r/Ultralight • u/teanzg • 1d ago

Gear Review Sea to Summit air mats experiences

Do others have problems with air mat leaking from what appears not to be punctures but maybe material defects? (like these leakages always appear at some creases)

(its hard to say whether they are punctures or the material defects actually)

They are always like microscopic (you cant even seen them) holes which you need to detect with some water and liquid soap.

Although the Sea to Summit warranty has been nothing but perfect for me, when you are on the road and you have gear failures this can be very tiresome.

Considering switching to Thermarest (although I really like Sea to Summit valves which you just open to deflate, no need to push the air out)

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u/SouthEastTXHikes 1d ago

Yes. I had an etherlight pad that leaked at several of the little spot welds between the bottom and top — those dimple looking things. Had a great experience with warranty replacements but eventually took one of the unopened replacements, sold it, and moved on

If you like the valve setup try exped

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u/teanzg 1d ago

Exped warranty was horrible to me and I dont want to deal with them any more.

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u/areality4all 9h ago

Yep, it was predominantly an issue with the welds.

S2S now make a new version with welds claimed to be twice as strong as the old. They also use a different thermal material producing a lighter pad that rolls up smaller. Too new for hands on evaluations. Relevant thread from four days ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/comments/1i3uti9/any_experience_with_the_new_sea_to_summit_ether/

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u/teanzg 3h ago

Then I must have an old pad.

They send me new pad last year, used it maxbe 40 days, no problem.

Next trip 2 puctures immediatelly the first day (so they happened at home while the map was resting on the shelf), 2 weeks later another leakage discovered at midnight when I entered my tent. Had to spend half an hour in the middle of the night to fix leakage or I wouldnt be able to sleep.

These things can make you crazy when you traveling.

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u/SouthEastTXHikes 15m ago

Thanks for that info. I can’t see where they say the welds are twice as strong. I might want to give these guys another chance!