Hockey Club

Light, Comfortable, Versatile (2008-08-11)
I purchased this for a 6 day backpacking trip in Uncompagre National Forrest (CO). I found it to be an excellent purchase. It was lightweight, compact (for a foam mat), very comfortable, and its folding properties made it useful for more than sleeping.


Things I used it for while backpacking:

1. I ordered the regular length even though I am short and folded the top two/four sections near my head, forming a pillow!

2. As a yoga mat after a long day of hard hiking. Stretching is a must.

3. As a camp seat. It can easily be folded into a 3 section wide sitting pad. It can also be placed against a tree or pack for both back and butt padding. setup and breakdown are very fast (10 secs), making it ideal for use on those 10-15 min breaks where air pads and even roll pads would be tedious.

4. As an umbrella to protect against some rowdy hail. (haha)


I was warm and dry even when our tent floor was cold and soaked for the daily rain. I cannot vouch for its warmth on snow because we did not camp on any. It also seemed to hold up pretty well considering how hard I abused it. A couple of the egg crates got little rips in them, but that was due to my rough handling, and the rips were just scrapes off the top of the "egg", they did not even go through the whole "egg".

Everyone on the trip loved the thing and people took turns getting to use it as a chair. I definitely recommend this item. It is a little bulky compared to a Thermalite air pad, but it is much cheaper and lighter, not to mention not having to worry about getting holes/popping leaving you without a mattress.

(Note: I never had the water buildup in the egg crate deal happen to me. temps at night were about 35-40 f.)

Z-best sleeping mat! (2008-08-10)
I got this mat last year for backpacking. I got it after having a self-inflating mat that developed a leak after a year or two. I looked for something that wasn't going to fail after a short time, and got some good reviews on-line.

When I got the Z-Lite, I was using an external frame pack, and it was easy to attach to the outside. The mat was light, easy to fold and stow, and I found, really good at being a sleeping pad and really good insulation from the ground.

The first time I used the mat, I was taking a wilderness first aid course. It was in January, and the practical portion of the course was outside! The temperature both days was in the teens, and the ground was as frozen as it ever gets. I was picked as one of the victims for part of the class, but when I lay out on the woods on my Z-Lite, I couldn't even feel the ground through it. Right then, I knew I picked the right product.

I've used the Z-lite on several camping trips now, including twelve days at Philmont. I've found that, in addition to being a very comfortable and insulating ground pad, it has the additional benefit of being pretty "grippy" to my sleeping bag and tent bottom, so it doesn't slide around too much on slanted ground.

The only two issues that I have with the Z-Lite are 1) it doesn't pack as well with my internal frame pack, just because there are fewer places to tie it to (currently, I pack it under the belly bag at the top of the pack which makes it kind of wide), and 2) it's gotten a couple of minor snags from branches because it sticks out a bit, and it's kind of soft. I don't think that either of these is particularly bad, though.

If I were to buy another sleeping mat, I'd buy another Z-Lite!

Lightweight, but not as comfy as air-filled options (2008-05-29)
I bought a Z-lite because I was updating my gear to lighter-weight options, and previously used a short therm-a-rest self-inflating pad. The new pad is MUCH lighter, but not as comfortable. Trade-offs are a reality in camping, so just be sure you're willing to go with something that is harder but lighter before buying.

Surprising. (2008-03-13)
I'd had doubts about getting a folding pad with these joints since I generally beat the living hell out of all of my gear and was worried that the weakened folding areas would give out over a short span of time. They haven't. It's light, the eggshell design helps maintain warmth and comfort, and it's tough enough to cram and shove around. It's a little bulky and if you're of the type that likes to put the pad in your sleeping bag with you its form makes that difficult, but the compromise in weight and efficiency makes up for it in my eyes.

This product saved me! (2007-01-05)
I borrowed one of these for a campout high in the Wyoming mountains. We were with a large group sleeping out in the open. I recently purchase my own because I liked it so much. On the trip had a "burrito" consisting of my sleeping bag, a wool and fleece blanket covered by a small tarp. This little baby was underneath. Not only did it provide comfort on the hard ground, it provided protection keeping me off the running water on the ground when hard rain started to pelt us for 2-4 hours. I think the convoluted water resistant design of this helped. Except for a little bit of water on the top opening of my sleeping bag, i was dry, one of the very few in our large group. Most of the other people were drenched.