Big Agnes Divide Insulated Review

The Big Agnes Divide Insulated offers a great, well-balanced set of features. Whilst those who camp in more extreme cold conditions, or who want the lightest gear regardless of cost will certainly look elsewhere, the Divide Insulated is, I think, a great solution for most hikers who camp out in varied weather.

It’s durable enough for regular use, warm enough for (at least!) three season use, comes in a range of sizes to fit your needs and won’t break the bank in the process. That it comes from a reputable brand and makes use of recycled material in its construction is the icing on the cake! I think this could be the only sleeping pad that many hikers need and would make for a great long-term gear investment.

Performance Comparison

Type and Shape

The Big Agnes Divide Insulated is a rectangular, inflatable, insulated sleeping pad. It’s offered in five sizes – I’ll be focusing on the Regular version (ie. 183x51cm/72x20in) in this review – but it also comes in Petite, Regular Wide, Long Wide and Double. Big Agnes recommend this pad for three season camping – and it’s R Value of 4 would tally with that – and they say that it can be used for winter camping if it’s combined with a closed-cell foam pad (and, of course, an appropriately rated sleeping bag).

Comfort

This is an inflatable sleeping pad – so it’s essentially a thin air mattress. If you’ve previously used folding foam sleeping pads (or no pad at all!), then the move to an inflatable pad is a revelation! Simply put, they vastly improve sleeping comfort – especially so when you’ve pitched your tent on hard or uneven terrain.

As far as inflatable pads go, I found the Divide Insulated to be comfortable. The bulk of the pad is 8.3cm/3.25in thick, but this increases to 8.9cm/3.5cm at the edges. Big Agnes claim that this is to cradle you in the pad and help prevent you from rolling off in your sleep. It’s difficult to quantify how well this works, and any benefit here is pretty subtle from my experience.

One thing to note is that this pad does make a fair bit of noise – it crinkles as you move about on it. This wasn’t an issue for me, but if you’re a light sleeper – or have a camping buddy who’s a light sleeper, then this is worth considering.

Warmth

The Big Agnes Divide Insulated has an R Value of 4. The R Value is an industry-standard measure of how well a sleeping pad insulates you and therefore prevents you from losing heat into the ground. A higher R Value means higher insulation. A high R Value pad on its own won’t keep you warm – you need to consider the pad as part of a system including your sleeping bag, what you’re wearing and, of course, the ambient temperature. However, on the other hand, this means that a high R Value pad won’t make you overheat on warm nights provided the rest of the sleeping system is appropriate.

With this in mind, if you camp out in varied weather and only want to buy a single sleeping pad, then I’d recommend going for something with a higher R Value. Big Agnes say the Divide Insulated is suited for three season camping and I’d argue that some could use this pad comfortably into milder Winter conditions if paired with an appropriate sleeping bag. If you want to camp out in the extreme cold, then adding a relatively inexpensive foam sleeping pad beneath the Big Agnes would boost the R Value and would be a great way to improve sleeping comfort and warmth in these conditions.

Now, if you absolutely only camp out in warm conditions, then you can get away with a cheaper, lighter pad with a lower R Value, though obviously this may prove to be limiting if you ever decide to mix-up your camping.

Ease of Use

Whilst inflatable pads like the Big Agnes Divide Insulated are not exactly difficult to use, it’s worth noting that they will never be as straight-forward as folding foam pads. A sleeping pad like the Nemo Switchback can be deployed and packed away again in matter of seconds and with very little concentration or skill involved. Comparatively, inflatable pads need to be unpacked and inflated and then deflated and rolled for storage again when you break camp. As mentioned at the start, this isn’t difficult, but if you’ve never done it before, the process can take a few attempts to get the hang of and is well worth practicing a few times at home, so you’re not trying to inflate the pad for the first time after a long day on the trail.

Whilst it is possible to inflate the Divide Insulated with your breath alone by blowing into the valve, there’s an included inflation tool which makes the job way easier. The tool looks a bit like a roll-top dry bag and has an open end and a valve at the other. You connect the valve to the sleeping pad, gently blow into the open end of the bag to expand it, and then roll it. As you roll, the air in the bag is squeezed into the pad, inflating it. The process is very simple once you’ve got the hand of it and the pad can be unpacked and inflated in well under five minutes without breaking a sweat.

Of note, and unlike most of the other pads I’ve seen, the Divide Insulated has a double valve which Big Anges claim help improve fine-tuning the firmness of the pad. Personally, I’m not convinced that this system is any better than the single valve micro-adjustment systems on other pads, but I’d say it’s no worse either. Aside from the inflation tool, the Divide Insulated is provided with a stuff bag and a repair kit.

Weight

Big Agnes offers the Divide Insulated in five different sizes and, as you’d expect, the weight of each differs. The regular sized pad – which I’m focusing on here – weighs in at 652g/1lb 7oz complete. You can get the weight down a bit if you don’t bring the stuff bag, repair kit or inflation tool, but not by very much and I’d say the convenience these accessories provide – especially the inflation tool – makes them well-worth their weight.

Compared to other products, I’ve certainly tested lighter sleeping pads with comparable – or even objectively better – specifications (such as the Nemo Tensor All Season and Therm-a-Rest Neoair XTherm NXT), however, these are also more expensive than the Divide Insulated.