NEMO Modular Sleep System Wins Backpacker’s Editors’ Choice Award

NEMO Equipment, Inc., manufacturer of AirSupportedâ„¢ and Extreme Conditions Tents, sleeping pads and backcountry accessories, has won the Editors’ Choice award from Backpacker Magazine for its modular sleep system, Astroâ„¢ Insulated with Pillowtopâ„¢. The Editors’ Choice award is one of the most prestigious awards in the outdoor industry, given annually to products in recognition of their outstanding innovation in design, materials and/or performance.

Astroâ„¢ Insulated with Pillowtopâ„¢ is a package product that includes NEMO’s latest air pad, Astroâ„¢ Insulated, with a cozy Pillowtopâ„¢ slipcover. Astroâ„¢ Insulated’s design incorporates engineered I-beam baffles to create a flat sleeping surface that prevents the pad from cupping around your body. Two and one half inches thick, Astroâ„¢ Insulated includes a laminated foam insulation to add warmth during the colder months. NEMO’s Pillowtopâ„¢, made popular last year with the Cosmoâ„¢ Air sleeping pad, is a soft microsuede slipcover with one inch of foam.

When asked what she thought about Astroâ„¢ Insulated with Pillowtopâ„¢, Backpacker Gear Editor, Kristin Hostetter, said, “This is the only sleeping pad I’ll ever need—for my ounce-counting backpacking trips and my weight-be-damned, luxe car camps.”

“We are honored to have one of our modular sleep systems recognized with a Backpacker Editors’ Choice Award. When we design a product, we like to give the user options and include different design elements that might not be expected, but come to be appreciated. The beauty of Astroâ„¢ Insulated with Pillowtopâ„¢ is its modularity. If you’re camping at the trailhead on Friday night, bring the whole system. In the morning, throw the Pillowtopâ„¢ in your car and Astroâ„¢ Insulated in your pack. It takes up a small amount of space, but offers big comfort,” says Cam Brensinger, president and founder of NEMO.

The Editors’ Choice Awards honor the products that Backpacker editors have chosen as the best of the year based on months of trail testing by teams of highly experienced hikers and climbers. “…no other magazine or website conducts in-depth field-testing as vigorously or impartially as the crew led by Gear Editor Kristin Hostetter. She oversees a transparent process that has earned an unrivaled amount of trust from readers, retailers, and manufacturers. All winners must excel under extensive field-testing conducted by Backpacker’s team of editors, who take hundreds of new products every year into the backcountry to put them to the test,” said Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Dorn. NEMO’s Astroâ„¢ Insulated with Pillowtopâ„¢ was one of only 13 innovative products that have been honored with a 2011 Backpacker Editors’ Choice Award.

Since its inception, the Backpacker Editors’ Choice Award has come to be regarded as the most sought-after award for outdoor equipment and apparel in the industry. This 2011 Editors’ Choice award, announced in Backpacker’s 2011 Gear Guide, is the second for NEMO – in 2010 its Metaâ„¢ 2P trekking pole tent won for its ease of setup, uncompromising design, and durability.

Four of NEMO’s tents were also recognized in the 2011 Gear Guide. Pentaliteâ„¢, a four person pyramid-style tent, won most versatile; Motoâ„¢ 1P, NEMO’s newest AirSupportedâ„¢ tent, was highlighted as being great for the big and tall camper; Obiâ„¢ 2P, a new ultralight tent, was praised for its light weight, easy pitch and sturdiness in storms and the tried and true mountaineering tent, Tenshiâ„¢, was ‘brick-wall sturdy at altitude’.

NEMO was founded in 2002 by Cam Brensinger with the commitment to bringing the highest level of design and engineering to the world of outdoor adventure sports. Besides AirSupported Technology®, NEMO has patents pending for its lightweight pumps, washable floor liners, condensation curtains and many more features and accessories which add functionality and comfort to its shelters. NEMO tents can be found at local, national and international retailers, including Eastern Mountain Sports, REI, and Campsaver. For more information, please contact Kate Ketschek, Director of Marketing & Public Relations, at 603-913-9925 or kate@nemoequipment.com.