CheerStic Air Pad

[Bill Fornshell]

I finished my first CheerStic Air Pad Sunday. I used some 4.5mm (0.57 ounce per sq yard) silk for the shell material. It is 24″ by 36″ and the silk shell weighs 1.54 ounces. I made it for 12 CheerStic’s although I only have 10 CheerStic. I have to decide if a CheerStic is really better than a balloon before I buy more. With 12 CheerStic’s the Air Pad will weigh 5.52 ounces.

It packs really small. The picture shows everything packed in a small sandwich bag.

What is a CheerStic? They blowup with a short straw and are re-useable but I don’t know yet for how many times. If you buy 50 plain CheerStic’s with shipping and handling they cost $0.71 each and weigh 9.4 grams each. They only come in one size that they call 24″ long. They are about a 3″ in diamater. They come 2 to a pack and you have to buy at least 50 packs. You can buy a sample pack of 5 – 2 packs. That is why I only have 10. They blow up in about one breath.

[Joshua Mitchell]

but never thought of them for an airbed… nice…

[Richard Stein]

Have you tried sitting on this? Is it strong enough?

I recently used a Big Agnes (20 oz) mummy-shaped pad that was annoying being only 20″ wide. A lighter 24″ pad sounds nice.

ETA: I would think there would be a good opportunity to underinflate a bit near the hips and shoulders to have it better form to your body.

[Bill Fornshell]

Sitting on it, yes, and I did sleep on mine about 4 hours the night I made it. I let some air out to make it a little more comfortable.

The CheerStic Air Pad should be fine for backpacking and I will try it on my hike in October.

I also tried the silk shell with balloons and some of my Poly Tubes in the shell. The CheerStics were a lot faster to blow up.

I am getting 50 more CheerStics to play with.

[Tim (Slowhike) Garner]

bill… another great idea! i`ll bet that 24″ width would spread a hammock pretty nicely.
i just got a set of the flexair dual pillows & i`m still puzzled at how the seal works. but looking at the cheerstic, i`m wondering if they work the same way.
i don`t suppose you`d want to sell a few cheerstics …would ya? …tim

[Bill Fornshell]

I am adding a few new comments and these pictures from my Hiking Kilt Thread just to keep the CheerStic Thread up-dated.

The Silk Kilt started out as the Silk – CheerStic Air Pad Shell. I don’t think I went into much much detail about blowing up a CheerStic. The CheerStic comes with a short piece of straw. The straw slides into a small sleeve in one end of the CheerStic and with about 3 breaths or 15 seconds or so the CheerStic is inflated. It has some sort of self-sealing way to hold the air in. To let the air out you just put the straw back into the CheerStic and let the air out. I have inflated-deflated mine, slept on them several times and the first set seems to be holding up well. My guess is they are good for 5 to 10 nights. I don’t blow them up all the way as they are more comfortable inflated about 75%.
====
Pictures of my new Silk Kilt in Kilt mode. Kilt weight is 1.9 ounces.

Pictures of Silk Kilt converted to my CheerStic Air Pad. Kilt/Air Pad – Weight only for 12 CheerStics is 3.49 ounces. Silk Kilt weight is counted as “clothing worn” and not counted when it is used as the Air Pad Shell. The Air Pad weight is counted as 3.49 ounces. The CheerStic Air Pad is 24″ by 36″ by 3″ thick.

In colder weather I can use a set of Poly Tubes with Down in them to turn the Air Pad into a short very light weight Down Air Mattress (DAM).

[Dwight Shackelford]

As with others on this site, I’m amazed at your creativity.

Dwight

[Bill Fornshell]

Thanks Dwight,

To get into the sub 2-lb and sub 3-lb range with a little comfort you have to make those ounces do as much as our brains can imagine.

You just can’t be afraid to try something no matter how funny it may look in the first version.

The last couple of days I have been playing with the math trying to come up with a full thickness Polarguard Delta (1.9) and/or Climashield XP (2.41) Quilt (top cover like thing) that is “just” big enough for my size and will weigh 7 ounces or less. The trick is finding that “just big enough” size.

Today I will sew one or more Prototype shell’s and see if one of these will work. The Prototypes are made out of $1 a yard stuff from Wal Mart and will become the pattern if I have a winner.

[Sam Haraldson]

Bill, as you usually do, please post photos. They go a long way in helping the scared newbies like myself see that sewing these things is not only possible, but quite easily actualized.

Every time I sit down in front of the sewing machine I realize just how easy it can be.

[Bill Fornshell]

Hey Bill,

Where did you get your cheer sticks, and how much were they?

Are they a bugger to blow up? I guess less so than a balloon since they don’t need to stretch.

Dwight

Hi Dwight,

The information about the CheerStics can be found here.

Read the thread and most of your questions will be answered. They blow up easy using a short straw. It takes only a couple breaths of air.

The down side compared to a balloon is they weigh more, they are shorter and smaller around if that makes any difference and cost more than several balloons. The total number of times you can use them is not the same for each CheerStic.

The down side for a balloon is if you need a pump to blow them up you have to add 2 or 3 ounces for the pump and unless you can tie them using a slip knot they are only good for one “blow up”. The balloons I am using are longer and a little bigger around then a CheerStic. I am now using a different brand balloon and I can blow these up without a pump. I also have had good luck using one balloon several times by tying it with a slip knot. For a 3 day hike using 12 balloons in my balloon air pad I think I can go 3 nights with a total of 18 balloons or less. I will test this on a hike in a couple of weeks.

[Dwight Shackelford]

Yes, you’re right most of the answers were in there. Thanks. I didn’t see any info for your source on these things.

The web searchs I do list some that are much more expensive. Where could I find some more cheaply?

Dwight

[Bill Fornshell]

Dwight,

I think you are correct, I got my

CheerStix here.

The minimum purchase is 50 sets of “two” at a total cost of $71.??. That brings them to a cost for “one” to $0.71.

[Dwight Shackelford]

That was weird, at first it didn’t show all the message, now it does.

Thanks.

[Bill Fornshell]

Dwight,

I had the web site wrong and it took me a few minutes to find the typo.

[Dwight Shackelford]

Their “Order” link is busted, but at least they have the owner’s email, and a pricing chart.

Thanks again.

[Bill Fornshell]

Dwight,
Try their 1-800 number – 1-800-522-8544.
They will sell you a sample pack of 5 sets – 10 CheerStixs for $10. That includes cost and shipping. No printing but you can pick your color.

[Ernie Fuentes]

Id like to know if there is any news on this. Use in the field, any patterns, sales, etc…

Fantastic idea…

bsaernie

[Bill Fornshell]

Hi Ernie,

The Cheer Stic's worked fine but I changed from the Cheer Stic to Balloons when I was able to learn how to blow up the Balloons. The Balloons are much lighter. Picture is of me on the Kilt / Bed with Balloons.

Balloon Bed at Woods Hole Shelter – GA AT. Oct 2006

[Michael Pappas]

You guys should take a look at eBay. There's 100 cheer sticks for $8. I can't give a link since I'm on my iPhone, but a simple search will bring them up.

[Bill Fornshell]

I am not sure if we can reference something on eBay but here is the link. The 100 for $8.00 is a bargain. Coming from Hong Kong
to the USA, about 7 to 14 days.

Cheer Stic's on eBay

[Alex C]

Just Found this thread and am loving it! Any updates on this type of design, or anything similar?

[Author]

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