Balloonbed Mk 1

[David Jarratt]

Balloonbed are a UK based company, so for those who don’t know, their pads consists of a double layer of pertex sewn into 7 channels. Into this you place modelling balloons (yep, the same ones you can make into giraffes) which are inflated using the supplied pump resulting in a 2/3 length pad. In the morning you simply burst the balloons with supplied pin and the whole lot packs down into a tiny stuff sack.

At only 100g in total and costing £18.99 (approx $33) it scores highly for weight and price, and it is remarkably comfortable once you get over bizarre nature of the concept. The opportunity to make balloon animals whilst camping is also a definite plus.

The only issues I’ve faced are that it is time consuming to inflate (not fun in high winds/freezing temps) and that due to the extreme lightness it tends to move around a bit when I roll over and occasionally stones puncture the balloons. Placing it inside my bivi bag helps both of these issues though.

[Marcel Besemer]

The Balloonbed was/is constructed for sleeping on at a multiday (1 night)-adventure-event. In that case it works as long as the surface is flat, no stones and you manage to sleep/stay in 1 position. As soon as you sit up or turn during sleep, the balloons will wake you and campers around you !! Especially in the morning it is quite noisy as you need a needle to fold up your (ex-)Balloonbed. It is not recomended for cold temperatures.

By the way: On the picture I am using the good old foam-matress, works always and never get punctured: In summer and on a 7000m peak!!

[Roderick Sorensen]

This is definately the lightest sleep system but your better off carrying nothing and lying on the ground because after the balloons pop thats where you will be. ANY imperfection on the ground coupled with ANY movement while sleeping and POP! Also not easy to blow up above 10,000 feet elevation. I will admit the 10 min of sleep before the balloons started popping was very comfortable.

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