Radiant bubble wrap

**Rapt** · 10-02-2007, 14:28

Has anyone tried making a homemade pad of this stuff.

Its has claimed equivalent R-values comparable to a full thickness Exped 9 downmat... That's pretty good for 5/16" thickness,

Not sure of weight though, and certainly not breathable so probably best for dual layer hammocks or pad sleeves.

**angrysparrow** · 10-02-2007, 14:41

That seems to be a building product. I would think that it would be very inflexible (hard to pack without damage) and it doesn't seem to be compressible (can't lay on it without decreasing insulative factor or causing damage). I don't have any direct experience with it, though. JMO

**Rapt** · 10-02-2007, 14:43

Its actually quite soft/flexible and incompressible since its bubble wrap so its two layers of little balloons between foil layers.

At least the version I've been looking at, at my local Home Depot is. I just grabbed that as an example of what I meant.

Further much of the insulative value is in the radiant equivalent rather than the traditional manner.

**lvleph** · 10-02-2007, 16:26

It is the same stuff used for pot cozies.

**slowhike** · 10-02-2007, 19:24

quite a few people have experimented w/ that type stuff, mostly in the form of a truck wind shield reflector (basically the same).
it seems that most people decided that the cons (bulk, noisy) out weighed the amount of warmth it provided.
i believe sgt rock & the jacks are some of the folks that spent some time trying it out.

**Rapt** · 10-03-2007, 07:49

Ah... I thought someone probably had.

And yes I could see it being noisy and its certainly incompressible. So it'll be bulky, but not any bulkier than a CCF of the same thickness.

**slowhike** · 10-03-2007, 09:08

Originally Posted by Rapt

Ah... I thought someone probably had.

And yes I could see it being noisy and its certainly incompressible. So it'll be bulky, but not any bulkier than a CCF of the same thickness.

true, but my understanding is that the enclosed air bubbles just don't have the R value of ccf.
in other words, people seem to have have had noticeably better results w/ a similar weight & bulk of ccf.

**Rapt** · 10-03-2007, 09:30

Ok. I can see that. The base R-value is 1.1 (with no air gap on either side to allow the radiant reflective properties to come into play). This isn't much.

A half inch air gap increases the "equivalent" R-value by allowing the radiant reflection to do its stuff. In conjunction with more typical insulations (like synthetic or down fills which act like air gaps) the claimed effective R-value goes up to about 8.

Suspended with "still" air gaps on both sides its supposed to get an equivalent R-value of 15 to 17 against heat transfer in the downwards direction...

Those were why I was interested. Of course I don't know if such a system could be created effectively, especially with such a limited radiant system as a human body, instead of solar gain...

**stoikurt** · 10-03-2007, 09:33

As mentioned above it is great for making a cozy. Here's 2 shots on a cozy I made with some of the windshield reflector from WalMart. I made it just big enough to hold 8" tortillas for packing.