Which 4 SEASON CAMP SLEEP MAT? THERMAREST XTHERM nxt MAX vs SEATOSUMMIT XT EXTREME- Megatest!

Really great video. I enjoyed your testing very much

Well done. I love to see more objective testing.

Science and modern camping equipment 😊. Two of my favourite topics 😬👍🏼👍🏼

Really nice attempt to get under the skin of these two competitors. Well done! I use the Sea to Summit Comfort Plus R4.0. It’s really comfortable, but also provides redundancy against failure on a cold mountain through independent layers. But it’s not warm enough for winter so I also carry sections of Z Lite… all in all a luxurious but heavy solution. Maybe I should get an X Therm and 🤞 no mat failure?

Big difference in these mattresses for me is the price. Themarest is close to double the price here in New Zealand, so i settled for the sea to summit. That 3 degree difference seems fair in price. Cheers for the videos. [Edit, just read the comment below. Still stand by it though for the price difference]

That's a very interesting and clever way to test mats Dave. One thing that i noticed with the Nxt that i didn't notice with the original Xtherm was that by the time i deflated it to the point which suited me the most was that if i sat on it or knelt then i would touch the ground very easily and another plus and also the reason that i now prefer the Nemo Tensor Extreme conditions is that i only have to deflate it ever so slightly to give me that whole body fit if that make sense and i do not feel the ground when i sit or kneel on it. Theres not a great deal of discussion when it comes to deflating to whatever level f comfort thats required on any of the mats but then thats too much of a personal / individual preference i guess.

The sea to summit is Way more noisy when you are tossing and turning….. No other Channels are adressing this.

I understand there's calls for the official test to change. Some do well when there's no movement on the mat but when you move it loses heat, or you need to warm up the new spot you are lying on. This seems to be the S2S? While others are not as affected by the person's movement (Thermarest)? Good review, very interesting. Thanks.

Yours is a fair test, keeping in mind that pads do not heat on their own. That eventually, both water bottles should settle to the same temperature. Therefore, what's being measured is thermal-delay, not 'warmth of the pads.' 3°C is significant thermal-delay. Otherwise, to make a better test would mean an expensive test setup like ASTM's (or whoever certifies "R" values). Your test is fine, because what you care about is how fast heat escapes through to the ground and your thermal-delay test gives a relative measure of that performance factor. In other words, 3°C shouldn't be looked at as a minor difference that one might expect one pad to be merely 3°C colder, but that one pad sucks that much more energy all night long.

Love my large 25” thermarest.although I’ve heard some great reviews of the Kilos gear mat for comfort,not as comfy the new one though.👍

Lovely video Dave! I’m awaiting delivery of the xtherm, so this was well timed! I do like my Rab 5.5 mat, it’s lovely and warm and extremely comfortable. It’s one thing I’d love thermarest to adopt feature is the longitudinal cells with the larger edge cells. I simply never roll off the Rab, whereas I always roll off my thermarest topo lux… but that could be just because it’s so thick!! Definitely a car camping one! The Rab is also a bit weighty and a complete bu**er to get back in its “burrito “ pouch! Maybe shout Rab to see if they’ll give you an Ionosphere or stratosphere 5.5 to test against? Love your lab room.. what do you do for your day job (says the geek in me, eyeing up the chart on the wall and trying to figure out what it’s for…!)

Great intel! Would love to see how the Thermarest compares to the Nemo Tensor extreme since they boast an 8.5 r value but have different baffling systems.

Sea to summit needs to be fully inflated to get maximum loft on the insulation. The results where spot on. I guess with your weight means there is less loft so much colder. I uses a sheet with the S2S and its very quite but its too big the wide one so im looking to change like shame really

Light Tour R5.8 will be the best budget choice

would you be interested to test/review the mat by EXPED, called "Dura 8R Lw", against the hyped thermarest ?