When gearing up for a long-distance trek, shaving grams is always at the forefront of your mind, but few of us would ever willingly choose to sacrifice comfort at the expense of weight. With its newest sleeping pad launch, Sea to Summit claims to have built a true packable, ultralight mat that still provides plenty of plush comfort.
The Sea to Summit Ether Light XR Insulated Air Sleeping Pad is part of the Aussie brand's new spring line, released at the same time as its environmentally-conscious Revive range, and it's the lightest pad the brand has ever made.
The brand says the pad is ideal for winter camping mountaineering, so let's see what the specs say. With ThermalCore technology for insulation and an R-value of 4.1, it certainly looks cold-weather capable, and it keeps you just shy of four inches (10cm) off the cold, hard ground, so we have to admit it's looking promising for higher elevations and chilly summits.
All that and it weighs just 15.7oz (445g), making it lighter than most of the sleeping pads we've tested, except of course, the awesome Therm-a-Rest NeoAir UberLite and Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite NXT. Probably more important than its weight, it packs down small to just 8.1 x 4.3 x 4.3in (20.5 x 11 x 11cm), which is similar to a Nalgene bottle.
Compared to the brand's Ether Light XT Extreme, which had an R-value of 6.2, it's not built for quite such cold weather, but it's significantly lighter to the tune of almost 10oz (300g), packs down smaller, and amazingly gives you just as much loft.
The Ether Light XT Extreme is now sold out on Sea to Summit's website, though you can find it at REI and Backcountry, but if you need a pad for colder weather, don't worry – the new Ether Light XR also comes in a Pro version which has a phenomenal R-value of 7.2 for an extra three ounces of weight and the same packability.
Both pads feature an Airstream pump integrated into the stuff sack and a high-airflow XPRESS valve to make inflation and deflation quick and simple. The Sea to Summit Ether Light XR Insulated Air Sleeping Pad is available now in multiple sizes starting at $189 / £200 from Sea to Summit, and the Pro version starts at $219 / £240.
