ThermoDrop Thermometer Review
While I never thought that I’d be reviewing a thermometer on PaddlingLight, last time I ordered from Garage Grown Gear, I decided to pick one up. I got the ThermoWorks ThermoDrop Thermometer. It’s a simple zipper-pull thermometer. Why? I decided that I wanted to figure out exactly how my sleeping bags were working for me in different temperatures, so that I could more accurately decide which one to bring.
What is the ThermoDrop Thermometer?
The ThermoDrop is a small thermometer designed for a zipper. It comes in multiple colors. I got orange. It features big digits, a backlight, and is switchable to °C or °F. It’s IP67, which means it can be “immersed in 1 meter of freshwater for up to 30 minutes.” The display rotates. It also has a minimum and maximum temperature recording feature. It weighs 0.5 ounces (14.3g).
Why do you need a thermometer?
You don’t really need a thermometer, but I wanted one because I wanted to figure out how well my sleeping bags were working in various situations and temps. By knowing this, I’ll be better able to pick which sleeping bag that I bring. Also, with the standards that have changed, I wanted to be able to better evaluate my sleeping bags that have the same temperature rating. I currently have a 36°F, two 15°F bags (one with the new standards and one old school), and a 0°F.
Plus, since I’ll be reviewing a new Western Mountainerring FlyLite, I wanted to see if I could make a more accurate review using a thermometer.
We actually liked knowing the temperatures on my last Boundary Waters trip to paddle the Frost River.
The ThermoDrop Thermometer In Use
The ThermoDrop is simple to use. It has one button. To turn it on, you press the button. Pressing the button while it is on activates the backlight. Holding the button for five seconds turns it off. Holding the button for three seconds, shows the maximum and minimum temperatures since the last time you turned it on.
With all that in mind, we figured out that we had to turn it off and on if we wanted to know what the next day’s temps would hold for us. What we would do is record the temp in our tent and then put it outside during breakfast. That usually gave us a more accurate overnight temp than inside the tent. Then we would turn it off and on so that the max/min feature was reset.
The inside the tent temperature actually threw me for a loop. Although I always understood that a tent is usually a little warmer than the outside tent, I didn’t realize how much warmer it could be. At one campsite that was in the woods on a calm night, we recorded a 20°F difference between the temperature in the tent and the outside. We were using a three season tent with lots of mesh and there were three of us. It was surprising to see such a big difference. On other nights we saw anywhere from 10 to 15°F differences between the tent temp and the outside temp.
Although this trip didn’t drop below 33°F, knowing the temps also gave me piece of mind when it came to my water filter, which gets damaged by freezing. I slept with it anyway, but it was good to know it wasn’t an issue.
I’ll also note that this thermometer is sensitive. Holding it in your fingers will warm it up quickly. My kid liked to play a trick of putting it in his pocket or sleeping bag and warming it up before he went to sleep. After I stashed it in a tent storage pocket, I’d watch the temp return to what it was before he played with it.
What did the ThermoDrop tell me?
I was actually a little surprised by my sleeping bag choice. I brought a 15°F bag, which considers 15°F to be the lower limit and male rating and 30°F to be the comfort rating or woman’s rating. I was hot on most of the nights, but on one night we stayed in a campsite that was on top of a 30-foot cliff. There was a slight breeze and the area was sort of open to the wind. Temps never dropped below 40°F in the tent, but it was in the 30s outside.
I was using a Nemo Tensor Trail sleeping pad, which is a three season pad with an R-value of 2.8. My kid was on a Nemo Tensor All Season pad, which has an R-Value of 5.4, and his did feel significantly warmer than mine. The ground we were sleeping on was clay mixed with sand. It felt a bit cold on my back during the night and despite having long underwear, a wool t-shirt, and a Patagonia R1 Air Fleece on, I was just at the point of being not warm enough in the sleeping bag (btw, the new design of the R1 Air Fleece is really warm and awesome. I love mine). I know that in my other 15°F old school sleeping bag that I would have been plenty warm.
This new ISO 23537 rating system is kinda janked if you ask me. But it could have been the humidity and already being cold from paddling in cold rain much of the day. Still, I was plenty warm when I went to bed.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to using this thermometer on future trips to be able to better evaluate how I’m sleeping in different bags at different temps. It was enlightening on this trip.
Conclusion
Do you need a thermometer on a paddling trip? Absolutely not. For me, it was worthwhile to have one. I’ll be using it in the future to figure out how I’m sleeping at night based on the bag and the temp so that I can figure out which one will work best for the predicted weather. That will help me save weight if I can bring a lighter bag.
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