S.T.

Bought this kit a few years ago so I could join some buddies on their regular snowshoeing trips in Yosemite without using snowshoes, and with the added benefit of riding the downhills. I had already retired my old Santa Cruz board that had become a little too convex underneath, so it was an ideal candidate. The kit not only provided me with a faster, more comfortable mode of travel on the snow trails than showshoes--I was always way ahead despite never having trekked snow before--but also breathed new life into the board; by using a couple of strategically placed shims under the pucks I was able to take out the convex and restore a slight concave to the bottom surface, when assembled as a snowboard. I found the instructions perfectly easy to follow.

Just completed a 70-mile 8-day trek across the Sierras and the Z-Lite became one of my best loved items on the trip. Not so much for sleeping--which was still the best I've found at such a light weight when I used it in my bivvy sac, though most days I slept in my hammock--but as a great trail "rest pad". On long, strenuous climbs it was heaven at rest stops to just unclip the Z-lite from my pack, throw it down on almost any surface and have a pad so comfortable that my hiking buddy frequently found me napping when he caught up with me :)

Nice product. Easy setup and good hammock access. Very roomy inside when ridge cords are attached higher than hammock ropes on trees. It hangs low, so you can store a few items on the ground inside the net without opening the zipper (flashlight, book, etc) It could use a reinforcement along the bottom similar to the reinforcing tape on the ridge seam: A friend--inexperienced at hammock entry—trying out my hammock overshot and rolled out backwards. The pull on the net was not much but it ripped it away from one of the end draw-cord pockets. Only the ridge reinforcing tape was left attached. When I repair it I will add a bottom reinforcing tape in case of future hammock entry mishaps.