Nemo Forte 20 Review: A Synthetic Bag With One Good Idea
The spoon shape and vent flaps are genuinely clever. The fill weight and packed size are not.
Two features here are worth stealing. The rest of the bag is ordinary, and the numbers are worse than the label suggests.
A comfortable basecamp bag with two smart features and a weight penalty that rules it out of a backpack. Rate it 30 degrees, not 20.
What worked
- Spoon shape gives side sleepers real room
- Thermo Gills dump heat without opening the bag
- Synthetic fill still works damp
What didn't
- Bulky — eats a third of a 65 L pack
- Optimistic 20-degree rating
- Heavy for the warmth
- Weight
- 2 lb 14 oz (regular)
- Fill
- Synthetic, Zerofiber
- Rated
- 20 F (survival) / 30 F (comfort, measured)
- Packed size
- 9 x 15 in
The spoon shape
Extra girth at the elbows and knees, taper everywhere else. If you sleep on your side, this is the difference between resting and fighting a nylon tube all night. It works exactly as advertised.
Thermo Gills
Two zippered vents over the chest let you dump heat without unzipping the bag and losing the whole loft. Hot sleepers will use them constantly in summer.
Where it falls down
Twenty degrees is optimistic. Our tester was comfortable in the low thirties in a base layer and cold below that. Synthetic fill also means bulk: this bag takes a third of a 65-liter pack, which is a hard no for backpacking when down bags at the same rating pack to a loaf of bread.
Verdict
A good car-camping bag with two clever ideas. Do not carry it far, and do not trust the rating on the tag.
Editorial Staff
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