Z-Lite modifications?

I picked up the small (51") version awhile back when REI was dumping them. I wanted to make camp seats and pack frames with cut-up pieces. It worked quite well, actually. Like you guessed, it's works best if you cut along the creases. I have seen no fraying at all. I ended up with one extra panel, which I'm thinking would make a funky yellow beer koozie, complete with "grip-dimples".

Thanks Gary!

Another thought: does the Z-Lite fold over backwards? Again, Thinking of extra padding up under my shoulders.

I just cut up me regular z lite into two sections, one of 8 sections and one of 6. The 8 section piece seems to be pretty good length for pad and works well as the support in my SMD swift.

Warning. Try a bit at a time. I've gotten overzealous when trimming various pads. Once you've cut too much, you are up sheet creek. It's been an expensive lesson learned for me. Slow. Trim a bit. Wait. Repeat.

"I've cut this thing four times, and it's STILL too short!"

I was just getting my pack ready for the weekend and thought I would snap a picture for you. This was a Short version of the Z-Lite. I cut off the bottom two sections and use it as a sit pad for day hikes. The torso sized pad works well for me sleeping on my back or side. When sleeping on my stomach, I move the pad down so my knees are supported. My scale weighs the cut down Z-Lite at 197.5 grams (or 6.96 ounces). The sleeping bag is pictured there for scale (it is a regular 6' bag).

Nicely done. Glad to see a sharp finished product. Have a good weekend jaunt! Where to?

Yakima Canyon (East side of the Cascades in Washington). Hoping for something other than rain and 50 degree weather which has been the story this Spring in the Western part of the state. :/

Cut it down to 8 for me, to fit in my new GVP G4, and the remainder is for my 10 year old son.

I got a small Z Lite and cut it down to six sections (the sections weigh an oz apiece, I'm 6'5" and broad enough that I can't cut it much narrower); just enough to cover shoulders to bum. I'm saving the extra four sections so I can combine the two pieces under my NeoAir pad in the winter, or extend the pad when the summer pack I'm using doesn't have any built in foam at all.

The accordion folding is fantastic because the dimples fold into each other, allowing it to fold much flatter than the comparable dimpled GG torso pad. It also allows the Z Lite to be unfolded once in the middle (provided you have an even number of sections, otherwise it will be uneven, which shouldn't be too hard to overcome) so it's half the thickness and twice the width, which with 6 sections makes it the perfect size and depth to go in my GG Murmur pack or Flash 50 to give it some support (tip: in a frameless pack, the height of your sleep/back pad will determine the "torso length" of the pack). The dimples allow better airflow back there when used in this configuration as well.

The foam hasn't suffered a bit from all this snipping, and though I might cut the whole thing narrower, I'm shying away from changing its overall rectangular shape, which I think would make it a less effective backpad for my murmer, which is how it's used the 2/3 of every day I'm awake.

Totally off-topic… but I just wanted to say to @colinm…. very very sweet job! Down-right inspiring I must say. I have had a small sitting around for probably a year and have never used it, as it weights the same as my NeoAir Large that I whacked 1/3 off of. Now I know what I will be working on this weekend :-)