Possible stupid idea, more of a thought experiment, maybe..

[Croolis]

.. but curious to see if anyone else has thought about it:

Inflating tubes with a compressed air cylinder, like what a diver would use or something.

Unclear about volumes relative to pressures, capacities, valves, compression equipment etc. Just crossed my mind.

Anyone thought about it? Or done it?

[willk]

Originally Posted by Croolis

.. but curious to see if anyone else has thought about it:

Inflating tubes with a compressed air cylinder, like what a diver would use or something.

Unclear about volumes relative to pressures, capacities, valves, compression equipment etc. Just crossed my mind.

Anyone thought about it? Or done it?

I've done this. Navy SEALS have a system for it. It's complicated, expensive and impractical for complete inflation. Useful for top ups on a dive boat - but you shouldn't need top ups.

[chipko]

Don’t, just don’t.

Boom!

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Croolis

.. but curious to see if anyone else has thought about it:

Inflating tubes with a compressed air cylinder, like what a diver would use or something.

Unclear about volumes relative to pressures, capacities, valves, compression equipment etc. Just crossed my mind.

Anyone thought about it? Or done it?

Theoretically possible, but inadvisable. You'd need a regulator to drop the cylinder pressure to a manageable level. Cylinders are typically charged to 230Bar/3000+ PSI. Putting that directly into a tube valve would probably blow the valve internals apart. A regulator will drop the pressure to around 10BAR/150 psi, but the flow rate will be very high unless you use some kind of valve to control the flow. The OPV valves (If fitted) wouldn't be able to dump the excess air quick enough if you lost concentration for a moment & overfilled the tubes. I have loads of diving cylinders/compressor/40 years worth of accumulated diving tat, & I still blow my tubes up with the proper pump. Not worth the risk IMHO.

[Matt]

Suggest using hydrogen to save weight too.

[User name]

Originally Posted by Croolis

.. but curious to see if anyone else has thought about it:

Inflating tubes with a compressed air cylinder, like what a diver would use or something.

Unclear about volumes relative to pressures, capacities, valves, compression equipment etc. Just crossed my mind.

Anyone thought about it? Or done it?

Zodiac have a kit, usually for milspec boats that does exactly this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HphqcqBlT5U

[Nasher]

I've done this to top the boats up at the end of the day after the diving was over and the cylinders were going to be refilled anyway.

The diving demand valve can be used with your finger on the purge button, and the mouthpiece pressed over the end of the inflation valve as much as possible and sealed with your hand.

Bit of a Faff, but easier than using the pump if in a hurry.

Although there's no way you'd waste that expensive air before you'd done your diving for the day.

.

[Croolis]

Originally Posted by chipko

Don’t, just don’t.

Boom!

I wasn't thinking "just open the valves and see what happens" lmao .

Originally Posted by Matt

Suggest using hydrogen to save weight too.

I wish I could fly, way up to the sky, but I can't .

Originally Posted by Nasher

Although there's no way you'd waste that expensive air before you'd done your diving for the day.

.

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Theoretically possible, but inadvisable.

Thought there'd be divers on here. I have asked my BSAC m8 the same question but right now he's in the Galapagos lacerating his hands on volcanic rock ("rough seas, strong tides, leant my kevlar gloves to someone else because they were feeling the cold and I wasn't").

[Croolis]

I've got one of those Itwit or whatever they're called pumps, £50 from Decathlon, which I guess inevitably leads to thoughts like this .

I'm probably not organised enough to make the whole process any more efficient anyway lol.

[mhill]

I've been pondering this too, not just for the rib but paddle boarding too.

A better quality version of something like this would be handy especially from a small bottle.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226065380...4aAqk-EALw_wcB

[Brinormeg]

Originally Posted by Croolis

I've got one of those Itwit or whatever they're called pumps, £50 from Decathlon, which I guess inevitably leads to thoughts like this .

I'm probably not organised enough to make the whole process any more efficient anyway lol.

I’m sure it’s been covered here before, but if your pump set up seems to be taking too long or not always practical, there are at least 2 safer options imho.

1….buy a second pump (with either a built in battery or additional battery box) so you can have 2 going at once. Which we used to do.

2….and we what we do now, is use a small cordless leaf blower to fill the low pressure, then top up with your pump (I’m in the dewalt camp so relatively expensive, but you can get cheap generic ones)

Once you have one, you will find more uses for it than you ever thought possible….drying the dog, blowing down benches, cleaning out the car….blowing up your life sized inflatables….the list goes on


Works great for deflating the boat to pack away, and for doing the wife’s paddle board as well.

Saves a good bit of time on a family day out when using various different inflatables.

[Fenlander]

The Itiwit pump is a neat size and good price however it isn’t that fast at inflating maybe causing you to ponder alternatives. The Bravo HP 12v pump which has often been regarded as the benchmark inflates 3-6x faster than the Itiwit depending on mode

[Croolis]

Originally Posted by Brinormeg

2….and we what we do now, is use a small cordless leaf blower to fill the low pressure, then top up with your pump (I’m in the dewalt camp so relatively expensive, but you can get cheap generic ones)

Yes, I've seen this done on vids. I'll look at cheapos.

[Nasher]

The Bravo pump might appear a little 'old hat' now, but is an excellent bit of kit and can be made very flexible indeed:
https://www.rib.net/forum/f50/flexib...ump-42304.html

[Fenlander]

Re the blower Croolis do you remember reading about this Ryobi I bought... post 140 in this thread...

https://www.rib.net/forum/f50/one-ol...c-90140-3.html

I didn't buy it for the SIB but it works well.

[Croolis]

Originally Posted by Nasher

The Bravo pump might appear a little 'old hat' now, but is an excellent bit of kit and can be made very flexible indeed:
https://www.rib.net/forum/f50/flexib...ump-42304.html

Yeah when I bought the Itiwit I knew I was being cheap and I wanted a better one, but £150, that stings a bit for a pump.

[Fenlander]

Yep I agree re current cost, I think back when I bought them the Bravos were nearer £100.

[Hat]

I’ve been diving for 30 yrs . In the early days I used to blow my Humber up with cylinders until a mate of mine did it and blew valve . Never bothered since

[willk]

Originally Posted by Hat

...until a mate of mine did it and blew valve . Never bothered since

I watched a bloke stand on an ali deck and inflate the sausage with a cylinder. It blew him clean off his feet, wrecked the boat and killed a whole weekend at sea.

So, it's possible, but not worth it. When I had 20 meters of tubes to inflate, I used a 12v high volume, low pressure pump to heave air into the thing before I put the final pressure in with a stirrup pump.

[Max...]

Originally Posted by willk

When I had 20 meters of tubes to inflate, I used a 12v high volume, low pressure pump to heave air into the thing before I put the final pressure in with a stirrup pump.

Same here, still using the same set up from 13 years ago…

https://www.rib.net/forum/f50/bravo-...tml#post407328

…but then I only inflate the blooming thing about once a year!