I am the kind of person who can sleep anywhere, anytime and yet I have never been able to get a good night’s sleep while backpacking. Despite the extensive collection of sleeping pads I have amassed (5), I have until recently been unsuccessful in achieving my goal of a reasonably comfortable night while backpacking. Carrying a car-camping pad or a white-water Paco pad into the backcountry was of course not an option.
I am excited to say that Big Agnes has finally made my dream come true. It is with great pleasure that I recommend to you the Big Agnes Q-Core sleeping pad!! I feel passionately about the Q Core. It is incredibly comfortable regardless of whether you are a side or back sleeper. I am a side-sleeper and the Q Core is the first sleeping pad I have ever tried that allows me to sleep on my side without my shoulder falling asleep or my hip bone sinking into the hard ground. If you are a back sleeper, the pad’s quilted pattern allows you to sleep comfortably without falling into the grooves created by some pads that have vertical, inflated tube structure. Since I’m not an engineer or a technical person of any sort I won’t carry on too much about the technology behind Q Core except to say that the comfort is apparently a result of the I-Beam internal technology. This technology allows for a smoother, more comfortable feel. It’s true!!
The cool part is that the Q Core provides this great comfort without excess weight or size, making it excellent for backpacking. I would even consider it a comfortable enough option for car-camping. The Q core is a light and compact three season pad at 3.5”/9cm thick for extra comfort. When rolled up it is about the size of a Nalgene bottle. The pad has an estimated R value of 5. I have heard a few comments about how long it takes to blow up the Q Core. It took me about 5 minutes to blow the pad up while camping at an altitude of about 11,500 feet. A small sacrifice for the quality of sleep with which you will be rewarded. So while you’re heading out on your own life-bus experience, give this sleeping pad a try. You really can sleep like a baby while backpacking!!
So I have a Life Bus update on this. I brought mine to the Everest Base Camp and it deflated at higher altitudes. There was a another person on the trip with the same issue so it was not only a defect with mine. I do, however, fully agree with the experience Lexi describes above at lower altitudes!