The Nemo Riff 30 Sleeping Bag is Nemo’s answer to the age-old question of how to make side sleepers more comfortable in the woods. A generous cut, bag shaping, paired with a host of comfort features all lead to a better night’s sleep.
Nemo Riff 30 Sleeping Bag – Men’s Features:
- Rated to 30-degrees
- Comfortable at 40-degrees
- Water-resistant Down
- 800-fill-power
- Left side zipper
- Outer shell is 20-denier ripstop
- Lining is soft, 30-denier nylon taffeta
- Semi-rectangular shape
- Regular fits up to 72″ and long up to 78″ height
- Weight: 1 lb 13 oz (regular) and 1 lbs (long)
- Price: $369.95
Spoon shape does a body good
With the Nemo Riff 30 Sleeping Bag, I think Nemo addressed one of the biggest problems with sleeping bags: temperature regulation. One of the most noticeable features are two zippers right on the front of the bag, which they call “Thermo Gills”. The idea is that when unzipped, vents are opened and some of the built up heat is able to escape, cooling the bag down. I went into my first night with a healthy dose of skepticism, it felt gimmicky. I climbed in, zipped everything snug, and got the bag super toasty. Right when I got on the verge of sweating, I unzipped the vents and could feel heat dissipate — whoa.
What Nemo has done here is create a broader effective temperature range for the Riff bag. One downside, if you are cold, is you have to pull your arms out to zip them up. It makes total sense, zippers on the inside would be uncomfortable, but a moment of chill will be worth it should you get too cold overnight.
One of the things that got me jazzed about the Riff is the shape of the bag. Nemo cut it in a spoon shape to provide more knee and elbow room for side sleepers. In your typical, tapered mummy bag there just isn’t enough room to spread out. When I sleep, I need to be able to spread my legs out, raise my knees, or just generally sprawl. The wider cut gives more room for us wiggly sleepers to be more comfortable and not feel like we are confined in a puffy sarcophagus. While the cut is wider than your typical bag, I still found it too restrictive for how I usually sleep. I couldn’t quite get my knee up as high as I like (but, good luck trying anything remotely like that in a traditional mummy bag).
To keep things lightweight, Nemo has filled the Riff with 800-fill down and encased it in 20-denier ripstop nylon. All in, weight is 1 lb 13 oz – 2 lbs, depending on length. For a 30 degree bag that is roomier than others, this is a great weight.
A lot of lightweight bags seem to trim weight at the expense of comfort. Nemo figured out how to keep comfort high on the list while maintaining an overall lightweight design. The integrated collar sits just right to seal in air and keep you warm and the integrated pillow sleeve keeps your pillow in place. Additionally, DWR fabric treatment keeps moisture away from the the down insulation. It’s worth noting that the pillow sleeve and hood combo may get snug if your pillow is thick. I use the Seay to Summit Aeros pillow and things got a little tight.
As you can see above, the puffy draft collar keeps the warm air in. When it comes to compressing and packing the Riff 30, it can be squeezed down to a pretty small size. Using the included compression sack, it can squeeze down to about the size of a wide loaf of bread.
The Good
- Vents work extremely well
- Temperature rating was spot on to me
- Solid nod to sustainability
- Compression sack included as the stuff sack
The Bad
- Hood is too tight to use a pillow in the provided pocket
- You do have unzip the bag to adjust the vents
Bottom Line: Nemo Riff 30 Sleeping Bag
If you are a side-sleeper and you’re looking for a more comfortable sleep, the Nemo Riff 30 is a solid contender. The generous cut paired with 800-fill down and a temp rating that is spot on for 3-seasone use is a recipe for a good night’s sleep without weighing you down.
Buy now: Available at Backcountry.com
