Balloon Pump on a Diet

[Bill Fornshell]

Balloon Pump on a Diet

About 4 years ago when I first starting playing with the idea of making my own Down Air Mattress or Balloon Bed I looked for a light weight way to inflate Poly Tubes or Balloons. I found this Balloon Pump made by Gayla Ind. Inc.

http://www.gaylainc.com/twistez1/twistez7.html

The Balloon Pump weighs 78.8 grams or 2.78 ounces. I took it apart and modified some and reduced the weigh down to 1.72 ounces. The photo's show how I did this.

I have used this modified Pump to inflate my Stephenson's DAM. With the Stephenson's DAM their is little or no resistance to the air flow so the small pump works well.

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[Greg Mihalik]

Bill,
Is the yellow body just 1/2 the length of the intact green unit, or do the yellow Parts A & B in picture #4 somehow "mate up" to result is a green sized pump?

Sorry I'm not getting it.

[Bill Fornshell]

Hi Greg,

I took apart a standard length Balloon Pump (Yellow One).

Then cut the main body part in half.

I changed the Pump rod to a lighter and shorter piece of Arrow Shaft.

Put it back together.

The Green Pump is pictured to show what the Pump looked like "before" modification.

[Greg Mihalik]

Bill,
Thanks for the step-by-step.

I got it now. Definitely a pump on a diet.

And thanks for the photos essay. I'll know what to expect when mine arrives.

[bj bretzke]

I wonder if it would work for packrafting also? Also handy for late night balloon antics. Multiuse. Cool. Seriously though, GREAT WORK!

[Bill Fornshell]

Hi,

When I tested the modified Balloon Pump it took about 3 times longer to blow up the same size Balloon as it did with the "stock" Pump. You have to realize that blowing up a Balloon has a lot of resistance to the air flow going in.

It worked Ok on my Down Air Mattress since their is no resistance to the air flow going in. The Down Air Mattress also was only blown up about 2/3 of the way full for comfort.

[obx hiker]

My Stephenson pump sack weighs 2.6 oz. Your pump fill the D.A.M. up pretty quickly? Course the sack doubles as a (heavy) sack for the sleeping bag

No more ridiculous "catching" 10 or so bags full of air and squeezing them into the D.A.M.

You know Stephenson ought to be experimenting with re-doing the bottomd of their bags with cuben. For one thing the D.A.M. could be built into the bottom instead of being completely separate and going into a sleeve.

I've always though the downfall ( or weak link or whatever) of the Stephenson system is the weight of the bottom section of the bag. I mean you can get a really nice bag with great loft and use the D.A.M. alone and cut the equivalent weight in about half ( and this is with basically sleeping on and compressing half the insulation in the bag.

A Marmot lithium weighs 44 oz. the 74" D.A.M. is listed as 23 oz for a total of 67oz. The roughly equivalent Stephenson top (30oz)/bottom (30oz) and D.A.M. weighs in at 83 or a full pound heavier. I'll bet a unitary bottom made of cuben with the hood and sides would bring the total weight down to less than 60 oz. Then you'd really have something hard to beat for comfort size warmt and weight.

sighhhhhhh

[Cayenne Redmonk]

I miss Bill.   His MYOG was so well done.

[Ken Thompson]

That guy tried everything first. I too miss him.

[Bill Fornshell]

Hi all,

I am still alive, I was 75 this past August but haven’t been hiking/backpacking for a few years now.  It was nice to read that I was missed.

I had a lot of fun with the balloon bed idea.

In 2012 I had cancer again and had a “Port” installed in my left shoulder to make receiving Chemo easier.  After the cancer my doctors suggested I leave it in “just in case”.  That turned out to be a good idea and I have just finished a series of 6 Chemo treatments for yet another bit of cancer. I don’t see removing the Port something that will happen anytime soon.

I had tried making a one-shoulder strap backpack but with the weight of 5 days of food etc. my designs didn’t work.

I need to go back and rethink my old designs and see if I can come up with someway to carry the weight necessary for a hike with a 5-day resupply plan.  Something that will let me carry a total of 15 to 20 pounds on day one of a full resupply but not using a conventional pack design.

 

 

 

 

[Ken Thompson]

So glad that you checked in Bill. You have always been such an inspiration. I always appreciated your out of the box thinking. Have the merriest of holidays and I look forward to hear more from you in the future.

[Greg Mihalik]

Bill,

Thanks for posting.  I’m happy to hear you are still innovating.

You have been a major player in my progression to UL packing, and I Always enjoyed reading about your investigations, developments, and applications. You were, and still are, way ahead of the crowd.

I doubt I’ll ever reach your level, but you are always in the back of my mind when I think about a new approach.

Please stay in touch.

[Jim Colten]

That guy tried everything first.

Indeed!  Had anyone in the backpacking world even heard of Cuben Fiber before BIll started doing outrageous (for the times) things with it?

[John S.]

Thanks for checking in Bill Fornshell. Merry Christmas.

[Donna C]

Happy New Year’s, Bill.  I miss your innovative gear ideas.  Maybe you can use a front pack along with a shoulder pack for your 5 day trips.  I’m sure you’ve already thought of that, though.

[Adam Kilpatrick]

Awww awesome to hear from Bill!

Bill…have you tried to create a waistpack for your current requirements?

[Sam Haraldson]

Really great to hear from you, Bill.  An inspiration to many of us.  Keep on keepin’ on.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Bill
Hang in there.

Something that will let me carry a total of 15 to 20 pounds on day one of a full resupply but not using a conventional pack design.

Tump line and a waist belt maybe?

Cheers

[Anonymous]

I’ve enjoyed reading some of your past, innovative posts as well Bill.

[Author]

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