Therm-A-Rest’s Z Lite SOL is a different take on the closed cell foam sleeping mat and a very effective kip mat, writes Mike Gormley.
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For years Therm-A-Rest has been one of the go-to names in sleeping mats. Back in September last year I covered the Therm-A-Rest Neoair Xlite NXT Max, which I still use regularly and find very comfortable especially on cold nights ~ and it still holds air all night! However not everyone wants, or needs, an inflatable sleep mat. If possible, I like to have both an inflatable and a more basic mat, if practical, for multiple good reasons; in fact Therm-A-Rest promote use of such a system.
Now I have, one might say at last, had the opportunity to try out the Therm-A-Rest Z Lite SOL. This is, like the company says, a different take on the closed cell foam sleeping mat. There is a lot of logic in making a Z-fold design rather than the perhaps more obvious roll-up mat. I do recall a few years ago, when trekking up to Everest Base Camp, a lot of the teams along the well-known trekking route were carrying numbers of these strapped to the load-carrying Yaks. My thought were immediately those pack animals must have been well pleased as they would have hardly noticed the weight.
Z Lite SOL mats are very light, at just 0.4kg or 400 grammes. They are made from polyethylene, so are inherently robust, and being moulded closed cell they do not absorb any water or moisture. The SOL version of the Z Lite mat has a reflective layer known as ThemaCapture, which is said to increase warmth by up to 15% by reflecting heat back at the user. So it’s ‘shiny side up’.
¤ Comparing a Z Lite SOL with a more conventional Therm-A-Rest RidgeRest roll-up pad there is very little, if any, packed volume difference [©MG]
The Z-fold design also makes the folded mat into a good seat when having a break or just spending time to admire the view… and will not roll away off downhill when you stand up. Rather wish I had got myself one of these long ago!
[images © Mike Gormley]
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