Klymit Inertia O Zone Sleeping Pad
The Klymit Inertia O Zone is the perfect sleeping pad for bikepacking. With its small packed size and light weight, it is barely noticeable. This is great for bikepacking where space is a premium and weight saving is important.
More is not better when it comes to bikepacking. What seems like good ideas for creature comforts at camp can quickly lead to an overloaded bike. Overloaded bikes can make every hill feel like a mountain and the mountains feel never-ending. I packed and re-packed my bags numerous times before my first bikepacking excursion, and I still ended up with things I didn‘t need or use at the end of the trip.
With the Klymit Inertia O Zone, the sleeping pad is one item that you don‘t even need to consider leaving at home. The pad and stuff sack weighed 13 ounces on my scale. Lightly stuffed in the provided stuff sack, the pad is smaller than a Nalgene bottle. Packed a little tighter, the pad is about the size of a soda can. In fact, the third day I moved the pad to an unused bottle cage where it fit perfectly and securely when anchored with some webbing straps.
The low weight and tiny packed size of the Klymit O Zone does not come at the expense of comfort. By designing the pad with Pressure Point Body Map technology, excess material is removed from non-pressure points yet comfort is still superb whether you sleep on your back or your side. Klymit also claims that this pad is great for stomach sleepers, but I did not personally test the pad on my stomach.
Klymit Inertia O Zone Sleeping PadThe removal of the excess material also results in the creation of “loft pockets” which allow your sleeping bag to retain loft to increase the insulation between you and the ground. This means that though the pad itself is not insulated, your bag is more effective at providing the insulation. My bikepacking trip to Colorado promised temperatures into the 40s at night, but I really don‘t think it got below the mid-fifties. With my 32 degree bag on top of the Inertia O Zone, I was plenty warm even with the bag fully unzipped.
The Inertia O Zone also has a built in pillow. The pillow is inflatable using a separate valve from the pad. This gives the option to set the pillow pressure firmer or softer than that of the pad. The central X design of the pillow not only acts to center your head if you are a back sleeper, it reduces pressure on the ear should you be a side sleeper. I found slightly soft on the pressure was the best for me while sleeping on my back, resulting in just a slight elevation of my head. However, should you desire, you can inflate the pillow up to 4 inches thick to prop your head up. Should you have a favorite pillow you want to use with the Klymit, you can simply leave the attached pillow deflated.
The Klymit‘s light weight does not mean it‘s a fragile pad either. It is made to take abuse from outdoor use. The top layer is 30 Denier polyester and the bottom is a stronger 75 Denier polyester. Should you rip the pad while out, a patch kit is provided in the stuff sack allowing road or trail-side repairs.
The shape of the pad allowed me to comfortably sleep both on my back and side without falling off. And the shape of the pad allows it to be inserted inside mummy bags, meaning with the bag zipped, you‘ll never again slide off your pad. Inflated, the pad measures 72” by 21.5” which was plenty adequate for me at 5‘11”.
The Inertia O Zone retails for $99.95 and is available directly through Klymit‘s website. Klymit provided me a demo pad for this review. I hated giving it back. I hated it so much, in fact, that I have since ordered one so I can have it for all of my future bikepacking adventures.
The Klymit Inertia O Zone is an impressively light-weight, packable pad that doesn‘t skimp on comfort. If you are looking for the perfect bikepacking sleeping pad, the Inertia O Zone is it.
– Alex (Steak Sauce)