Gitlite alternatives

[Shortschaf]

TLDR:

• Is git-lite worth the hefty price tag? ------ Not in my opinion, no. Although I don't know exactly how much Gitlite you git (lol) when you order the large bag, its $70 shipped. I got 12 liters of Spexlite 5125 for $73 shipped. Seems to be enough for 4 schmedium gamechangers. I'll find out and edit this.
• Is Spex-lite the same thing? ----- Yes, Spexlite 5125 is the same material. Pics below show comparison.
• What is git-lite made of? ---- It's expanded Polypropylene. I know this only because Spexlite 5125 is labeled to be expanded Polypropylene. It is important to say that there are other Spexlite offerings that are ridiculously light. Those are expanded polystyrene, which are bean bag beads, which are extremely squishy. This expanded PP seems to be the sweet spot for rigidity and lightweight bag fill.

I wanted to find out what material Gitlite was so I found this product online that had very similar specs and bought it.

Git-lite was extra that a friend had from a large bag he bought. The Spexlite 5125 was mine purchased from Box to Bench Precision.




WEIGHT COMPARISON:

1. I tared a plastic gallon container
2. Poured 4 cups of Spex in the container, weighed, and marked the 1qt level mark
3. Emptied container
4. Poured 4 cups of Gitlite in the container, weighed, and compared the 1qt level mark

Tared container




Measuring 1 cup at a time



weight of 1qt of Spex
This was slightly surprising. It is advertised to be 7.2oz per liter or 6.8oz per qt. I'll attribute that to mfg tolerances. After all, its controlling the amount of expansion of a plastic--I'm not an expert on that topic, but I doubt it's easy to get the exact same density from day-to-day.


Hard-to-see white paint-pen marking the 1qt level of the Spex




Weight of 1qt Gitlite



Level of 1qt of Gitlite compared to the Spex's 1qt line.



Cont..

 

[Shortschaf]

VISUAL COMPARISON:


Spex 5125 on the left. Gitlite on the right






STRENGTH OF SPEX 5125:

1. I put four (4) random beads of Spex 5125 on the table
2. Put a small plate on top to be supported by the four (4) beads
3. I put increasingly heavy vessels full of water on top of them until they appeared to squish.

Four beads on the table



Cup of water and plate fully supported by four beads. plate, cup, and water = ~2lbs




Break out the homemade apply juice jar I just finished. jar, water, and plate = 3lbs




Roughly a gallon of water, or 8.4lbs




Beads still supporting it. They have begun to squish. FWIW you CAN physically flatten both Gitlite and Spexlight down to a thin saucer shape. They're just a hardish plastic in foam form. So these four Spex beads supporting 8lbs are only slightly deformed, not even close to fully deformed.







WHAT YOU GET PURCHASING SPEX 5125:

weight of 12 Liters of Spex 5125. I didn't check the volume they shipped. But if its a true 12 liters, it comes to about 6.33oz per liter. Its good stuff and I'm happy to have it for bags.

For reference, Gitlite charges $25/lb IF AND ONLY IF you buy 10+lbs.
Here I paid approx $16/lb of Spexlite in a reasonably small quantity






Conclusion:

• I saw a slight difference in density (probably within mfg tolerances)
• Both are semi-rigid and work great for rear bags
• You get a mystery-amount of Gitlite for $70, and you get a known amount of Spexlite 5125 from various suppliers.
• Sure--I could be wrong about them being the same exact material. But they are both functionally the exact same, there really aren't that many materials out there that Gitlite could be, and these both weigh approximately the same.
• $16/lb for Spex 5125 isn't exactly free, but it's quite a bit cheaper than what Gitlite charges. And it's an EXCELLENT bag fill for hunting, which is why I wanted to find this out.

Thanks

 

[pattimusprime22]

Great comparison, thanks for sharing!

 

[sportsmans challenge]

Great option, have used gitlite a few times and cut squeeze bags and similar weight in half, but it is expensive for what you get.

 

[Shortschaf]

Update with a bag size. It took 9 cups of Spex to fill this bag to my liking. This bag is ~70% size of a schmedium.

My Schmedium GC in black for reference

 

[MosAZ]

Great info. Thanks for the analysis.