Finding Comfort a Long Way From Home with Daygin Prescott: Ether Light XR & Pursuit Self Inflating Mats

"...some of the best yet."

I’m Daygin Prescott, an Australian Adventure Photographer – I’m lucky enough to have made my passion into my profession. Over the past few years I have had many incredible opportunities to photograph and adventure all around the world.

My work and personal travel have taken me to some remote and rugged locations, from freezing cold 6000m peaks in Bolivia to the vast and unrelenting Kimberley.

 Through this time I have come to appreciate the value in exceptional gear, especially my sleep system. A good sleeping pad on multi-day trips is essential. Over the past year I have tested two of the new Sea to Summit sleeping mats, some of the best yet: the Ether Light XR and Pursuit Self Inflating Mats.

Ether Light XR

I have spent my fair share of nights on Ether Light Mats. The Ether Light was my go-to for a recent mountaineering expedition in Bolivia, I used it on our shoot in Tasmania while filming Shoot For the Edge, as well as many personal and work adventures throughout the year. Long hard days in remote and uncomfortable environments make you appreciate the easy-to-inflate Ether Light for an exceptionally comfortable sleep.

The Ether Light XR is an evolution of the concept: higher R-Value, stronger welds, lighter weight, smaller packed size. The improved insulation (R-Value 4.1) comes from a reflective material suspended throughout the mat that Sea to Summit calls Thermal Core. It reflects infrared energy back to the sleeper and reduces internal air movement that otherwise would disperse internal warmth.

At 525g, it’s not the lightest on the market. Sea to Summit’s designers are clear that they would rather build a reliable sleeping mat than risk failure by trimming a few grams.

While still opting for something like the Ultralight Insulated for fast and ultralight missions in the mountains, the Ether Light has become my go-to sleeping mat for overnight hikes. And for winter mountain trips and base camps, I can’t wait to try the Ether Light XR Pro, with an R-Value of 7.4.

Personally I have found the Ether Light to do everything you expect from a top-end sleep mat. However, where the mat stands out for me is in warmth to weight/size and in reliability – the mat feels and looks like it can handle everything. Above all else, knowing I can rely on my sleeping pad in remote environments is the most important aspect.

Pursuit Self-Inflating Mat

I had the opportunity to test the Pursuit Self Inflating Sleeping Pad during a shoot in the Kimberley. I hadn’t used a self-inflating mat before, usually turned off by the weight and bulk when packing, especially when carrying additional camera gear.

The Pursuit uses really lightweight fabrics and has cutouts in the internal foam that further reduce the weight and packed size. Speaking of packing, I have always been baffled by sleeping pads that don’t fit easily into their stuff sack - not a worry with the Pursuit, it slides right in.

To my surprise, the Pursuit delivered the best night’s sleep I’ve had on any sleeping pad. Three main reasons:

1. The internal foam supports your body exceptionally well, distributing weight evenly.

2. The fabric is soft and quiet – no loud crinkling sounds when you move at night.

3. The warmth is outstanding, making it great even for colder nights.

Overall, all of these attributes make it feel like you’re sleeping on an actual bed and in turn you have a very restful sleep. This made a huge difference after long days of shooting and adventuring. 

With a weight around 600g and an R-Value of 3, it may just break the near monopoly that air mats have in the backpacking market.

Speaking to the designers on the Kimberley shoot, I realised how much of a step forward the Pursuit is in Self-Inflating mat technology. Spending many nights on these mats proved to me that there is a place for the Pursuit on people’s packing lists.

A lot of testing and technology has gone into each of these two mats – trust me, I have worked with Sea to Summit’s product developers, and they are pretty obsessive about details.

After months of using and abusing these mats in tough environments, it’s clear—both the Ether Light XR and Pursuit deliver more than just comfort; they give you peace of mind knowing your sleep system won’t let you down, no matter how rugged the terrain.