Very high density foam sourcing

http://www.rei.com/product/672421/riverside-universal-canoe-replacement-foam-blocks

That foam is very dense, but how to get a very small amount…

foam

I have several types of adhesive foam sheets similar to the ones in the link. They are all denser than my foam pads. You could layer several to get the thickness you want. If you search you can find them in black. I selected this link because of low price.

I think the canoe block from REI is a good idea. It would be pretty durable.

If you want something cheaper and lighter (you say you want high density, but I think you really high want high stiffness) you could try a water noodle first. Those things are made out of low density foam but they are very stiff. It should work good for your application. I'm not sure how well they hold up once cut, but it would be pretty cheap to find out. Stop by wallyworld or Target or many drug stores and pick one up on the cheap.

Sounds like the water noodle might be the ticket . . . we'll see. The curvature of the noodle would work just fine since they're pressed against round bars anyway. I'll have to check one out and see how it compares, I haven't touched one in years. And you're right, I really mean stiff and not dense.

The canoe blocks I can check out at REI, since I have one locally now and they're in stock. Seems like a good idea. But more expensive than the water noodle, so it's 2nd choice.

Daryl, those foam sheets look nice, but at 2mm thick I would need to stack 15 or 20 pieces together! Hopefully I can find something more convenient.

I'll report back in a few days when I try out some of these options. In the meantime, I just got back from a 60-mile overnight and the current spacers did fine.

Go to a neighborhood hardware store and look for the foam insulation sleeves for pipes. Same concept as a pool noodle, but are pre-cut and they last forever.

So I found my solution! I looked at water noodles (too squishy) and pipe insulation (also too squishy). So I grabbed a piece of pipe insulation and asked one of the ladies at Home Depot if she know of any foam they sold that was stiffer. She thought for a while and then showed me a $4 pair of knee pads that looks to be perfect for the job.

I pulled out the knee straps and cut it into pieces. Bonus: it's super easy to cut with a razor blade.

And the finished pieces on the bike:

I'll have to update this later after they've seen some trail action, but so far I'm impressed. And they are more than half an inch thick, which is a huge bonus, since I needed to cover a fair amount of distance. Two at each attachment seems to be working great. Looks like I'll have enough leftover foam to do another 3 handlebar rolls, too!

EDIT: Update for anyone reading this later – the knee pad foam has held up well so far, after 3 or so bikepacking trips. Hasn't compressed nearly as much over time as everything else I've tried.

Awesome–great idea!

In a curious twist of fate, I am now laying out cat curves for a mid and was just thinking "I should really get some knee pads for this! Oh." I should think a bit more about the order in which I do my projects sometimes . . .