Just In - Pacific Outdoor Equipment Ether Elite Mat

Light area is the synthetic fibre fill to prevent air movement.

Modest pack size and weight help keep loads small.

New in for review is another lightweight sleeping mat, this time from a brand you may not have heard of, Pacific Outdoor Equipment. Their Ether Elite mat is a full-length, ultra-lightweight affair that weighs just 396 grammes on our digital scales or 435 grammes complete with storage bag and repair kit.

Sub-400g for a full-length mat is pretty impressive as is the pack size, so how have they done it? Well, like Exped's SynMat, the Ether Elite is basically an air bed, but while Exped has filled the whole mat with microfibres to prevent convection currents from conducting heat away from the body, Pacific Outdoor has confined the filling to the crucial zone under the torso leaving your legs to fend for themselves.

The Zonal Air Loft Insulation is topped off with 33 denier fabric top and bottom with a rip-stop fabric and it does pack down small, what's impressive is that you still get 2.5 inches of air cushioning despite the low weight and bulk, all inflated via a simple screw closure valve.

What we don't know yet, is how warm it will prove to be in cooler condition use. So we'll be hunting out Peak District glaciers and reporting back. What we can tell you, is that the patio test shows it to be pretty damn comfortable, particularly given the weight. Is it just a racer special, or practical for more general use?

Recommended retail is £65.98 and you can find more details at www.pacoutdoor.com.