Ultra-Light Air Mattress

[gardenville]

A couple days ago someone at another hiking site posted a web site for a company in England that was selling an Ultra-Lite Air Mattress that used replacement Balloons. They cost about $35 US $$.
http://www.balloonbed.co.uk
I found some balloons and made myself one. I used balloons that were 3"x65" long (4 grams each) and used 5 of them. I used some left-over $1.00 a yard nylon from Wal-Mart for the bag/sleeve part. The total weight was 5oz.

I was looking for longer balloons and called a guy that puts on "Balloon Parties". He said he used some poly tubing that could be cut any length and had a diameter of about 3". I went to see him and he gave me some pieces cut to 78" long to test/play with. He heat sealed one end complety and sealed the other end about 80%. This gave me a small opening so I could blow it up by mouth or use a small balloon pump (2.7oz). Using the poly tube stuff the Air Mattress is 78" long by 24" wide. The weight using the poly tubing is about 10oz. Duct Tape will stick to this stuff and will seal a small leak and maybe a small tear.

10oz's for a more or less full size Air Mattress isn't to bad.

I believe that a Down Air Mattress could be made using this stuff and I plan to try that when I can get some Down.

I have about a dozen ideas for this stuff from a Bivy with a floor that would hold the air tubes to a double floor hammock with Down tubes for winter time. A Poncho/Air Mattress sleeve and a few clothing ideas.

I posted 7 pictures in my Photo Gallery if anyone wants to see what this looks like.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/sh...cat=500&ppuser

[Kerosene]

Awesome! Maybe another 9 ounces from my pack!

[Pencil Pusher]

Gear test!

[gardenville]

Pencil Pusher, What kind of test would make you happy? Maybe you need to see the next version, back to Balloons and a weight of 2.5oz. Or the trail test "for real" version with the poly tubes at less than 8oz.

[Baldy]

Cool idea. You could probably save a little more weight by using mosquitoe mesh instead of the nylon. One question, though. How are you going to tie off the ends of the tubes and still be able to unseal them the next day without damaging them? One problem with the Balloonbed on that website is that you have to pop the balloons when you pack-up in the morning, which means you need to bring balloons for each day.

[gardenville]

Baldy, I have done some "What If-Math" for different fabric. I did the Math for some silk gauze that I use for bug net. It is .45oz per square yard. Using (6) 3x65" balloons and making the Air mattress 60" long it would weigh about 2.4oz. for one night. Very light. But if I was doing a 5 day resupply schedule I would need 30 balloons plus a few spares, say total of about 35 (4.1oz), I would need the balloon pump (2.7oz) and the silk guaze bag/sleeve (1.53oz). [Total weight is 8.33oz +/- at 60" long, 24" wide and 3" thick.] This load would not get lighter as you used balloons since I know you will practice "Pack it in Pack it out".

If I used the poly tubes I would make the Air mattress 78" long and 6 tubes. The weight of the 6 tubes would be 5.5oz. To inflate you blow up the end that isn't heat sealed closed. All you have to do is blow it up, then twist it closed and knot it. This has passed my water test and the air will stay in the tube for several days. To let the air out you just remove the knot. This stuff is 2mil thick and seems to be tough stuff. Adding the fabric bag/sleeve and the [Total weight is 7.68oz +/- at 78" long, 24" wide and 3" thick]

The real value of all this is for me is the weight savings I hope to achieve for winter hiking. I have just ordered a bunch of Down from Thru-Hiker to make a Down Air Mattress. I can add up to 8oz of Down to the Poly Tube Air Mattress and still be just under 16oz. That would save me 20oz+ over the Stephenson DAM I now have. I have had a few pepole ask about the trouble of blowing up the tubes each day. I just inflated blowing one up the 78" tubes in 15 seconds. That isn't much even times 5 or 6 tubes.

Playing with the balloons and the poly tubing have generated so many new ideas for other ways to use the poly tubing for hiking gear. I will never get my new tent finished.

[Rocalousas]

Where do you get these balloons and the sleeves, and how do you get the five sleeves to stay together? This may seem basic to you but I'm confused.

If you put down in the balloons and you have to pop them each morning, will you just empty the down into a ziplock bag and pour it back into the balloons at night? Then how do you seal the balloons after filling them with down?

[gardenville]

Rocalousas: Go back to the first message in this thread and look at the pictures in my Gallery of both the Air Mattress using [Balloons] and the [2nd Generation Air mattress that uses the Poly Tubes]. You will see that I make an Air Mattress outer shell of fabric. It is a flat piece of fabric doubled. I then sewed it from one end to the other every 6" apart. This gave me the 5 sleeves that the balloons or Poly Tubing can slide into completing the Air Mattress.

I will only use the Poly Tubes for Down. The Poly Tube stuff comes on a 3,000' roll, it is flat when you get it and you cut it to what ever length you want. One end is then heat sealed close (air tight). The other end is open. Put the Down baffles (think of a baffle as one leg of a pair of panty hose that has Down in it and sewn closed) the baffle is slid into the Poly Tubes from the open end. You can then blow up the tube by mouth or with a balloon pump), twist about 2" or 3" of the open end of the tube tight and tie it in a knot. When you are finished with the Air mattress you just un-tie the knot, let the air out and pack the Air Mattress up.

If you want to get some balloon to try first they sell them at most Hobby/Toy/Party type stores. Ask for 2x60, 3x50 or 3x65 sizes and the are used for balloon "Sculpture". the size means 2" around x 60" long etc. If you are going to try the balloons you might want to get a balloon pump. They don't cost much and make blowing up the balloons very easy. I could not blow up one of the 3x65" balloons and had to go back to the store for a pump. The pump was $3.99 and the cost of gas to go back for a second trip to get the pump might pay for the pump if you just get it on the first trip.

There may be an easy source for a few pieces of the Poly Tubing. The person that I got mine from said he would sell me some more if I wanted it. He gave me a price of 5 pieces of the tubing 78" long (he will heat seal them however I want them) for about $4 or $5. This price comes out to about $.08 to $.10 a foot. Monday I will call him for a firm price as there are some others that might want some.

[Youngblood]

The real value of all this is for me is the weight savings I hope to achieve for winter hiking. I have just ordered a bunch of Down from Thru-Hiker to make a Down Air Mattress. I can add up to 8oz of Down to the Poly Tube Air Mattress and still be just under 16oz. That would save me 20oz+ over the Stephenson DAM I now have.

So Bill... how much do you want for that heavy Stephenson DAM? Sorry, couldn't help myself. Have you had a chance to try out the Stephenson DAM in any cool weather and are you satisfied with the size?

Dave

[gardenville]

The Stephenson DAM is a Quality product with big "Q". I had mastered the "blow-up bag" by the second time I tried it. I am the "air-bag" master. The Stephenson DAM was to be a major part of my coming winter Hammock hiking. I have only had it a few months. I bought it early in case my inflate skills were slow. If you read the directions it helps a lot. I got what they call the 64 size (74" long and 26" wide). It is great in my hammock and fine sleeping on it flat. I sleep mostly on my side and that doesn't take a lot of space. I do not plan to get ride of my Stephenson DAM but how much I now use it is a big question. The weight of this item is what started me on a hunt for a way I could make a DAM one and make it lighter. I just got lucky when I happened upon the Poly Tubing.

The Poly Tubing opens up so many new possibilities IF it works out. That means many things are up in the air as far as my current gear goes. If the Down works in the the Poly Tubing like I hope it does the the sky is the limit. My Big Four gear items are now in the 3 pound range and may go as low as 2 pounds and not much more in the colder months.

I can see it now. Hiking the AT with a pack weight of well under 5 pounds plus food, water and other use-up-ables and the heavy weight hikers pushing 15 pounds plus.

[U-BOLT]

One end is then heat sealed close (air tight).

Can you seal it with a household iron? If not, how? (Assuming the guy who supplied yours does not do it.)

When you are finished with the Air mattress you just un-tie the knot, let the air out and pack the Air Mattress up.

So you re-use the poly tubes, unlike the balloons?

There may be an easy source for a few pieces of the Poly Tubing. The person that I got mine from said he would sell me some more if I wanted it. He gave me a price of 5 pieces of the tubing 78" long (he will heat seal them however I want them) for about $4 or $5. This price comes out to about $.08 to $.10 a foot. Monday I will call him for a firm price as there are some others that might want some.

Please let us know and give us a contact number. I'd like to try it but don't want to buy a 3,000 foot roll.

[gardenville]

I would not use a make-shift sealer. You could tie a knot in both ends or may be able to find some kind of clip that would work. Having said that doesn't mean that nothing else would work to seal the stuff. I would just want to test it a lot first. A Seal-a-Meal thing might work if it was made for 2Mil thick stuff. I just found this stuff 5 days and didn't have to worry about how I would seal it at the time I got it. So some of these question didn't seem very important at the time.

Yes, the Poly Tubing can be used over and over but the total number of times would be up to how it was taken care of. Check out this web site for more information:

http://www.pac-tek.com/tubing.htm You can find there prices listed and other sizes.

I will check with the person here and see how he wants to handle any out of town sales. I will post that information here sometime Monday afternoon.

I added two more pictures to my Gallery, 1 of the Heat Sealer and 1 of what the Poly Tubing looks like as you buy it on a roll.

[gardenville]

For anyone that wants to try and make something out of Poly Tubing. The person I got mine from will sell small amounts of this tubing. He sent me an email with the following: He will sell it as a package of 10 tubes 80" long, inflates to 3", is 5" flat, sealed 100% on one end and 80% on the other end with an air hole left for inflation. Price is $8.00 Plus Shipping and Handling. Shipping in US is $5.00 Priory Mail no tracking / $9.00 FedEx Ground w/tracking. Will take a credit card.

I think he will cut the tubes any length up to 80". But at the same cost as 80".

If anyone wants to order some of this send me an email or your email address and I will forward the complete message with "How to order" information.

I am not connected to this business in anyway except as a customer.

[steve hiker]

Gardenville I tried sending you an email to get the information but you said you don't want to get emails on Whiteblaze. So please post the contact info here or send it to me [email protected] This sounds like something good to make compared to heavy thremarests.

For anyone that wants to try and make something out of Poly Tubing. The person I got mine from will sell small amounts of this tubing. He sent me an email with the following: He will sell it as a package of 10 tubes 80" long, inflates to 3", is 5" flat, sealed 100% on one end and 80% on the other end with an air hole left for inflation. Price is $8.00 Plus Shipping and Handling. Shipping in US is $5.00 Priory Mail no tracking / $9.00 FedEx Ground w/tracking. Will take a credit card.

I think he will cut the tubes any length up to 80". But at the same cost as 80".

If anyone wants to order some of this send me an email or your email address and I will forward the complete message with "How to order" information.

I am not connected to this business in anyway except as a customer.

[gardenville]

Gardenville I tried sending you an email to get the information but you said you don't want to get emails on Whiteblaze. So please post the contact info here or send it to me [email protected] This sounds like something good to make compared to heavy thremarests.

Jumble Jowls: I sent the information about the Poly Tubing to your email address. I don't know why "whiteblaze" didn't send me your email. I have gotten others.

There is a real good "thread" about my Poly Tube Air Mattress and lots of pictures at http://www.backpacking.net/forums

Look for "Hyper-Light Air Mattress-Photo's Added". The thread has had 58 replies and 2216 views. Look over this message thread and if you have any questions let me know. Thanks for your interest.

[peter_pan]

Gardenville,

Smee and I made one of the ballon models in a sylnil cover. 3.0 oz w/ one set of 8 260s. Chose to make it 47 " long. Cool.

How do you keep the poly tubes from loosing the down when u deflate? Seems like the down would rush out with the air.

Cool project, you are commended!

[steve hiker]

How do you keep the poly tubes from loosing the down when u deflate? Seems like the down would rush out with the air.

Put the Down baffles (think of a baffle as one leg of a pair of panty hose that has Down in it and sewn closed) the baffle is slid into the Poly Tubes from the open end.

What do you make your down baffles out of? I don't know many womans that have 70-inch long legs so panty hose wouldn't do the trick. Not even circus women have legs that long. Do you think Gardenville taht mosquito mesh stiched into baffle length would do the trick, or would it be too porous and let the down fly out?

[gardenville]

Thanks for answering peter_pans question. Thru-Hiker.com sells no-see-um netting for Down baffles and includes it in his Down Bag/Quilt kits. It comes 53" wide and is $3.95 a yard. It is listed under "Breathable Fabric" item ID: MG107.

Have you ever seen Grace Jones? I think her legs are 6 or 7 foot long.

No-see-um netting is used by everyone I know of for down baffles. There may be other materials that would work if someone wanted to test them. There are a lot of gauze type materials sold.

I am playing with a very unconventional idea for baffles but it requires
"out-sourcing" some of the work. I haven't gotten an answer yet to see if what I want done will work and how much it will cost. It may also turnout to be to heavier than I am willing to use.

[hiker dude]

This is the best thread yet. Keep up the good work. I'm just winding down from the weekend and I love your stuff almost the best, whatever you do, don't ever buy a foam pad or your idea will go UP IN SMOKE.

[gardenville]

This is the best thread yet. Keep up the good work. I'm just winding down from the weekend and I love your stuff almost the best, whatever you do, don't ever buy a foam pad or your idea will go UP IN SMOKE.

I have a bunch different foam pads. Do you mean they are more confortable? For me this is all about weight/"R" value. I am after something I can use in my hammock that will help keep me warm from 20* to 0* and do it lighter than any type of sleeping pad, pod or whatever. This is going to be a Down Air Mattress as good as my Stephenson DAM but about half the weight.

For the regular Poly Air Mattress it is 3" thick by 24" wide by 78" long and weighs about 8oz.

What kind of pad are you using? Thanks for your interest. Check back often.