Sea To Summit - Ether Light XR Insulated Air Sleeping Pad
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Last updated: Aug 27, 2025 Scoring
Liked most:
31
3
"I just put up with the pinholes and patching them on trail because I can't sleep better on any other pad. ... There's a huge difference in comfort depending on your body between the dimpled baffling of the Etherlight/Tensor and the horizontal baffling of the Xlite. ... I can't sleep on horizontal baffling despite all the good features of the Xlite. ... I'm a side sleeper and my arms and shoulders ache and/or fall asleep or go numb on the Xlite. For whatver reason I can only sleep on dimpled baffles (tensor, etherlight)"
"The extra 4cm in width feels good. ... I am a 181cm, 100kg side sleeper and this feels like a better size and shape for me. ... It is also wider near the foot which is very welcome."
"Love my S to S pad also. ... Rivals my Select Comfort bed at home. ... Bought a back up in case they go out of business."
27
3
"I just put up with the pinholes and patching them on trail because I can't sleep better on any other pad. ... There's a huge difference in comfort depending on your body between the dimpled baffling of the Etherlight/Tensor and the horizontal baffling of the Xlite. ... I can't sleep on horizontal baffling despite all the good features of the Xlite. ... I'm a side sleeper and my arms and shoulders ache and/or fall asleep or go numb on the Xlite. For whatver reason I can only sleep on dimpled baffles (tensor, etherlight)"
"The extra 4cm in width feels good. ... I am a 181cm, 100kg side sleeper and this feels like a better size and shape for me. ... It is also wider near the foot which is very welcome."
"Love my S to S pad also. ... Rivals my Select Comfort bed at home. ... Bought a back up in case they go out of business."
9
4
"The pad was great. No cold spots. ... For reference I slept terribly and was cold in 37° on a rapide pad in December last year. ... I had zero issues with the pad"
"Perfect. Freezing would be the coldest I'd use it. That's my cut off."
"The low temp was somewhere around 38 or 40 F and I had a 10 degree quilt. I think it's a true 3-season pad, you could maybe use it solo down to freezing"
6
2
"is a great all-rounder, one of the best actually when it comes to comfort-weigh-pack size ratio."
"Seems to pack even smaller than their shortest UltraLite pad (the orange one.) ... pretty packable ... still pretty small"
"Great. ... It folds down to same size as the Xtherm. ... I believe is a great improvement over the old Etherlight XT due to the new insulation."
3
5
"It’s the first ultralight mat I’ve used that doesn’t sound like a bag of chips when I move around — no annoying crinkle from the heat-reflective foil. ... The outer fabric is also surprisingly quiet."
"The Ether light has a layer of foamy stuff rather than metal foil, so it is a lot quieter."
"Etherlights it ’s the surface. It ’s a much more rubber-like surface that produces a squeaking noise when you rub your skin over it. Doesn ’t bother me, but it ’s a different noise effect than other brands."
Disliked most:
1
3
"which started leaking after 3 nights"
"Or if it's little seam weld pinholes, take advantage of the warranty (I use Sea 2 Summit pads mostly). ... but i'm not really talking about those kind of holes (that can be patched) - i mean the phantom leaks that can't be identified or fixed easily, like seam welds, valve stuff, etc. (especially on quilted/dimpled baffles) ... All my sea to summit pads have developed stress pinholes in the dimple welds, nothing to do with anything I could have done or prevented as a user, it's a common defect with that style of baffle. ... I talked to someone at Sea to Summit once who said that those type of failures are not due to external puncture/abrading but actually weaknesses that can occur when the seam welds are done that get exacerbated/worse over time. Typically they occur under the torso/arm area and are due to more contact from elbows specifically. ... sometimes (like quilted/dimpled baffles) the pads are just prone to little defects that emerge the longer the pad is used that no amount of babying can prevent. ... No matter how much you baby your sleeping pad, if it has a weak valve attachment, it's gonna develop a leak."
"I just put up with the pinholes and patching them on trail because I can't sleep better on any other pad. ... they can develop pinholes especially around where your elbows contact the pad when rising or laying down."
0
7
"Dropped about 9ozs and kicked myself the rest of the way down the trail for being so gullible. ... I could really feel those 9ozs off my back."
"Heavier. On my scales the Xtherm is 440g. S2S was 481g. ... Weight is a bit higher"
"S2S is heavier and bulkier but still pretty small with a better r value and durability. although at 12L it probably won't win out over the tensor"
3
5
"very squeaky ... sometimes even like rubbing balloons together ... Could also be due to pad rubbing against tent floor."
"The Etherlight sounds more like a thick balloon - still makes a noise but a lower pitch."
"The material is a little squeaky"
6
2
"The only downside is the bulk. ... It takes up a lot of space in my pack. ... When I I’m out for long hauls I don’t have the room for it and switch to the Tensor All-Season."
"S2S is heavier and bulkier but still pretty small with a better r value and durability. although at 12L it probably won't win out over the tensor"
6
4
"It's so cold with a quilt, It really feels like it's doing nothing, even in summer conditions."
"I think it's a true 3-season pad, you could maybe use it solo down to freezing but any colder and I'd probably add a Z-lite under it."
"There were a couple cold spots but the pad had deflated as the temp dropped"
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