The Better Balloon Mattress

[Ryan Friend]

This is the first project of mine that I have put up here. I hope you guys like it. It has been talked about before, but I think I have taken a leap forward toward perfecting it.

I am pretty sure this design addresses all the heat transfers and will be a super warm mattress as far as R value goes. I am going to be sewing one tomorrow our of some 2.5 oz/yd material that I found at Wal-Mart for $1/yd. (BTW Wal-Mart has Silnylon remnants for $1/yd. I got about 15 yds. in white, green, and olive drab._

Regular 12" balloons blown up to 6" or 8" allows for a TON of give with very minimal chance of bursting. The spherical shape of the lower layer also disperses a lot of weight. The top layer consists of the long balloons. Two layers allows for the reduction of convection and conduction. Mylar takes care of the radiation loss. (Thanks Ben!)

I found some balloon clips online that allow for the reuse of balloons over and over for just a few grams.

All in all, I think that I will be able to put this prototype together for less than 10oz. out of the 2.5oz. material. A total of 2.5 oz. for the balloons and clips and 7oz. for the fabric and Mylar.

As far as time to set up goes, I plan on timing myself putting up this and a Thermarest Neoair. From stuff sack to finish line. I will post the results. My plan is to get them on parity or within 3 minutes. A big thanks goes out to Ben (you know who you are.) And to Bill, whose MYOG has inspired me for some time. I think that balloons are a legitimate SUL/SUC AND a Super Ultra Objectively Better solution to expensive gear.

My goal is to make a balloon mattress that is objectively more efficient, has a higher R-Value, Almost non-existent cost (less than $15), and is just as Durable/reliable, and weighs LESS (hopefully ~7 oz. in the final form) than anything available on the market. I think it is possible and plan on pouring my resources into this project to make it happen.

Here are a few pictures: Enjoy!

Plans A La MS Paint:

The picture below shows Mylar inside a balloon. This is surprisingly easy to do. This helps stop the convection between your back and the ground and helps radiate heat back to you. Mylar can be seen inside the NeoAir Xlite serving the same purpose.

The only Engineering flaw I see is that after several uses the Mylar stops automatically expanding when the balloon is blown up. A little R&D is required here, though carrying a little extra Mylar wouldn't be that much weight I guess…

I'll keep you guys posted on this project.

[Hiking Malto]

How long would this take to setup at night?

[Ryan Friend]

The goal is that this will take ~5 min. I will have to do some testing…

[Ryan Friend]

I will have to postpone the project until I receive an order of balloons.

I have been really researching balloons today. Who knew that balloons are made in different qualities? I suppose it makes sense, but I usually just bought the cheap ones at the grocery store.

Well it turns out that some balloons are prone to popping (i.e. the cheaper ones) because they do not have a consistent thickness of latex. The better balloons, such as the Qualatex balloons that I just ordered have a longer life because they are better.

Also, who knew that helium literally seeps through the walls of balloons? It's true! There are helium quality balloons and air quality balloons. Two different formulas. Also there is a water soluble plastic coating that you can squirt inside a balloon before you blow it up that will dry and strengthen your balloons and help air/helium stay inside longer.

You can even get balloon "shine," I mean WTF??? It's an art, I guess.

I am waiting on a shipment of balloon clips and Qualatex balloons. I will eventually experiment with the plastic coating to see if it really strengthens the balloons and if it is practical to use on the trail.

I bought 36" (yes that's three feet) diameter balloons for the bottom layer. I plan on severely under filling them (16-18") for the mattress. This means I will only need 8 balloons for the lower portion to make a 72" long mattress that is 16" thick. Throw some Mylar in those bad boys and I think you'll have a super light weight and THICK mattress. I also hope that all that underfilling will make them even tougher than the ones I was using before. I also needed to buy the 6" diameter/46" long balloons for the top layer. These shouldn't be the kind that are HARD to blow up. I need to do measurements with them under-filled before I start sewing.

My hope is that I will be able to create an 'X' style top level and save on the number of balloons in the top layer. A total number of balloons (top and bottom) of 12-14 would be ideal, I think.

I will keep you guys posted. My order is supposed to take 2-7 days to arrive. I figure they will ship out on Monday. In the mean time I am still doing a lot of research in the various fields that my mattress requires.

Remember, balloons are a serious business. There are a lot of things to consider…

[Ben H.]

It will be interesting to see how your inflation times compare. My guess would be that it would take considerably longer to blow up the balloons and get them arranged into a mattress. It will be interesting to see if you can get a system that is close to as fast as a neo air.

[Franco Darioli]

balloons are a serious business

and to think that I took the whole idea as some sort of inflated claims about hot air…

Anyway my guess is that the stronger balloons will also be proportionaly harder to inflate.

[Redacted k]

I look forward to your results. No criticisms, they are voiced and obvious. It will be neat to see your results in terms of speed to setup and stow, and durability.

Really curious how the time compares to making a leaf litter mattress.

[Ryan Friend]

I ordered the materials a while ago and FedEx wasn't able to deliver them before Christmas, even though they were slated to. Hopefully, they will get it to me today or tomorrow.

@Rat, I am not sure what kind of leaf litter pile you have to pull together. It must be massive. I know that around here, even though there is plenty of leaf litter, the sharp rocks embedded in the ground out number it and you can STILL feel them through a thick pile. At least that is my experience.

I am waiting on the balloons, like I said. When they get here, I should be able to test the speed and durability with a night or two in the woods. I can't promise a long term trial, as I do not own any winter gear (being a 3 season hiker). But as long as the weather stays warmer, I can test it out.

[Author]

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