Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol Closed Cell Foam Pad: Weight, Price and Alternatives
The Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol Closed Cell Foam Pad has a published weight of 14 oz and a listed price of $59.95, which is about 9 percent of a 10 lb ultralight base weight.
The Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol Closed Cell Foam Pad is our beginner tier pick in sleeping pads, with a published weight of 14 oz and a listed price of $59.95. It cannot pop, it needs no inflation, it doubles as a sit pad and a pack frame, and you can cut it shorter with scissors. It is also the least comfortable pad here by a wide margin.
What is the Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol Closed Cell Foam Pad actually good at?
It cannot pop, it needs no inflation, it doubles as a sit pad and a pack frame, and you can cut it shorter with scissors. It is also the least comfortable pad here by a wide margin.
Best for: Anyone who has had an air pad fail at 2am, and thru-hikers who want a pad that survives 2,000 miles.
R value is the number that matters and it is additive, so stacking a foam pad under an inflatable adds their ratings together. Three season use wants roughly R 3 or higher, shoulder season R 4 to 5, and anything on snow wants R 5 and up.
What does it do to your base weight?
At 14 oz this item accounts for roughly 9 percent of a 10 lb ultralight base weight and about 4 percent of a 20 lb traditional one. That framing matters more than the raw number: an ounce saved on a headlamp is noise, and a pound saved on a shelter is a category of its own. Put your real figures into the gear list builder and the same item will show you what it costs against your list rather than against an average one.
Published weights are taken in the manufacturer's favour: usually the smallest size, usually without the stuff sack, stakes or guylines that come in the box. Expect a real-world figure an ounce or two heavier and weigh it once when it arrives. A $9 kitchen scale is the cheapest useful upgrade to any gear list, because it stops the spreadsheet lying to you.
How does it compare with the rest of the sleeping pads?
Every item below has been verified against the retailer listing, and every weight is the manufacturer's published figure for the configuration named. Sorted lightest first, so the trade between weight and everything else is visible in one pass.
| Model | Published weight | Listed price | Tier | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol Closed Cell Foam Pad | 14 oz | $59.95 | Beginner | Backcountry, Amazon |
| Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite NXT, Regular | 13 oz | $204.56 | Expert | Backcountry, Amazon |
| NEMO Tensor Trail Sleeping Pad, Regular | 15.5 oz | $189.95 | Intermediate | Backcountry, Amazon |
| Klymit Static V2 Inflatable Sleeping Pad | 1 lb 0 oz | $42.83 | Beginner | Backcountry, Amazon |
Lighter alternatives: Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite NXT, Regular at 13 oz. Heavier but more capable: NEMO Tensor Trail Sleeping Pad, Regular at 15.5 oz, Klymit Static V2 Inflatable Sleeping Pad at 1 lb 0 oz. Weight alone never decides this. The lightest option in a category is usually the one with the narrowest window of conditions it works in, which is exactly the trade the roundup spells out tier by tier.
Why R value decides more than thickness does
R value measures resistance to conductive heat loss into the ground, and it is the specification that decides whether a sleep system works. Roughly R 3 covers three season use, R 4 to 5 covers shoulder season, and anything on snow wants R 5 and up. R values are additive when pads are stacked, which is why a closed cell foam pad under an inflatable is a legitimate and cheap way to add warmth, and why every winter kit on this site carries two pads. A warm quilt over a cold pad does not work, because the ground steals heat far faster than the air does.
What does the weight saving cost per dollar?
Gear upgrades get argued in adjectives. They are better argued in a ratio. Against the heaviest priced option on the same shelf, the Klymit Static V2 Inflatable Sleeping Pad at 1 lb 0 oz and $42.83, this item saves 2.0 oz for about $17.12 more, which works out at 3.3 grams saved per dollar spent.
Use that number the way you would use any ratio, which is as a sanity check rather than a verdict. Anything above roughly 5 grams per dollar is excellent value in this hobby. Under about 1 gram per dollar you are buying something because you want it, not because the arithmetic told you to, and that is a perfectly good reason as long as you know which one you are doing. The ratio also ignores everything that is not weight: durability, fit, repairability and how well an item works in the conditions you actually hike in are not in the numerator, and any of them can outweigh the whole calculation.
Which complete kits use it?
This item appears in one of the complete gear lists on this site, which is the most useful context a single product page can give you: not what it weighs in isolation, but what share of a finished kit it accounts for and what the rest of that kit looks like around it.
| Complete kit | Season | Kit base weight | This item | Share of base | Kit cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | Winter and cold shoulder season | 17 lb 2.9 oz | 14.0 oz | 5% | $4501.70 |
Every one of those kits lists every item you need to actually go, with a per item weight and price, a running total down both columns, a section on what you can skip, and an upgrade ladder priced in grams saved per dollar. Each also loads straight into the gear list builder so you can swap this item for something you already own and watch the total move. That is usually a faster way to decide whether a purchase is worth it than reading another review of it.
Who should skip it?
Anyone who already knows they will keep doing this. Beginner tier gear works correctly and costs a fraction of the alternatives, and that is exactly the right trade for a first season. It is the wrong trade if you already know your base weight target and this item is the thing standing between you and it.
Going lighter must not mean going unprepared. Shelter adequate to the actual conditions, insulation, rain protection, water treatment and a way to call for help are fixed costs on any list. If a lighter version of this item means cutting into one of those, it is the wrong purchase however good the spec sheet looks. You are responsible for what you walk into, and the forecast is not the conditions.
Related reading
- Our full sleeping pads roundup, split into beginner, intermediate and expert tiers
- Inflatable versus foam sleeping pads
- Sleep system temperature calculator
- Gear list builder: see what this item does to your own base weight
- Base weight calculator
- Six complete example gear lists, every item priced and linked
- All verified gear specs, A to Z
Frequently asked questions
How much does the Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol Closed Cell Foam Pad weigh?
The published weight is 14 oz, which is 14.0 ounces or about 397 grams. That is roughly 9 percent of a 10 lb ultralight base weight on its own. This figure is the manufacturer's for the size and configuration named, not a weight we measured, and published figures run light often enough that it is worth putting your own scale under it.
Is the Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol Closed Cell Foam Pad worth the money?
It cannot pop, it needs no inflation, it doubles as a sit pad and a pack frame, and you can cut it shorter with scissors. It is also the least comfortable pad here by a wide margin. At the listed $59.95 it sits toward the affordable end of its category, and prices move constantly, so confirm before you buy.
Where can you buy the Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol Closed Cell Foam Pad?
Backcountry carries this category and is the first link on this page, because it is where this audience shops and it pays us a higher commission than Amazon does. Amazon is the second button. Stock and pricing differ between the two often enough that checking both is worth the extra thirty seconds.
What does the Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol Closed Cell Foam Pad compete against?
On the same shelf: Klymit Static V2 Inflatable Sleeping Pad, NEMO Tensor Trail Sleeping Pad, Regular, Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite NXT, Regular. The comparison table on this page lines them up by published weight and price so the trade is visible rather than argued. Our full ranking of the category, split into beginner, intermediate and expert tiers, is in the roundup linked below.
Are the weights on this page measured or published?
Published. We compare manufacturer specifications and verified owner reviews, and we do not test gear in person or run a gear lab. Manufacturer weights are usually taken from the lightest size, without stuff sacks, stakes or guylines, so a real-world figure is often an ounce or two heavier. Weigh your own kit and put the real numbers into the gear list builder.
How we choose: we compare published manufacturer specifications, listed weights, and verified owner reviews across retailers. We do not test gear in person, and every weight quoted here is the manufacturer's figure unless we say otherwise, so weigh your own kit before you trust a total. Going lighter also means carrying less margin, so treat insulation, navigation, water treatment and an emergency plan as fixed costs rather than places to save grams.