interesting material

Ok gang here is a couple of web sites for you to check out. Here is the story of how this came about. I was at Wal-Mart looking around ( no mystery fabric) but I found some aerogel insoles called toasty feet I could not find a price on them so I took them to the checkout and found out the price was $5.00. For that price I thought I would try them and get some info off the package about aerogel. I went to the web sites and even called the company in Memphis that made the insoles. I'm trying to get them to part with some material for a pad. They are to call me back today. If this stuff is as good as talked about a pad 1/4 in thick would be all you need for really low temps. A 1/8 in pad would probably cover anything above freezing. Anyway on these 2 web sites are lots of information about this material. Be open minded and look for possiblites in our line of interest reguardless of what it is marketed for. On the Aerogel site be sure and look at the products overview then the data info. Ok all you DIY's have at it. tnhillbilly http://www.polarwrap.com/cat.html http://www.aerogel.com/

aerogel itself isn't flexible - i can buy it in granular form but that leaves air gaps.

from hat i can tell these companies that advertise as using aerogel insulation are using the leftovertiny granules from manufacuring and mixing it in with foam rubber (open or closed cell)

looking at those polar pads its 25$ for a 12"x16" pad - you'd need probably 12 of them to make a normal sized pad so that'd be a cool 300$ for a pad plus having to link them all together

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kohburn

looking at those polar pads its 25$ for a 12"x16" pad - you'd need probably 12 of them to make a normal sized pad so that'd be a cool 300$ for a pad plus having to link them all together

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Too true.
I wonder though if one took one or two of these pads and placed them strategically, e.g. in a double-bottomed hammock where they won't slip around. On top of whatever normal pad is in there, at the butt or maybe shoulders.

I've not seen these around, but if I happen on one somewhere I'll be tempted to buy one. At a minimum it would make a toasty sit-upon for camp.

Grizz

there are sleep mats that have "aerogel" in the torso area.

There was another thread discussing Aerogel:
http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ead.php?t=2001

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kohburn

there are sleep mats that have "aerogel" in the torso area.

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do you have a link to those?

Slowhike, you can find some pads if you follow some of the partner sites from the aerogel site. Also while the 12x16 pad is way too small those pads probably came from a larger piece of material. Also if you look at the individual products of aerogel and the data info you can find the stuff 2mm thick and 58" wide. Just think what a hammock maker could do with a built in layer 2mm thick of the stuff. tnhillbilly

all that stuff comes from aspen aerogels i believe, i just got some samples of the 2 and 3mm pyrotec and the 3mm spaceloft. i was really dissapointed.

basically it looks like a fiberglass blanket/pad, that is filled/compressed with granular aerogel. just bending it around in your hands causes the aerogel particles to fall out, the fiberglass fibers too if you work it enough. looks like some nasty stuff, probably would be good for construction. they suggest laminating it to a film or something, which would help with it breaking down i guess.

well, i tested it out in comparison to my ccf. it's around twice as warm as the same thickness ccf:) , then i weighed it; it's four times heavier:( . the fiberglass material is the reason i'm sure, but this means that for a given warmth, it will be twice as heavy as ccf.

this sucks, i was really thinking it would be some fantastic magic material, but i don't think it is.

oh, it's also about the same stiffness as the same thickness ccf as well.

Warbonnetguy, that don't sound so good. These toasty feet things look and feel great and are about 1/4 thick and are very flexible. I was thinking that a pad of this stuff would be great. Oh well another dream down the drain. tnhillbilly