Nemo Sonic Sleeping Bag

The stuff sack that comes with the Sonic allows for additional space, perhaps for a pillow, or cold weather sleeping pad also offered in Nemo’s extensive line of outdoor adventure gear.

Staying small with only 16 employees, NEMO has expanded its way around the world to almost every continent providing tents, sleeping bags pads and pillows at competitive pricing. A modest design studio where they have designed their own office furniture also houses hot and cold labs for research and testing. Their top customer, “The Department of Defense and its U.S. Special Operations Command”, who does further testing worldwide with the Shield line. I had contacted NEMO with regards to the Shield products and received a very quick and helpful response: “Since NEMO Shield products were intended for government purchase, many of these items are produced to order and have a high minimum order quantity (often 50-250 units).  If there is a specific product that you are interested in using, I would be happy to check our current inventory for availability.” They went on to offer advice on other products they offer that may be suitable for my intended use.

Finding Nemo on the web may yield many fish like results. But nemoequipment.com offers easy navigation to find what you are looking for and even a “search by experience” option for all gear related to your future adventures.

850 Fill Powder Down at $500 is a great value and will surely keep you warm and comfortable. A double zipper tab is easy to open and close the side entry mummy bag. The offset zipper creates a thermally efficient seal and makes it easy to get in and out of.

The Sonic is constructed with an Insotect vertical baffle system that is designed to provide more even distribution of body heat. This prevents side shifting of insulation that would result in cold spots. Another sleeping bag that we reviewed previously that also uses the Insotec Flow baffle design is the Sierra Design DriDown Cal Bag found over here. 

The thermo gills (showed open here) allow heat venting of the bag when temperatures rise or if you run hot in your sleep. When closed the low profile zippers seal the bag to keep maximum heat at the core.

All of Nemo’s cold weather sleeping bags are outfitted with Thermo Gills that vent body heat at the core without unzipping the bag fully. Of course these vents must be opened/closed from the outside but may ultimately provide maximum comfort in sub zero temperatures. Two-way zippers allow for strategic fast venting at your feet without opening the bag completely.

The Sonic is breathable and water repellant with extra waterproofing added at the foot box. There are two hanging tabs at the foot and a zipper you can open for extra venting without freezing your toes.

The OSMO DT foot box is both waterproof & breathable with an ultra light coating on the backside of the fabric throughout the entire bag. The exterior is coated with DWR (durable water repellent) to protect against tent wall condensation and allow breathability so it will not retain moisture from adventure to adventure. The knees are made with stretchy material that allows you to roll on your side while sleeping or sit up cross-legged and still stay toasty warm inside.

Sonic’s mummy hood is big, comfortable and outfitted with two draw cords; one that seals the large draft collar around your neck to sea in core heat, and one that tightens around your face to keep your head warm so you can breathe in fresh air.

The oversized draft collar, secured with Velcro will protect unwanted airflow from sneaking down your neck and keeping warm air inside. When not wanted you can use a secondary Velcro loop patch to cover the rough hook side to avoid the irritating feel of Velcro on your face. Further, you can tighten the drawstring around the hoot opening to keep your head inside and warm while having the ability to breath fresh, outer air.

Tabs below the footbox on the outside of the bag allow it to be hung to air dry.

For an extra $30(+/-) the Sonic Long is available for an extra 6” of length, an increased shoulder, hip and knee girth with minimal increase in weight and packed size.

- Thermo Gills to regulate inside temperature with low profile zippers.
- Stretch construction at the knees for side sleeping and sitting cross legged.
- Oversized draft collar with pull cord to seal in body heat
- Insotect Flow Vertical Baffles
- Cotton storage bag & drawstring stuff sack included
- Offset Zipper with duel tabs at top and single above the foot box.

Shell Fabric: 20D Nylon Ripstop + DWR
Footbox Fabric: 15D OSMO™ DT W/B with DWR
Lining Fabric: 20D Nylon Ripstop Mini Ripstop with DWR

The Nemo Sonic comes with a stuff sack and a cotton travel bag. Overall it is a great product.

It may be difficult to find a better sleeping bag than one from NEMO. From a company founded on constructing reliable gear for astronauts who continue to make products for ground soldiers in all types of weather conditions, NEMO can be trusted to keep you comfortable no matter what reservation you have in the backcountry. The NEMO Sonic is an award-winning, top of the line product at a great value. The cons are only feature related, not quality related and are solved if you’re willing to pay twice as much for the NEMO Cannon. 

In my testing this fall and early winter the Nemo Sonic sleeping bag performed flawlessly. I took it on several high elevation backcountry trips along with a few cold night car camping (sometimes in the car). The -18°C rating kept me more than warm every night and only felt too warm on those early fall nights where the temperature hovered just below zero. This is when the Thermo Gills came into action.

The only real grip is with the stuff sack, I think Nemo could have made a smaller 'compression sack' for space saving on trips. The sleeping bag itself compresses much more. I would certainly recommend this product to a friend. 

The oversized draft collar, secured with Velcro will protect unwanted airflow from sneaking down your neck and keeping warm air inside. When not wanted you can use a secondary Velcro loop patch to cover the rough hook side to avoid the irritating feel of Velcro on your face. Further, you can tighten the drawstring around the hoot opening to keep your head inside and warm while having the ability to breath fresh, outer air.

Tabs below the footbox on the outside of the bag allow it to be hung to air dry.