I recently bought a BA Q-Core XLS pad. I find it incredibly comfortable, reasonably robust and, thanks to the new valves very easy to inflate/deflate. At the same time the new valves create the problem of your pump sack no longer working. To top it off, BA has made the incredibly annoying choice of making the ID of their valve 1 1/8″, which basically means that no standard tubing or pipe adapter fits without mods. I have stolen Drop Bear’s idea and modified it for the new BA valvies
You will need to a #6 rubber stopper (around $2, in the hardware section of Lowes and Home Depot, in the metal drawers) and a 5/8 ID to 1/2 ID nylon hose barb adapter (also around $2).
- Drill a 1/2″ hole in the rubber stopper (it drills smaller than that). If you don’t have a 1/2″ drill bit a 3/8″ will also work, with a bit of elbow grease
- Cut off the first two hose barbs on the /5″ side
- Insert the barb adapter in the rubber stopper
- Using a sharp knife slice off 1/8″ at a time from the bottom of the stopper until it inserts easily in the BA valve and fits snugly without hitting the bottom.
You should not need to cut more than the bottom 1/3 of the stopper. It is important to cut the stopper AFTER inserting the hose barb in it, since that increases the stopper diameter and changes how much you end up cutting. The end result looks like this, and here it is inserted in the BA valve. Total weight on my scale is 0.7 oz, most of which is the rubber stopper. I need to look around for a lightweight version of a #6 stopper, if anyone has any pointers please post them here.
