Sea To Summit Ether Light Sleeping Pads

Links did not show up in 1st post:

Men’s/Unisex Insulated: https://seatosummitusa.com/collections/new-product/products/ether-light-xt-insulated-sleeping-mat

Women’s Insulated: https://seatosummitusa.com/collections/new-product/products/womens-ether-light-xt-insulated-sleeping-mat

Uninsulated: https://seatosummitusa.com/collections/new-product/products/ether-light-xt-sleeping-mat

Wow 4” thick. You’ll really screw with tent geometry.

Very competitive stats, tough fabric compared to the newer generations of UL pads.
2″ might be a problem for some? It sounds like a lot, but actually might be less of an issue than it sounds like..

More of a competitor to the Exped matts than the Neoair, which is still lightest in class?

The 40D on bottom and 30D on top seems like a pretty good balance. I think the XLite and the Big Agnes AXL Insulated are lightest in class, but these should be warmer and have a better valve design, so it’s a trade off.

A regular sized XTherm is lighter and has a higher R value, but many have to go with a wide version due to the pad feeling narrow. I think these pads will hit a sweet spot of warmth, weight, durability, and comfort for me. Gotta wait for a sale though because seeping pads are getting expensive.

Weight is a real problem with these. The 4″ thickness is more of a mixed benefit, side entry tents will not accommodate this only poorly, while A-Frame tents will do fine. But at about 20oz, it is a LOT more than the 12oz of a XLite. I believe they are looking at the car-camping market and not the Lightweight or Ultralightweight hiking segments.

For larger hikers the Reg/Wide size means a more comfortable night sleeping in good weather.

Regular XLite is 12 oz. Regular Ether Light is 15 oz. So only 3oz heavier, for higher R value and a little more width.

Well, John, I already have a few pads: at least a dozen. I AM interested in a Regular/Wide pad, though. Hmm, I guess I did not explicitly state it, but this is my interest, hence the confusion, sorry.

I already own a good UL pad for summer.  The XLite or NeoAir original medium has served me well for the past 10 years or so, even though I witch about the durability. (One of them I wore out, plain and simple.) But for 3-4 weeks in April (fishing season,) I would consider a thicker, wider, and more durable pad. I am a UL hiker. Ounces matter.

My wife gave me an REI FLASH Insulated air mattress (R3.7) for my birthday. (15 oz.) It seems OK to around 30 F. so far.

Then last week I bought the REI FLASH All Season air mattress (R5.3)  for winter camping. (19.4 oz.) I think it will be good to at least 0 F.

I prefer these REI insulated air mattresses in price, weight and R value, especially to BA insulated air mattresses. Just hope they are as durable as the StS versions. I know they are as comfortable.

I use a Sea to Summit inflation bag for them. Works great and also as a clothing dry bag. Glad REI ws smart enough to make their valves compatible with StS.

The women’s Ether pad is back on the S2S site.

They also fixed the thickness references; it says 4 inches everywhere (previously, it listed 3 inches some places, 4 inches elsewhere).

The “dot weld” construction gives me doubt. Seems like it would have the same limitations of “sew-through” baffles.

Katherine, quality control has a lot to do with how well the “dot welds” hold. Sea to Summit has very good quality control and from all reports their pads hold up well for long trail hikers.

There are some other similar pads that do suffer weld failures, but Sea to Summit isn’t one of them (well documented on various long trail hiker blogs and forums).

Bill in Roswell, GA

I think maybe the concern here with the dot weld is less one of durability and more of cold spots. Like sewn through baffles, there would be no insulation in the dot weld areas, potentially creating cold spots. I guess if that area above the dot weld was sealed off by your body, it would trap your warm dead air, but the likelihood of every space being perfectly sealed off like that is low (impossible?). Nonetheless, people love these things and warmth doesn’t seem to be a big complaint. I’m probably going to try that women’s large insulated one myself.

In their Ultralight line of pads, the dot welds are like sewn through baffles. I haven’t noticed any direct heat loss through the dot welds, but it must be less efficient.

I had asked a question by email to Sea to Summit (how their Ether Light pads could be lighter, thicker, and warmer than their comparative Ultralight pads), and they responded with:

In a conventional Air Sprung Cell mat, the fabric forms a complete hemisphere between the dot welds. In an Etherlight Air Sprung Cell mat, the top and bottom welds are joined together by loops of a strong, flexible material (called TPU), and the fabric forms a curve between the weld points…therefore, the Etherlight Air Sprung Cell mats use less fabric and are thus lighter.

So in the Ether Light pads, the welds function more like a box-baffle.

They also told me some people might still find the Ultalight pads more comfortable, because they are more stable and potentially more supportive.