Looking for UL air pump

[JJ Mathes]

I'm looking for a UL air pump that can be used to inflate air pads like BA Aircore, Thermarest NeoAir or similar pads. I remember reading where someone modified a small hand air pump and have looked in the MYOG section, couldn't find it.

[EndoftheTrail]

Yeah, me too. Would be interested in one that works with Neoair.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

You might be able to use some sort of an inflation bag like Alpacka has for their rafts. The tricky part would be the interface with the valve.

I think carrying a pump for your Neoair is overkill though. It's takes me 13 breaths to inflate.

[JJ Mathes]

n/m

[Mat Tallman]

seems to me that if you're in good enough shape to traipse around the mountains, you should have plenty of wind to blow up an air mattress. I've been told by doctors I have below average lung capacity, and I can fill a BA air core with 15 breaths with no problem…

Use your mouth, SUL

[John Nausieda]

Don't know if this will help you but I'm using this pump from amazon. Looks like a toy but it doesn't work like one. Pumps on both the pull and push strokes. Built in Switzerland. Solves the moist breath problem. Dual use-great for fanning a fire -note clean it with soap and water to eliminate smoke smell. Nose tapers. Fits my POE Thermo pads well. Pretty light .http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TH5LL2/ref=oss_product

[James D Buch]

A small handpump is small – that means that the air volume (at Standard Temp and Pressure, STP) pumped is small. If the volume of the sleeping pad is large, it can take hundreds of strokes to get it inflated.

A small light bike pump has a stroke length of maybe 4 inches, and a diameter of maybe 1 inch. So, in round numbers, you get to pump 3 cu.in. at STP per stroke.

A NeoAir small in convenient round numbers is 2.5" thick by 20" wide by 50" long and multiplying this all out gives 2500 Cu. in. at STP.

So you need 2500 cu. in. / 3 cu.in/stroke or maybe about 800+ strokes to get the mattress inflated. You can jiggle some numbers and maybe get this down to only a couple of hundred strokes for inflation.

Your lungs can inflate to hold considerable amounts of air, so you can blow up an air mattress (bakpacking) real easily, unless it is a full sized Queen air mattress.

Nothing like mathematics in scoping out a problem.

I did the math AFTER I had assembled everything, and found that the idea was a flop.

[Roger Caffin]

> you should have plenty of wind to blow up an air mattress.
I think this is a rather silly comment. Sorry, but you haven't thought enough about this.

Blowing up an air mat can lead to hyper-ventilation – too much oxygen too quickly, and it makes you dizzy. This is well-known. Nothing to do with VO2max or climbing mountains.

And there is a very good reason for NOT using your lungs to blow up an air mat. Your lungs put a whole lot of moisture into the air mat, where it can condense and create considerable problems with mold. A pump avoids that.

Cheers

[Mary D]

I have used the Big Agnes Pumphouse http://www.bigagnes.com/Products/Detail/Accessory/Pumphouse and it works fairly well as a pad pump. However, I found it a complete failure as a dry bag–water leaks through the pores of the fabric. It's also a complete failure as a pillow (holds the air no more than 20-30 min.). It is a somewhat leaky shower but, IMHO, that's rather incompatible with its use as a pad pump or a sleeping bag stuff sack. If you have a down insulated air pad, some kind of pump is mandatory, and this is the one Kooka Bay recommends. It's a bit difficult to learn to use it; practice at home. Eventually you learn to shake it open to get a full bagful of air without shaking the "nozzle" off the air valve of your pad, and the process becomes more efficient than huffing and puffing. The question is whether you want to carry an extra 1.5 oz. for this purpose. If it really worked as a dry bag, I'd do it!

I use the Pumphouse at home several times a year to blow up my insulated air pad. I get right by a heat source (heater or air vent from furnace) to get warm, dry air in the bag and then pump the warm dry air into the pad. I let it sit half an hour, expel the air from the pad and repeat once or twice more before storing the pad. Hopefully this removes the accumulated moisture from inside the pad.

[Nia Schmald]

You might be thinking of Bill Fornshell's Balloon Pump on a Diet.

[JJ Mathes]

NS- yes, that's the thread, thanks!

[Raymond Estrella]

I posted a kids slumber bag pump I rigged to blow up my Kooka Bay pad. I can't find it searching here, but it is on another forum.

http://tinyurl.com/24dp6l3

I also just used an Instaflator that took two shots to fill a Large NeoAir

http://tinyurl.com/2d6t9hu

[Franco Darioli]

This is the air mat equivalent of the Alpacka type pump.
http://www.themillair.com/index.html
Looks to me that you could cut it in half and still have an effective pump left.
Franco

[Raymond Estrella]

So I just got back from a sled-packing trip and used the Instaflator on my big Kooka Bay down pad. It worked awesome. I filled it in two-and-a-half "pumps". This was so much faster than my old pump sack or the valved pump I rigged in the earlier post. I filled it on a picnic table that I shoveled the snow from. The material that the Instaflator is made of did not get punctured from the ice stuck to the table. (I will post a pic once I get them downloaded.)

It was about 11 F when I used it. I am going out in two weeks when it should be below 0 F and try it again.

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