Aerogel: The Ultimate in Insulation Now Becoming Affordable.

[TiredFeet]

Nice stuff, except maybe for the weight.

The spec sheet on the Spaceloft insulating blanket specs the weight at 9.4 lbs/ft³ for the blanket.

That works out to: 3'x3'x0.20"x9.4 == 1.41 lbs/yd²

So lets see, an under quilt equal in size to the JRB Mt Washington under quilt, 77"x42" comes out to:

77"x42"x0.20'x9.4 == 3.52 lbs

So an under quilt from the Spaceloft blanket is 3.52 lbs as compared to the Mt Washington 3 at 22 oz (1.375 lbs) or the Mt Washington 4 at 28 oz (1.75 lbs).

Don't think you will have many buyers.

Now if they had the same blanket at 0.10" thickness, then it would be 1.76 lbs, 28.15 oz which is comparable to the Mt Washington 4 in weight.

At 0.10" thickness, the R-value would be 1.03. How does that compare to other materials?

[TiredFeet]

I have some samples from several years ago.

It's sort of a fiberous mat infused/impregnated with
aerogel. If you handle it, fine aerogel dust gets over
everything and it is very drying and irritating.

It is heavy, expensive, and has to be encapsulated in
a cover (or something) to keep the aerogel dust from escaping.

Other than making a sit pad or boot insert, i.e. a small item,
I wouldn't fool with it. YMMV

Yeah, they have a video on the Aspen Aerogel site, laminating the blanket to wall board and installing on interior walls.

Cutting the blanket to fit the wall board wasn't too bad, but the workers were careful to wear dust masks.

Drilling to attach to the wall seemed to produce a lot more dust, but some of that may have been from the wall board itself.

[WarmSoda]

Nice stuff, except maybe for the weight.

The spec sheet on the Spaceloft insulating blanket specs the weight at 9.4 lbs/ft³ for the blanket.

That works out to: 3'x3'x0.20"x9.4 == 1.41 lbs/yd²

So lets see, an under quilt equal in size to the JRB Mt Washington under quilt, 77"x42" comes out to:

77"x42"x0.20'x9.4 == 3.52 lbs

So an under quilt from the Spaceloft blanket is 3.52 lbs as compared to the Mt Washington 3 at 22 oz (1.375 lbs) or the Mt Washington 4 at 28 oz (1.75 lbs).

Don't think you will have many buyers.

Now if they had the same blanket at 0.10" thickness, then it would be 4.7 lbs/ft³, which brings the under quilt to 1.76 lbs, 28.16 oz which is comparable to the Mt Washington 4 in weight.

At 0.10" thickness, the R-value would be 1.03. How does that compare to other materials?

Weight comparison:
Pyrogel 2250 comes in at 2mm or 0.08". 3'x3'x0.08" = 103.68 cu.inches with a weight of 10.7 lbs/ft3 or 0.00619213 lbs/in3 which gives 10.27 ounces for a square yard (yd2). 77" by 42" comes out to 2.5 yd2. So for the same size as the MW4 at 28 ounces, we could get Pyrogel 2250 at 25.63 ounces. I think this is very comparable for weight.

Volume comparison:
I can't find info on MW4, but MW3 has a 8x8x9 stuff sack for 576 cubic inches. The Pyrogel with 103.68 in3/yd2 x 2.5 yd2 will give 259.2 in3. This means that it will take up roughly half the pack volume as the MW3.

Insulation comparison:
How well does it insulate? Well, here is a chart that lists down feathers as 0.02 k and Pyrogel is listed as around 0.1 k for temperatures between body temp (34C) and the freezing point of water (0C). I'm not sure how the k is calculated, but it looks like lower is better for this number so, down will insulate 5 times better than Pyrogel 2250. I'm not sure if that is the same volume or the same weight, but I'm guessing weight.

[wanderingfarandnear]

I think the weight issue deals with how its made and what they bond it too. The actual aerogel has almost no weight, it depends on what they bond it to. One article I found said that micalangelo's David would only weigh something like 4 pounds if it was made from aerogel. That's would make for a pretty light uq if they figure out how to make it without the heavy outer coatings to seal the aerogel.

[NCPatrick]

OK, who wrote this article? A teenager from the 80s?

I keep expecting Robocop to walk into the video...

[WarmSoda]

I contacted the company to get more info and possibly a sample.

I'd like to see the thermal conductivity properties.
Is it water proof? water resistant? durable to wear and tear? have a melting point? how brittle or flexible is it? what is the tensile strength?

[NCPatrick]

I'd like to see the thermal conductivity properties.
Is it water proof? water resistant? durable to wear and tear? have a melting point? how brittle or flexible is it? what is the tensile strength?

What does it taste like? Oh uhmmm sorry. <slinks off>

[BurningCedar]

Pacific Outdoor has been making Aerogel sleeping pads for a year or two now. I don't have one, but earlier reports I read reported them to be expensive and heavy, but they did have a great volume-to-warmth ratio.

It sounds like some of the later innovations may address both the cost and weight issues. That would be way cool! (Is "cool" too much of an 80's term?).

So who will be the first to try an Aerogel underquilt?

[WarmSoda]

What does it taste like? Oh uhmmm sorry. <slinks off>

I thought that was pretty funny.

I did find this interesting reading. Its a study of an improved sleeping bag for the military using aerogels from 2007.

[ikemouser]

I thought that was pretty funny.

I did find this interesting reading. Its a study of an improved sleeping bag for the military using aerogels from 2007.

nice avatar, i love sp.