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Sleep systems

Pad attachment system

Also called pad straps, sleeve system, pad coupler

What is a pad attachment system?

A pad attachment system is whatever keeps your bag or quilt joined to your sleeping pad, usually elastic straps that pass under the pad and clip to the quilt. It stops the two separating in the night on any surface that isn't flat.

Pad attachment system at a glance

Quilts
Elastic straps under the pad
Bags
A sleeve or clips
Solves
Drafts and separation

Why pads and quilts slide apart

Sleeping pads are slippery, tents are rarely pitched perfectly level, and nylon on nylon has almost no friction. Left alone, you and your bag will migrate downhill and off the pad, usually around 3am. The attachment system is the fix.

How quilts attach

For quilts it's structural rather than optional, since the quilt has no back to hold it in place. Two or three elastic straps run under the pad and clip to the quilt's edges, and getting the tension right is the whole skill: loose enough that you can move, tight enough that the seal holds when you roll over.

How sleeping bags solve it

Sleeping bags solve it differently. Some have a sleeve on the underside that the pad slides into, some have loops for straps, and plenty have nothing at all. If yours has nothing and you slide, a strip of silicone dots or seam sealant painted onto the top of the pad in lines adds enough friction to solve it for about a dollar.

What this means when you're choosing

  • How many straps, and whether they're adjustable from inside the quilt
  • Whether the system suits the width of your pad, since wide pads defeat short straps
  • Anti-slip texture on the pad itself, which some brands build in

The common mistake

Cinching the straps tight

Pulled tight they compress the quilt's baffles at the edges, which is where the drafts were coming from in the first place. They should hold the quilt against the pad with enough slack to let you roll without dragging it off.

Common questions

How do I stop sliding off my sleeping pad?

Straps are the direct answer. Failing that, add friction to the pad with dots of seam sealant or silicone, and pitch with your head uphill so gravity works with you rather than against you.

Do sleeping bags need pad straps too?

Less than quilts, because a bag wraps around you, but on a slippery pad it still helps. Many bags have loops for exactly this, and if yours doesn't, adding grip to the pad works just as well.

Where this comes up

Guides on Tom's Hiking where pad attachment system changes which product is right for you.

Going deeper

More in sleep systems

R-value

R-value measures how well a sleeping pad resists heat escaping into the ground. Higher numbers insulate better, and since 2020 every brand has tested to the same standard, so the numbers finally compare across brands.

Fill power

Fill power measures the loft of down: how many cubic inches one ounce expands to fill. Higher fill power traps more air per unit of weight, so an 850 fill bag is lighter and more compressible than a 650 fill bag of the same warmth.

Fill weight

Fill weight is how much insulation is actually inside a sleeping bag or jacket, given in grams or ounces. Paired with fill power it tells you what a bag's warmth is made of, and it's the number brands are least keen to publish.

Hydrophobic down

Hydrophobic down is down treated with a water-repellent finish so it resists moisture, dries faster and keeps some loft when damp. It delays the failure that untreated down suffers when wet, but it doesn't make down behave like synthetic.

EN/ISO temperature rating

EN/ISO is the standardised lab test that gives sleeping bags their temperature ratings. It produces several figures, and the two that matter are comfort, aimed at a standard cold sleeper, and limit, aimed at a standard warm sleeper.

Mummy bag

A mummy bag is a sleeping bag cut wide at the shoulders and narrow at the feet, with a hood that closes around your head. The taper leaves less air inside for your body to heat, which is why it is the warmest shape for its weight.

Draft collar

A draft collar is an insulated tube around the neck opening of a sleeping bag, cinched to seal the gap at your shoulders. It stops warm air pumping out of the top of the bag every time you move, which is where most heat is lost.

Baffle

A baffle is a fabric wall sewn between the inner and outer shells of a down bag to hold the down in place. Without baffles the down migrates to the low side and leaves cold spots where there's no insulation at all.

Footbox

The footbox is the shaped end of a sleeping bag or quilt where your feet sit. It's built with extra volume so the insulation isn't crushed flat by your toes, which is the coldest spot in most sleep systems.

Backpacking quilt

A backpacking quilt is a sleeping bag with the back removed and no hood, strapped to your sleeping pad instead. It cuts weight and bulk by deleting insulation that a bag crushes flat underneath you and that does nothing there anyway.

Underquilt

An underquilt is an insulated quilt that hangs on the outside of a hammock, cradling it from below. Because your body never lies on it, nothing compresses the loft, which is why it works where a sleeping bag underneath you does not.

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