A close look at two sleeping bags buyers cross-shop. They score within a hair of each other, so it comes down to the details below.
| Katabatic Gear Palisade 30 | Sea to Summit Ember 30 | |
|---|---|---|
| GearScore | 84✓ | 83 |
| Comfort rating | 40 °F | 40 °F |
| Weight | 19.8 oz | 19.2 oz✓ |
| Warmth-to-weight | 5.3 /100g | 5.5 /100g✓ |
| Packed size | 4.5 L✓ | 5.1 L |
| Fill power | 850 FP | 850 FP |
| Price | $379 | $364✓ |
| Fill | Down | Down |
| Style | Quilt | Quilt |
| Shape | Quilt | Quilt |
Highlighted cells mark the better spec: Palisade 30 in blue, Ember 30 in amber. A blank spec is never counted as a win. A lower comfort rating in °F means a warmer bag, so the warmer bag takes that row. GearScore is the overall rating (0 to 100); re-weight it on the full bag comparison. Prices are current MSRP.
Put the Katabatic Gear Palisade 30 next to the Sea to Summit Ember 30 and the trade-offs are clear. They are close enough that this really is about which handful of specs you weight most.
The Palisade 30 is more packable (4.5 L vs 5.1 L). The Ember 30 is 1 oz lighter, stronger on warmth-to-weight, and $15 cheaper. Their GearScores land within a couple of points (84 vs 83), so neither runs away with it.
Pick the Palisade 30 if you care most about packability, which makes it the better call for saving space in your pack. Pick the Ember 30 if low weight and warmth-to-weight matter more to you, or you are focused on counting grams on long miles.
The Sea to Summit Ember 30. It is 1 oz lighter than the Palisade 30.
The Katabatic Gear Palisade 30. It is more packable (4.5 L vs 5.1 L) than the Ember 30.
They are nearly tied at 84 and 83 on the default algorithm, so re-weight the score to your own priorities to break the tie.
It depends on your priorities. Go with the Palisade 30 for packability, or the Ember 30 for low weight. The spec table above shows exactly where each wins.