I have some interesting pieces of gear around so I thought I would start a thread for them. I will add more as they come!

A "Snakeskin" airmat. It almost looks like ripstop Cuben. Dimensions are 72x20x2" and weight is 8.3 oz!








This is the 5.5 oz 32" long torso sized airmat I have been working on. You can see the tapered width but the thickness also tapers. The pillow is 20d ripstop and 4 oz 800+ FP goose down.

Great stuff, always admired your creations. Couple questions.

1.) What are the black lines on the "snakeskin"?

2.) Where do you get the valves for these air mats from?

Troy, check out this thread:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=24850

he bender the mat looks pretty good, but the lightweight downmat I found at suluk46 yesterday looks much better. still interested in one.

Nice work. Never thought of even trying anything that inflates.

thats really amazing stuff, what fabric is that, and what tool did you use to heat seal it?

Amazing. Any idea what the approximate R value of that snake skin pad is?

Andrew

> What are the black lines on the "snakeskin"?

Look like marker pen lines, drawn on to mark where the sealing was to be done...

Amazing. Any idea what the approximate R value of that snake skin pad is?

The picture with the soda can in the back makes it look like it doesn't have any insulation. According to Richard Nisley, an uninsulated pad is R1.

How does this fabric compare to the 30D material in terms of durability and weight?

Looks like some kite fabric I've seen somewhere before, but I might be remembering incorrectly.

Ryan

The black lines you see are construction lines from a Sharpy. They are actually inside but its hard to tell with this material. The R value is approximately 1. I just finished the Snakeskin mat so I have not had a chance to test it against the white 30d. I had 2yds of the Snakeskin material and that's it. It's not kite materiel ;) It may look familiar because it uses natural white ripstop nylon.

The airmat I did for Steve at Suluk46 is worlds warmer. Steve's kit is very impressive. Having SUL gear for winter is much harder to come by. His snowshoes have got to be the coolest thing I would never use!

Edited by Bender on 02/16/2011 20:02:40 MST.

I've been dragging my feet on ordering a 72" mummy for my wife and I. Are you going to offer this lighter material as an option? It should only take 3 ounces of 900 fp down to stuff a 72"x20"x2" pad. $30 extra in materials plus extra labor for an 11 ounce R5ish mat sounds pretty great to me.

Edited by ChemE on 02/16/2011 20:08:01 MST.

someone please say what this fabric is. A seach for 'snakeskin' yields nothing.

The Snakeskin was a test run and not something that can be purchased off the shelf. There are too many variables to say if this will be available in the future.