Good to know: this sleeping pad is unisex
Pros / Reasons to Buy
- Excellent comfort
- Supplied with well thought out accessories
Cons / Reasons to Avoid
- High price
- Sustainability credentials are not the best
I loved the Sea to Summit Ether Light XT Insulated. This is a premium product from a brand with a good reputation for making top notch gear, and this pad packs a lot of tech and offers incredible comfort.
Whilst the pad isn’t the best choice for camping in extreme cold, and the high cost will certainly put some potential buyers off, but I think if you can justify the price and are happy to work with the three-season rating, then this is an excellent choice.
Compare to similar products:
Nemo Switchback | Nemo Tensor All-Season | Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Xlite NXT | Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm NXT | Rab Stratosphere 4 | Sea to Summit Comfort Plus Insulated | Big Agnes Divide Insulated | Nemo Quasar 3D | Sea to Summit Ether Light XT Insulated | Big Agnes Rapide SL Insulated | Exped Ultra 7R | Klymit Static V | Sleepingo Large | Tame Lands | Therm-A-Rest Z Lite Sol | |
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Buying Options | |||||||||||||||
Our Rating | Best Foam Sleeping Pad | Best Air Sleeping Pad | Best for Comfort and Ultralight | Best for Winter and Best Mummy Shaped Sleeping Pad | Best for Summer | Best for Side Sleepers | Best for Back Sleepers | Best Budget Air Pad | Best Rectangular Sleeping Pad | ||||||
Type and Shape | Folding, closed-cell foam | Rectangular or Mummy Inflatable | Mummy Inflatable | Mummy Inflatable | Rectangular Inflatable | Mummy Inflatable | Rectangular Inflatable | Rectangular Inflatable | Rectangular or Mummy Inflatable | Rectangular Inflatable | Rectangular or Mummy Inflatable | Rectangular Inflatable | Mummy Inflatable | Rectangular Inflatable | Folding, closed-cell foam |
Comfort | Low | Excellent | Excellent | Very Good | Excellent | Excellent | Very Good | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Average | Average | Low |
Warmth/R-Value | Average (R-Value = 2) | Excellent (R-Value = 5.4) | Very Good (R-Value = 4.5) | Excellent (R-Value = 7.3) | Very Good (R-Value = 3.8) | Very Good (R-Value = 4) | Very Good (R-Value = 4) | Low (R-Value = 1.8) | Very Good (R-Value = 3.2) | Very Good (R-Value = 4.8) | Excellent (R-Value = 7) | Low (R-Value = 1.3) | Low - Average (No ASTM FF3340 rated R-Value, but likely around 2) | Low - Average (No ASTM FF3340 rated R-Value, but likely around 2) | Average (R-Value = 2) |
Weight | Regular Version - 415g/14.5oz | Regular Version - 522g/1lb 2oz | Regular Version - 368g/13 oz | Regular Version - 453g/1lb | Regular Version - 695g/1lb 9oz | Regular Version - 845g/29.8oz | Regular Version - 652g/23oz | Non-Insulated Regular Version - 650g/1lb 7oz | Mummy Regular - 490g/17.3oz | Regular Version - 510g/18oz | Rectangular Medium Version - 650g/23oz | Regular Version - 530g/18.7oz | 408g/14oz | 600g/21oz | Regular Version - 410g/14oz |
Packed Size | Regular Version - 51x13x14cm/20x5x5.5in | Regular Version - 25.5x10cm/10x4in | Regular Version - 10.4x22.86cm/4.1x9in | Regular Version - 11.3x22.86cm/4.5x9in | Regular Version - 24cmx12cm/9.4inx4.7in | Regular Version - 12x23cm/5x9in | Regular Version - 20x13cm/8x5in | Non-Insulated Regular Version - 20x10cm/8x4in | Mummy Regular - 24x11cm/9.5x4.5in | Regular Version - 18x10cm/7x4in | Rectangular Medium Version - 23x14cm/9x5.5in | Regular Version - 20x8cm/8x3in | 27x8cm/10.5x3in | 23x10cm/9x4in | Regular Version - 51x13x14cm/20x5x5.5in |
Open Size | Regular Version - 183x51x2.3cm/72x20x0.9in | Regular Version - 183x51x9cm/72x20x3.5in | Regular Version - 182x50.8x7.62cm/72x20x3in | Regular Version - 177.8x50.8x7.62cm/72x20x3in | Regular Version - 183x51x8cm/72x20x3in | Regular Version - 184x55cm/72x21.5in | Regular Version - 183x51x8.25cm/72x20x3.25in | Non-Insulated Regular Version - 183x51x9cm/72x20x3.5in | Mummy Regular - 183x55-42x10cm/72x21.5-16.5x4in | Regular Version - 51x183x11cm/20x72x4.25in | Rectangular Medium Version - 183x52x9cm/72x20.4x3.5in | Regular Version - 183x58x6cm/72x23x2.5in | 187x54.6x5cm/73.5x21x2in | 188x56x5cm/74x22x2in | Regular Version - 183x51x2cm/72x20x0.75in |
Materials | Polyethylene foam backed with metalized foil | 20D and 40D Nylon with two layers of metalized film | 30D Ripstop Nylon | 30D and 70D Ripstop Nylon with Thermacapture Reflective Film | 75D Polyester with 100% recycled polyester 'Stratus R' insulation | 30D/40D Nylon withThermolite insulation and Exkin Platinum film | Ripstop nylon with Thermalite insulaiton and heat-reflecting film layer | 100% Recycled Polyester | 30D/40D Nylon withThermolite insulation and Exkin Platinum film | Ripstop nylon with two layers of metalized film | 20D Ripstop polyester with down insulation | 75D Polyester | Ripstop Nylon | 40D Ripstop Nylon | Polyethylene foam backed with Thermacapture Reflective Film |
Durability | Excellent - will still work even if torn or damaged | Good - supplied with repair patches | Good - supplied with repair patches | Good - supplied with repair patches | Good - supplied with repair patches | Very Good - supplied with repair patches and spare valve parts | Good - supplied with repair patches | Good - Supplied with repair patches | Very Good - supplied with repair patches and spare valve parts | Good - Supplied with repair patches | Good - Supplied with repair patches | Good - Supplied with repair patches | Good - supplied with repair patches | Good - supplied with repair patches | Excellent - will still work even if torn or damaged |
This article is part of our series on the best sleeping pads for camping, view all articles below:
- Best Sleeping Pads for Camping
- How we Tested Sleeping Pads
- How to Choose the Right Sleeping Pad for Camping
- Compare Sleeping Pads
Related content:
Analysis and Test Results
The Sea to Summit Ether Light XT Insulated is an extremely comfortable, lightweight pad that impressed me with its premium feel and thoughtful set of accessories. This pad is rated for three season use and whilst this will be more than enough for many potential buyers, if you regularly camp in the extreme cold, you might want to consider either a more heavily insulated pad or adding a supplementary closed-cell foam pad to this to boost its R-Value.
This is definitely a premium product – though its certainly not the most expensive pad I’ve tested by a long shot – and the high price will certainly deter a lot of potential buyers, especially if you don’t camp regularly, but for those who can justify the cost, this is an excellent product that will surely give many years of service.
Performance Comparison
See our video 360 of the Sea to Summit Ether Light XT Insulated sleeping pad which goes over the main features:
Type and Shape
The Sea to Summit Ether Light XT Insulated is an inflatable sleeping pad. It’s offered in five variants. First of all, there’s the Small, Regular and Large versions – all of which have a ‘Mummy’ shape meaning they are slightly narrower at the foot than they are at the head. This design uses less material and can thus save on weight and packed size. The pad is also offered in two sizes in a rectangular shape: ‘Regular Wide’ and ‘Large Rectangular’.
For my review, I’ve assessed the Large/’Mummy’ shaped pad.
Comfort
First up, this is an inflatable pad – essentially an air mattress – so it’s going to be a more comfortable option than a basic, thin foam pad. The ‘XT’ part of the Sea to Summit Ether Light XT Insulated’s name stands for ‘Extra Thick’ and this pad is 10cm/4in thick – making it one of the thickest pads we’ve assessed in this round up. By contrast, most of the other inflatable pads we’ve assessed are between 5cm/2in and 9cm/3.5in thick (and of these, most are at the thinner end). This extra thickness means the pad can contain a higher volume of air and this, in turn, improves comfort.
In practice, the comfort boost from the extra thickness is certainly noticeable and I felt that the pad was very comfortable throughout the night. This is a great pad if you are a side sleeper as you’ll be less likely to feel the ground through the pad as you roll. I generally sleep on my front though, and still found this pad very comfortable.
As it happened, just before I reviewed this pad, I’d spent some time with one of the thinnest inflatable pads in our round up – the Sleepingo sleeping pad, which at 5cm/2in thick is half the thickness of this Sea to Summit pad. In many ways, it’s unfair to directly compare these two pads as I’d say they are targeted at different market niches.
The Sea to Summit is substantially more expensive and offers a premium ‘no expense spared’ experience, whilst the Sleepingo pad has absolutely made design concessions to hit a very low price point (it can sometimes be found discounted for around one eighth the cost of this Sea to Summit pad!). But I will say that the comfort difference between the two was substantial and goes to show what the extra inflated volume allowed by the extra thickness can provide.
Finally, on this topic, I noticed that this pad is a little noisy in use – the material makes a crackling noise as you move around on it. How much this will bother you (or not!) is very subjective. It wasn’t an issue for me, but I was aware of it, and the pad was more noisy than some of the others I’ve used, so, be aware of this if you or your camping buddy are light sleepers.
Warmth
Sea to Summit say the Ether Light XT Insulated is suitable for three-season use and I’d say that the R-Value of 3.2 would back this up.
All sleeping pads should be labelled with an ‘R-Value’ which is an industry standard way of measuring how well they insulate. A higher value means more insulation. A well insulated pad won’t keep you warm at night on it’s own – you’ll need to pair it with an appropriate sleeping bag, but this also means that you won’t overheat on a well insulated pad on a warm night, provided your sleeping bag is appropriate for the temperature. The takeaway here is that if you only want to own one, then buying one with a higher R-Value makes sense – especially so if you camp in mixed temperatures through the year.
If you camp in very cold deep-winter conditions, you’ll likely want a more insulated and more specialized pad than this, or you could alternatively pair the Sea to Summit with a foam pad like the Nemo Switchback to boost the insulation.
Ease of Use
The easiest sleeping pads to use are folding foam pads like the Nemo Switchback. These can be setup and packed back down in seconds. Inflatable pads like this Sea to Summit need to be unpacked, unrolled and inflated before they’re ready, and of course, you’ll need to reverse this process when you come to break camp. Whilst the process is more involved relative to a basic foam pad, it also isn’t particularly difficult and once you’re used to it, you can have this pad setup or packed back down in well under five minutes.
In common with all the other higher end inflatable pads in this round up, the Sea to Summit comes with an inflation tool – which is cleverly integrated into the supplied stuff bag, meaning one less bit of kit to keep track of! I personally much prefer inflating sleeping pads with an inflation tool. I have a health condition that means I can get short on breath and having to inflate a sleeping pad by breath alone – especially after a long and tiring hike – is not something I look forward to!
The inflation tool, or pump bag, in common with all the others we’ve seen in this round up, is a bit like a roll-top dry bag with a valve at one end that attaches to the pad. You gently breath into the open end of the pump bag, or just hold it open to expand it, then start rolling it up. As you do so, it compresses and forces this air into the pad. With very little practice, this is a quick and easy way to get your sleeping pad inflated and has the added bonus that you can inflate the pad to a higher pressure/firmness than you’d be able to do by breath alone – which I think benefits comfort. Whilst I wouldn’t do so unless absolutely necessary, you can also inflate the pad with just your breath if needed.
I created the video below that shows my helpful assistant (my husband) setting up the Sea to Summit Ether Light XT Insulated sleeping pad in real time, taking 2 minutes 53 seconds to be fully inflated using the included pump sack:
Weight
I put the Large version of the Sea to Summit Ether Light XT Insulated to the test, which comes in at 625g/1lb 06oz. Outwardly, that’s quite heavy, but you need to keep in mind that weight is for a pad that’s substantially larger than many of the ‘Regular’ sized pads we’ve reviewed and, I think that when the size of this pad is considered, the weight is very reasonable.
The table below gives a full breakdown of the weights of the different variants of this pad, but the ‘Regular’ version, for example, comes in at 490g/1lb 1.3oz, which, if you don’t need or want the extra size of the large version is, I think, a very respectable weight and sure to appeal to lightweight backpackers.
Version | Weight |
Mummy Small | 470g/16.6oz |
Mummy Regular | 490g/17.3oz |
Mummy Large | 625g/22oz |
Rectangular Regular Wide | 630g/22oz |
Rectangular Large | 690g/24oz |
Packed Size
The large version of the Sea to Summit Ether Light XT Insulated sleeping pad packs down to 28x11cm/11×4.75in. whilst that is a larger packed size than many of the other pads we’ve assessed in this round up, you have to keep in mind that the specific version of the pad we’ve assessed is also larger than average – so the high packed size does make sense. The packed pad is still, in my opinion, quite manageable in terms of its size and I think it’s packed size will only be an issue if you are putting together the most minimal of kit bags.
Version | Packed Size |
Mummy Small | 24x11cm/9.5x4.5in |
Mummy Regular | 24x11cm/9.5x4.5in |
Mummy Large | 28x11cm/11x4.75in |
Rectangular Regular Wide | 28x11cm/11x4.5in |
Rectangular Large | 28x12cm/11x4.75in |
The video I created below shows that helpful assistant of mine again (including some additional ducks in the background) packing down the Sea to Summit Ether Light XT Insulated in real time. Which takes roughly 1 minute 53 seconds:
Open Size
I’ve tested the large version of this pad. It has a ‘Mummy’ shape, meaning it’s wider at one end – where your head goes – than at the other. As assessed, the pad is 198x64x10cm/78x25x4in, narrowing down to 20in/51cm at the thin end. If you’re used to ‘standard’ or ‘regular’ pads, this feels very spacious by comparison! The XT part of the name of this product stands for ‘Extra Thick’ and all versions of this pad are 10cm/4in thick.
Most of the other inflatable pads we’ve assessed come in between 6cm/2.5in and 9cm/3.5in (with some being as thin as 5cm/2in). Compared to these, the extra thick Sea to Summit offers noticeably more cushioning, which will not only improve comfort but also contribute towards improving the insulation of the pad.
Version | Open Size |
Mummy Small | 168x55-43x10cm/66x21.5-17x4in |
Mummy Regular | 183x55-42x10cm/72x21.5-16.5x4in |
Mummy Large | 198x64-51x10cm/78x25-20x4in |
Rectangular Regular Wide | 183x64x10cm/72x25x4in |
Rectangular Large | 201x64x10cm/79x25x4in |
Features
This is definitely a premium level product and as such, it has plenty of notable features. First up, it’s provided with a set of adhesive Velcro patches and there’s a template on the pad for where these can be attached. The idea is that if you use a Sea to Summit camping pillow, you can use the Velcro to attach it to the pad. I find that camping pillows often slide off my pad in the night, so this is a welcome feature.
I was also quite impressed by the included inflation tool. This is integrated into the stuff bag – so one less piece of gear to keep track of – but is also very high capacity, so made filling the high-volume pad very easy.
Sea to Summit state that the TPU lamination used in the pad’s material has an antimicrobial treatment added to help prevent mold from growing inside the pad’s air chamber.
Finally, the pad comes with a repair kit. This isn’t unusual – every single inflatable pad we’ve assessed in this round up comes with some repair patches – but what impressed me was that the Sea to Summit pad came with a variety of different sized patches and a replacement valve. You may never need to use these, but you’ll certainly be covered if the pad suffers any damage on the trail!
Materials
The Sea to Summit Ether Light XT Insulated sleeping pad is made from a mix of 30D and 40D nylon which has a water resistant and antimicrobial TPU coating. This isn’t just a single-chamber inflatable pad and internally, it is divided into an upper and lower chamber by a layer of ‘Exkin Platinum’ which is a metalized fabric that helps reflect heat your body radiates down back up. The upper chamber also contains Thermolite insulating material – this is a soft, hollow fiber synthetic material made by Lycra that does a similar job to down in a fraction of the weight.
Durability
Inflatable sleeping pads are, by their nature, more prone to damage than closed-cell foam pads. The fact that every inflatable pad we’ve assessed in our round up – and this Sea to Summit pad is no exception – comes with a repair kit is proof of this.
However, inflatable sleeping pads are also not fragile things and with sensible handling, they will last and last. Maybe I’ve just been lucky, but in all my time camping, I’ve never experienced a punctured sleeping pad. Sea to Summit provides a lifetime warranty with this product.
Sustainability
Sea to Summit do not publish any sustainability information on this product, so I have no way of knowing if it incorporates recycled materials in its construction. The pad’s relatively complex construction combining bonded layers of nylon, metalized film and pockets of Primaloft may make the product difficult to recycle at the end of its life.
As a company, Sea to Summit are committed to improving the sustainability of their products, and are eliminating PFCs (also known as ‘Forever Chemicals’ because of how long they persist in the environment) from their water repellent treatments.
Price
Coming from a well-known premium equipment brand and packing a portfolio of high-tech materials in its construction, it’s perhaps no surprise that the Sea to Summit Ether Light XT Insulated sleeping pad is not cheap! At the time of writing, this pad costs $195.79/£165.00 for the large variant I’ve tested.
Whilst I think this is pricey, it still manages to come in below the price point of what I’d consider to be its nearest rivals in this round up. For example, the Nemo Tensor All Season and the Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm NXT are both a little heavier and a bit pricier, but both also have an appreciably higher R Value which those who camp out in cold weather will surely value.
Conclusion
Sea to Summit have a reputation for making top-quality equipment and the Ether Light XT Insulated is no exception. This sleeping pad is expensive, but if you camp regularly and value a good night’s sleep, then this supremely comfortable sleeping pad is an excellent choice and the well thought out accessories it comes with round out the package well, in my opinion.
With an R-Value of 3.2, this pad is suited for three-season camping and would likely also do well on milder winter nights. However, if you like to camp in the extreme cold or routinely camp out through the year then either a more specialized pad with a higher R-Value might make more sense or, of course, you could always add a supplementary foam pad to this Sea to Summit to boost insulation on very cold nights. All in all, I’d recommend this pad, and, if you can justify the cost, I think it’s an excellent choice.
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