Sea to Summit Ember Quilt Review 2024 Edition
A good convertible quilt blanket if you remove the straps
The Sea to Summit Ember Quilt 2024 edition is a good convertible quilt blanket that’s generously filled with 850 fp down encased in ultralight shell fabrics. The quality is really high. That said, Ember is held back from true greatness by a missing snap closure at the top corners to reduce neck/shoulder drafts, and a performance-diminishing strap system that can be easily be removed/ignored. Shop now.
Compare to more great options in our guide to the best ultralight quilts. Read about more STS in our Spark Review, Spark Women’s Review, and Spark Pro Review.
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Sea to Summit Ember 30 Key Stats
- Price: $399
- Weight: 19.2 oz
- Down: 850 fill power RDS Ultra Dry down
- Fill Weight: 12.3 oz
- Fabric: 10D nylon
- Down Vol: 10455 in³ | Down Vol/oz: 545 in³
- Estimated Comfort: +30F
- Pros: Ultralight. High quality down and shell fabric. Opens into blanket. Mates overtop of S2S sleeping bags. Hand warmer slots.
- Cons: Misguided strap system is bad but can be removed. No top snap closure for draft seal. Cold spots in footbox.
Construction & Features
Starting with materials composition, Sea to Summit Ember quilt is a very attractive, very well put together model. 850 fill power is high end, albeit no longer top tier, but exactly what we’d come to expect at the $400 price point. The 10d exterior shell and 20d liner saves weight while still offering sufficient durability and comfort. That said, we would have preferred 10d/10d.
Notably, this is a convertible quilt blanket that can be snapped together to create a footbox, or snapped apart to make a flat blanket for snuggling up or use in warmer weather. The upside, of course, is ventilation and versatility. The downside is that there is an uninsulated cold spot gap in the footbox where the lower half snaps together.
A couple of features we like are the hand pockets built into the top corners, great for side sleeping. Also how this quilt can mate with Sea to Summit Sleeping Bags to create a warmth enhancing system that won’t slide off in the middle of the night.
From our initial testing, we came to spot a significant missing feature, which is the lack of a snap closure to connect the two corners of the quilt’s top hem. This is important for sealing off cold around your shoulders and neck. Oddly enough, there is a top hem drawstring cinch. However, without the corresponding top snaps to hold the quilt in place around your shoulders, pulling the drawstring taut worsens the problem by hampering its ability to drape, actually enlarging the gap it was intended to reduce.
But without a doubt the silliest feature is the network of five under-quilt straps, which we immediately removed and never intend to use – problem solved. These are likely a misguided design effort pandering to a perception that quilts are drafty to sleep in. However, we categorically recommend against strapping your quilt down. Quilts are not drafty to sleep in when used properly, and the strap system adds weight, bulk, and setup time, while significantly decreasing mobility, comfort, and warmth – especially in the footbox, and if your straps pull the quilt taut. But the good news is that, once removed, straps can be forgotten about, and the leftover vestiges of their connector points add only a fraction of an ounce – no harm done.
Spark vs Spark Pro vs Spark Women’s vs Ember Quilt
In summary:
- Spark Pro is the best all around due its use of 950 FP down and generous fill quantity at all temp rating gradations, but also the most expensive and we aren’t impressed by the zippers and quilt conversion
- Spark W’s is the warmest, but also heaviest and bulkiest at each temperature rating gradation. Because you get more down fill for the same price as the unisex Spark, it is a better value. It also claims the highest warmth-to-weight ratio
- Spark Unisex is a good all-around blend of high performance, low weight, and low bulk, but not the best on any one measurement and has the lowest warmth-to-weight ratio
- Ember Quilt is the lightest weight, lowest bulk and best value, just remove the under-pad strap system3
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| Sleeping Bag | Price ($) | Weight (oz) | Fill Power (in³) | Fill Weight (oz) | Down Volume (in³) | Down Vol/Total Weight (in³/oz) |
| Spark W 15 | 549 | 32.8 | 850 | 24.2 | 20570 | 627 |
| Spark Pro 15 | 649 | 27.7 | 950 | 16.9 | 16055 | 580 |
| Spark 15 | 549 | 25.7 | 850 | 16.9 | 14365 | 559 |
| Spark W 30 | 449 | 20.6 | 850 | 13.2 | 11220 | 545 |
| Ember 30 | 399 | 19.2 | 850 | 12.3 | 10455 | 545 |
| Spark Pro 30 | 549 | 21.8 | 950 | 10.9 | 10355 | 475 |
| Spark 30* | 449 | 17.4 | 850 | 9.3 | 7905 | 454 |
Table sorted by warmth-to-weight ratio using the Down Vol/Total Weight (in³/oz) stat as closest approximation. Stats reflect size regular models.
- *Spark 30 unisex is underfilled relative to its rating, has the lowest warmth-to-weight ratio, and will feel more like a 35F bag
Sea to Summit Ember Quilt 2024 Review Verdict
With generous amounts of 850 fill power down, ultralight 10d shell fabrics, blanket convertibility, and a reasonable price point, Sea to Summit Ember Quilt is at baseline a pretty good quilt. However, its excellence is hampered by the lack of a top snap, and an under-pad strap system that diminishes performance and comfort when used, but can (and should) easily be removed. All said and done though, the pros still outweigh the cons, and yield a good overall quilt with great materials and plenty of room for design improvement.
