Ether Light XT Extreme Insulated Air Sleeping Mat

Lucky you! I tried so many different mats and being side sleeper I will be very uncomfortable. Cheaper mats will be fine as long as you sleep on your back and never move haha Life sustaining kit? Potentially if your main mat is not warm enough. For winter I use Sea to Summit Either Light XR Pro with some ridiculous R rating of 7+. Is it that warm? Well slept in Cairngorms with -15c and I was more than warm(obviously paired with good sleeping bag). Do I need foam mat underneath? Definitely not, but I would have it anyway just to protect mat from icing(does not affect performance of mat itself). Now why I said it is waste of space/weight? As a mountaineer I do carry more stuff besides camping equipment, I need that extra room + I want weigh to be as low as possible during expedition of 3-7 days. Also I don’t need anything tangling of my backpack while I climb. Im certain that this foam mat system works for many people, but unfortunately not always, sometimes it is better to invest into 1 good product than to have 2 average.

Nah house insurance is not even comparable. If your mat deflates(first of all, you need to buy good one, cheap ones will eventually deflate) you can simply dress up and go home, UK is not that remote that would have to stress for it. And once again - get a groundsheet and repair kit for redundancy. Also 3 season mat paired with CCF will not create 4 season mat. I can guarantee that and there is literally a post about this on this very subreddit. If your mat is ok for +5c just because you put CCF underneath it will not make it -10c compatible. Yes it will add couple degrees but not 15c. Now also you say groundsheet will not provide insulation, which I agree, but on your previous comment you said CCF is not about insulation, but to protect your mat in case it deflates? Well groundsheet will prevent it from happening? Also yes mountaineers used to carry CCF because we have not had anything better. Now we have really good compact and lightweight mats that do not require CCF. At worst we will take foil mat. And I do not downplay anything at all, what Im saying get a decent mat and good equipment made for a task. CCF will not save you from hypothermia if you have shit clothes, equipment and are not prepared. If you put your life on risk just to save couple quid, mate Im sorry nothing I can help you with here

Side sleeper here. I use a Hammock Gear 0 degree quilt with a zippered foot box on top of a 25x78 Sea to Summit Etherlight XT Extreme sleeping pad that's 4 inches thick and has a 6.2 R value. I'm over 50 and sleep cold and I get a great sleep every night. The pad is admittedly bulky and heavy, but I can put the quilt in a small Sea to Summit eVent dry sack and compress it down to the size of two Nalgene bottles, so it works out.

I've used an older XT extreme down to single digits fahrenheit and didn't feel like there was cold seeping through the pad. That was with a bag though and not a quilt, camping on snow, no foam pad. I don't think the XT/XR is a bad product per se, but I do think I'd steer in the direction of other brands just based on what's on the market right now. Exped's not what I'd choose though. Nemo and Thermarest have the best pads right now, imo. 

Wow that's insane! I paid over £200 for a Sea the Summit Ether extreme XT and it's colder and heavier than that bestway pad. What a bargain

Had slept on the S2S Extreme version current and previous model, the previous version of the Neoair and Xtherm with winglock and Exped Versa 4R. Hands down the S2S is the most comfortable pad then followed by Exped and last place is both Thermarest. Im a side sleeper and the Neoair and Xtherm i can't sleep well which sux considering their low weights. The newer S2S Extreme is close to my Xtherm so i take that instead in the winter. Yes its noisy (new and old, i didnt notice any difference but i dont have the older model to compare), so don't camp near people or tell them to camp far from you. I know someone that puts a cover on their pad but thats extra weight without any benefit for yourself.

I think the newer XR has higher r values. Thats why i got the extreme in the 1st place, the regular has such a low r value thats its not a full 3 season. You can always add a foam pad underneath to boost the temps. I have Naturehike tents, they are great but a tent is very simple and wont fail unless youre above treeline and put it in bad spots. Pads....lets say i had my fair share of punctures in all different brands and i dont want to be stuck out with a leaky pad. At least with known brands, you can get a repair or replacement, which has been the case for my Neoair and XR Extreme.

My only UL pad is a S2S Ether Light XT, R3.2. I love how comfortable it is and I sleep the same way as you. The only issue I have with it is the low R-Value, so I was cold camping the last few months. I wish I bought the Extreme XR pad instead because I could use it for all seasons, but now I am stuck having to buy another warmer pad. Not sure if I should just get the cheaper NatureHike pad (I have one of their tents and love it) because I don't camp a ton in the winter. But I would hope that I camp more often in general as the seasons go by. Cheers

I had a prior gen Etherlight and the Exped Ultra 5R I have now is more comfortable to me. It’s also a much simpler pad. Perhaps S2S has fixed this but the spot welds *all over* my etherlight started leaking.