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Small, portable pump for downwinders

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haiku
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Re: Small, portable pump for downwinders

Postby haiku » Mon Sep 03, 2012 7:16 am

Buy a foil kite.
Best regards.

richswing
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Re: Small, portable pump for downwinders

Postby richswing » Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:39 am

There's an inflateable boat company which makes these nylon material bags that incoprorate a one way valve and two bamboo stiicks in the opening so that you cap galp the air into it, fold it over and squeeze all the air out through the oneway valve which is connected to your kite.

Brilliant idea

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duIIaaKo ... r_embedded

It should get the pressure you are looking for, I've been meaning to make one but forgot as they do not ship to OZ (I think)

Cheers
Ric

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Re: Small, portable pump for downwinders

Postby antwerp » Tue Sep 04, 2012 8:48 pm

Hey Ric,

Thanks, this looks perfect. I was about to try the paintball canister route, so you just saved me a bunch of hassle + $$. I got the extra inflation bag for the Alpacka raft ($15) shown on the video. I'll need to make an adapter for the 3/4" output of this bag pump, but I don't think that will be too hard (seems like others have tried: http://packrafting.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=947). I think this may also be a good option for a small pump to travel with (they're 3oz). I'll post again once I get it working.

BTW, I ordered two of the inflation bags. If you don't mind, PM me your address, would gladly drop one in the mail for you.

Thanks again

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Re: Small, portable pump for downwinders

Postby edt » Tue Sep 04, 2012 8:51 pm

omg that bag is wicked cool i'm gonna make one

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Re: Small, portable pump for downwinders

Postby davesails7 » Tue Sep 04, 2012 10:13 pm

WOW that is a good idea!

Let us know how that works.

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Re: Small, portable pump for downwinders

Postby antwerp » Thu Oct 04, 2012 12:34 am

I wanted to follow-up on trying the Alpacka inflation bag (http://www.alpackaraft.com/index.cfm?fu ... oductID=74) as a portable kite pump. After a few tries, I was able to get the inflation bag somewhat working, but to be honest, it doesn't work very well. The problem is mainly the pressure needed in a kite is much more than what's needed in a portable raft, and the bag is not built to handle anything larger than roughly 0.5-1psi. The seams on the sil-nylon bag are only sewn (not glued or RF welded), so that the air rushes out of the seams once the pressure in the kite gets high enough. I used a tent seam sealer (used to waterproof tents), even making sure to stretch the seams out with a quilting loop prior to applying the sealer (see attached picture), but after the pressure gets too high in the kite, the seams start to leak through the sealer. The other issue is that the ball valves on the kites don't work all that well as a one-way valve, so the when the kite pressure starts to get high, there's a lot of leakage out of the inflation bag. I could add another one-way valve, but I think the main problem right now is the pressure.

I tried another inflation bag made by Fly Weight Designs, called the AirFlyte Dry Bag. The good news is that it can handle a higher pressure (about 2psi according to the people there), as it is a tougher nylon with RF welded seams. It also doubles as a dry bag. The bad news is that it's about half the size of the Alpacka bag, and therefore takes a long time to fill up the kite.

With either inflation bag, I still needed to take a mini bike pump with me to get the pressure up to 8-10psi (so it still takes a long time). Also, I needed to buy some nylon tubes and fittings (see attached) from West Marine to get the output of the bags into the kite.

So, I'm still looking for a good solution for a portable pump that I can carry with me (I am hiking into a spot to launch for a downwinder), but I wanted to follow up on my results with the inflation bag.
Attachments
kite_inflation_bag1.jpg
kite_inflation_bag2.jpg
kite_inflation_bag3.jpg

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Re: Small, portable pump for downwinders

Postby Peter_Frank » Thu Oct 04, 2012 8:06 am

There are many other uses for such a portable pump.

If you want to go on a long distance trip - where you have to cross bridges and harbours and powerline stations, even get into bigger cities on the way, it might be necessary to deflate and inflate on the other side of the "obstackles".

My friend did a one-day tour like this, across Denmark (a bit over 100 miles / 165km) at "inland" waters - and here a pump was a "must" :naughty:

So not just for hiking 8)

The smaller pumps are actually okay because they can deliver quite an amount of pressure, although lower volume - but that would be okay for such uses IMO, takes longer, but will do the job just as well :naughty:

:D Peter

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Re: Small, portable pump for downwinders

Postby ronnie » Thu Oct 04, 2012 9:48 am

The best answer would maybe be a 3 or 5 litre double chamber foot pump. You can switch from low pressure to high pressure with it. Like this one.

http://marinedirect.co.uk/bravo-high-pr ... p-422.html

The problem I find with them is that they are incredibly uncomfortable and impractical to use.
They need a modification so the sole of your foot is comfortable and horizontal while you pump it and preferably an extension for you to stand on with your other foot while you draw air into it. The return spring wouldn't be necessary then and it wastes energy anyway.

Unfortunately I cant find any like that.

It wouldn't be too difficult to add a tilting footpad to the top surface and a lip extension to the bottom surface of a standard foot pump.

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Re: Small, portable pump for downwinders

Postby wdric » Thu Oct 04, 2012 11:44 am

Here is a few
Not the mention of a balloon pump, I have one in my shed that came with my 2002 kite :wink:
http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kite ... /footpump/

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Re: Small, portable pump for downwinders

Postby edt » Thu Oct 04, 2012 3:00 pm

keep it up antwerp, and thanks for the report. I was really hoping those bags would work.

Have you ever thought of taking one of those electrical air pumps that some people use for blowing up their kites tearing off both the battery and motor and then taking one of those pull ropes used in lawnmowers and attaching it to the pump so it can be human powered?


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