Bill -

It's a bit hard to tell from the photo, but do you have a ground sheet under the balloons? How did you feel in terms of their durability?

- sam_h

Yeah he does.
It's the GG polycryo ground cloth.
I highly recomend the 40" width version.
The extra 4" of protection on each side is well worth it.

Sam,
Aaron is correct about the GG ground cloth. I have the 40" one also, never leave home without it.

If I can tie a slip knot to close the balloons I get two or three blow-up with them. When I pop one by accident it is mostly my fault. Like putting my knee on one as I get off of it. If the slip knot doesn't work then the balloons are a one time thing. I did find a way to put a valve on a balloon but the rubber on most of the balloons isn't strong enough to work more than twice if I am lucky.

If the CheerStic 's were a little bigger and they were a little lighter they would work good.

When I want to go "One Mouse Whisker" light, I will use a torso length balloon bed to sleep on.

Heavy
Light
Ultra-Light
Super Ultra Light
Whisker Light

Bill, the Great Kilt was a great advantage to the Scottish armies of old. It was deliberately designed so that you could simply wrap yourself up in it, lie down on a bit of flattish grass, and fall asleep. The fabric wasn't inherently waterproof, but the very close weave kept the water out whilst remaining breathable. This made the Scots armies formidable, because they didn't need to carry tents etc, and a whole army could be mobilised from camp in a matter of minutes. They could also camp in a much smaller area, compared with others using tents.

In addition, in normal civilian life, brave travellers from one town to another, eg. visiting relatives, could manage a walk over the moors taking several days, and make camp at night in the same way. Obviously only a few hardy men would have done this, but it was not uncommon.

On a side note - I like your cuben fibre kilt. It looks very cool (temperature wise, and fashion wise)! But you may want a breathable strip of a different fabric around the waist, or it will cause your skin there to sweat and possibly come out in a rash. Please keep us updated on this. You might start a new fashion.

Steve 1,
You are very correct about the Great Kilt. I have a great kilt for the very reasons you mentioned.

The "I like your cuben fibre kilt" is (was) a light white silk kilt. I dyed it black. It is very cool to wear in more ways than one.

"Me laying on the balloon bed."

Bill, if this sentence is the title of the photo than i think you're taking lightweight hiking a bit too seriously. I don't see you! Do you hike in 'ghost-mode' to save weight nowadays? :D

Anyway, what are you using as a pillow in this pic???

Eins

I was in "Stealth" mode in the other picture. My pillow is my GG pack liner with what even clothes in it I am not wearing.


Added on 22 May 2010:

One balloon like I am using weighs 3 grams each or 0.105 ounces each. That comes out to 159.6 balloons per pound.

Edited by bfornshell on 05/22/2010 16:18:53 MDT.

Bill, I would think the CheerStix would be worth their weight in durability over the balloons? On those wood plank shelter floors the chance of snagging the silk too would seem likely, even with a micro groundsheet.

I have only inflated my original 2 CheerStix twice since I told you about them! They've been under my futon sofa for almost a year now. I think it's more of an air temperature change, as opposed to air leaking out the end valve, as far as staying inflated. What's your opinion of this?

This may be a very silly question, but have you considered size extra large Latex cond_ms instead of balloons?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YQIA_FEe3o.

Sorry double post.

Edited by jephoto on 03/17/2011 15:38:57 MDT.