Mac users: what do you use to create password-protected zip archives?

A client wanted to send over some confidential information and was wondering how to password-protect a zip file. Incredibly, I couldn't find any graphical zip archive utilities for OS X that encrypt files, work in Snow Leopard and are free. 7zX claims to do this but it has some scary user-submitted reviews. Zippist looks promising but it doesn't seem to work in Snow Leopard. I actually use Path Finder or the command line for this, but it's unreasonable to ask most clients to do the same.

What do you use to create password-protected zip archives? What do you recommend to your clients? If you know of any freeware or inexpensive shareware programs, please leave a comment below. My sense is that unless security features like this is built-in or is available at little or no cost, people who aren't already using good security practices are unlikely to start. To improve the situation, I wrote a utility that does the job and am offering it here in case anyone wants or needs it. Ziprotect was built with Platypus and is free and open source.