because it’s so awesome we wanted to keep using it for many seasons! But it’s not the most durable of the lot.

Re-pack test: Due to its three valves and compressible materials, it rolls back up to out-of-box size or smaller. The foot pump adds virtually no bulk.

Inflation speed test: It’s a breeze…20 big breaths with the mouthpiece. However, the integrated foot pump works stellar, requiring about 40 pumps.

Packed size test: This thing might not be the smallest, but it’s damn close enough.