Flexair Dual Chambered blow-up pillows – STOCK FOUND

[Wizard of Oz]

So I've been looking for these pillows since the single chamber versions just aren't that comfy and I found a place here with stock!

https://www.colonialscientific.com/OScatalog/index.php?products_id=251144&osCsid=fb8021a3363d7b0bf37d589cc65340f3

I was going to buy 50, and sell the rest on here, but there's a $200 minimum order (200 pillows!). That's a little rich for my blood. Is anyone willing to put up the dough?

[Tim Heckel]

What about this place?
http://www.allmed.net/catalog/item/1,1528,3220,1624,1610

I'd buy 5 or so if you want to get a case and split it off.

[Wizard of Oz]

Tim,
Yea, the pic is right, but if you look at the items on that site, they are all single chamber. I think they just left a old pic up.

[Jason G]

I'd grab 3-4 from you if you end up doing it.. :)

[M B]

The flex air pillows are a heat sealable material. You can take 2 regular ones and figure out how to make a single 2-chamber one, if you feel like experimenting.

Ive cut them apart, filled them with styrofoam beads, and other light stuff, and ironed them back together. Its not too hard.

[Wizard of Oz]

I didn't know that, I'll give it a shot! Thanks! Now if you can just till me a way to break out the iron without getting roped into ironing my own shirts…might be too risky…

[jason quick]

Likewise…thanks for the idea!

I just bought my first batch of Flexair pillows. I've slept on them for about 4 nights now. Unfortunately they don't work for me….they roll around too much, I can't hold those positions that make me feel comfortable without rolling off.

I was going to go back to my Montbell UL pillow.

… lucky I bought a batch of 9 Flexairs. At least I can destroy a couple while playing around.

[Wizard of Oz]

Jason, Let me know if you find any good techniques. I was going to basically iron a 'T' shape in the middle of the pillow. I'm going to lead the edges completely alone so I don't weaken them. If my middle 'seams' don't hold, it'll just be back to normal in the middle of trip rather than no pillow at all (if it doesn't fail by popping a hole right through). My only thought was to use a small metal bar on my ironing board covered with wax paper and then draping the pillow over and blocking the parts I don't want to seal with cardboard or something.

I've only got one spare, so my experimental tries are limited…

[Wizard of Oz]

So it took me a few tries to get it just right (actually more than a few pillow suffered during the battle). But I finally turned an inflatable 19"x12.5" into something that's comfortable and usable! I used the Large FlexAirs that inflate with he straw and have the soft exterior 'fabric' feel.

No more head rolling to the side and crappy side sleeping. This baby cradles your head like a hockey helmet…whatever that means!

So I tried MANY variations of temperature and technique with a clothes iron with pretty results, but no real sucess. The irregular heat, and imprefect melt line failed when any real pressure was applied, usually with a slow leak from damages plastic right on the edge of the joint. If only I could have serious control over the temperature and precisely where it's applied…

My goal was originally to put one or two 'lines' into the body of the pillow to keep my head from rolling around. Obviously the lines couldn't completely bisect the outline of the pillow or you couldn't fill it. What I found was that there was a major stress right at the 'open end' of the line that would constantly fail under simulated use. So I tried instead to use a single CIRCLE in the center of the pillow, kind of like a button would be. Using some new and sophisticated low temperature controlled tools, I was able to get almost as nice of a seam line as the manufacturer with no leaks! Left it overnight with a weight on it with no problems!

Cradles the head nicely on your back or stomach. It needs just a bit more air added if you're a side sleeper to bring it up a bit higher, but super comfortable! This'll be great on my NeoAir Xlite in the Grand Canyon next month!

I've got a case of these left if anyone is interested! I'll do the hard work for you since I already made the setup. $10 bucks to you door!

[Stephen Parks]

This seemed worth a try so I ordered a few of the Flexair pillows. As I expected, out of the box they are to unstable and my head wobbles.

I heated a small glass pinch bowl to 325 in the toaster oven, put a piece of parchment paper on each side of the pillow, and pushed the bottom of the pinch bowl down onto the pillow.

This makes the pillow more stable and leaves a nice depression that takes pressure off my ear when side sleeping. It does leave the pillow with less effective height, so it isn't as high as I would like for side sleeping. Not bad though for .9oz.

You could add some lines with a circle at each end to make a klymit x style pillow with even greater stability, though that would reduce height further. What this really needs is a baffle to make a depression without reducing height so much. This could be done, but would require cutting one open, adding the baffle, and resealing it.

[Joe Hollowed]

Stephen, this looks like a great and very simple solution. Any chance that pillow has held up for you over the past 9 years?! If not, what are you using now?

[Kevin Babione]

I bought a box of 50 of these in the early 2000’s and shipped them in packs of 5 to a number of people.   IME they don’t last more than a trip or two before they start leaking (although I did use the straw to help get a struggling fire going more than once) so I would often have to carry two on a trip because I was never sure when it would fail.  If you need a pillow there are other threads on good ones that last.

[Joe Hollowed]

Understood, my question about the pillow lasting over the past 9 years was in jest! I use a BigSky DreamSleeper, which is ~1.6 oz, and it’s an amazing pillow. I wrap it in a buff. But I’m also looking into the FlexAir pillows for an even lighter option for fastpacking. Ideally <1 oz.

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