Latex Climb In Balloon

[essanym]

I work at an event venue where people hold plays, concerts, board meetings and all kinds of gatherings of people for any reason you can think of.  I was setting up for an event tomorrow where the clients were also there decorating with their own stuff.  They had a few of these climb in balloons that they were pumping up.  I was setting up the laptop with the projector as they were pumping the first one up using an air compressor.  They got it somewhere between 3 and 4 feet diameter and it popped (I cringed).  They started on the second one and I told them they should pump it up a little bit and let it settle into its size before they pump it up to the max.  I asked them if they wanted me to throw away the popped one (so I could have a big piece of latex at work) but the lady said they were $25 a piece and she was going to keep it.  I'm holding a small amount of hope that they leave at least one there after their event is done tomorrow.  I wanna play with it.

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I suppose, they inflated the balloon too fast. Or they had a compressor with oiled air. Or both...

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It might be interesting to get into two balloons

That's what I was thinking about. Put one balloon inside another and get in without inflation. Would that be possible?

I think, this depends on the fitness of the person who tries. Stretched out in the balloon, there is some considerable pressure on the shoulders (on the feet two, but they are used to the full body weight). Getting into this position also requires some strength, but not that much, I think, because it is a one-time movement. Holding your position against a force is much harder, as I can tell from archery (expand the bow, hold it there - most people tremble after 20 seconds, earlier, if the bow is too strong for them). so, it might not be too comfortable. The ball position could be nice though.

Another challenge is to distribute the material from the inside, before stretching the body, because you cannot touch the outside balloon. If you don't distribute the material (i.e. get slack between knees and chin and between bum and feet), I am pretty sure, that the balloon(s) will pop.

The original idea was to enter one balloon and have the other one inside, but not yet inflated. Then inflate the inside balloon.

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Today, I got into the balloon with "only" 500 l air loss. I think, it was more than 2000 l when I started and according to the estimated diameter (not standing upright, floor to neck), it was at 700 l volume, when I was in. Humans are lighter than water, so I estimate a volume of 100 l for myself, remains 600 l of air in the balloon. The main point is this: If I inflate the balloon to its full size, and still lose about the same amount of air, I get to a diameter of roughly 1.65m, which is just right to have my head sticking out, while standing.

The point of standing in a fully inflated balloon is this: You can use some bondage inside, since there is plenty of room to move. You could even seal the balloon from the inside (though I don't think, it is a good idea to be stuck in the balloon without any means of ventilation), sit down and start tieing yourself up.

The balloon is even larger now - uninflated. Width flat is now 83 cm, length as well. What bothers me a bit is the opening, which has expanded to 21 cm. This is still less than half the circumference of my neck, but the seal is less efficient. Old values were 71 cm width and 83 cm long. The original values though were 51 cm wide and 63 cm long. the opening was originally 17 cm, expanded to 19 after the first inflation, now about 21 cm.

width from 51 cm to 71 cm to 80 cm
length from 63 cm to 83 cm to 83 cm
opening from 17 cm to 19 cm to 21 cm

By the way, I also measured the thickness of 32 layers, which is quite exactly 1.5 cm. So the thickness is 0.46mm. Fully inflated... Diameter of 1.8m is a circumference of 5.62 m, which would be equivalent to a width of 281 cm instead of 80 cm, factor 3.5. Assuming that expansion reduces the thickness. the thickness should now be 3.5 times less. i.e. 0.13 mm. Don't argue about the math, it is just an approximation.

What I like is the evenness of the expansion, not in width/length relation, but the thickness seems to be quite consistant. I think, this is good for durability.

I wonder if I can improve my vacuum method. So far, I hold the opening where it covers the mouth but not the nose. Then i breathe in through the mouth and breathe out through the nose. When done, which requires no more than 10 or 15 breathes, I pull the opening back, snugly around the neck. The seal isn't perfect anymore, since the opening has widened again, but it still works. Perhaps I can make an inflatable collar with a tube going through. The tube would be used to breathe-vacuum the balloon (or anything else, that is sealed around the neck). Apparently, it needs a one-way valve.

Apropos valve: The water-exhaust-pipe-valve is fine, even the rope works well. If the opening is carefully wrapped around the pipe, there is almost no air-loss, when taking it off.

[essanym]

I wasn't looking for this on youtube; it appeared in my suggested videos and I thought it belonged here.  Quite fascinating.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8okHnF7yF8

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nice video indeeed! I like it, when people do crazy things and don't completely lose their minds during the process.

Bad news about my purple balloon: I took a bath with it, got in up to the neck, managed to replace most of the remaining air by water, then it popped. Or, more exactly, the bottom part (or tip of the balloon) came off, in form of a circle of about 20 cm diameter, slowly, like in stop-motion. The border of the new opening is almost like a clean cut, I will refine that, so it won't tear further. Then I can use it for whater comes to mind, hoodless poncho, giant collar... Perhaps I can turn the circle, that popped out, into a doctor-style face mask, is has the right size and shape, just no strap to attach it.

I checked on the internet, and found, that higher temperatures (like during a hot bath) make the latex viscoelastic, meaning, that the material sort of flows, similar to dough. It can be streched more then, but also breaks without warning. I suppose, this is, what happened.

[essanym]

I checked on the internet, and found, that higher temperatures (like during a hot bath) make the latex viscoelastic, meaning, that the material sort of flows, similar to dough. It can be streched more then, but also breaks without warning. I suppose, this is, what happened.

Interesting, I would have thought that being warmer would make it less susceptible to popping randomly.  If you were in the bath, are you sure it didn't get cut on the bath tub faucet or the drain... something like that?

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There are no sharp edges on the bath tub. It is quite interesting though, that the size of the patch is quite exactly the size of my soles. I think, it broke there, because the material could not "flow", I had rested my feet against the end of the bath tub.

Of course, it is hard to say, if water and heat contributed to the failure. Perhaps, the material was aeady weak from the previous use. I will see, what happens to the other balloon, and I will order another one, because this is just too much fun!

By the way, and that is really interesting: The balloon is smaller again now! Length is 69 and width is 70, before the bath it was 83 and 80 cm. And the shape looks good too, no irregular areas anymore. So a hot bath definitely recovers latex!

I am inflating the other balloon now. 150 strokes done, which is 600 l, 1.04m diameter measured, which corresponds to 589 l. I will simply inflate this one to the maximum and then let it relax. Most of the fun is in using the uninflated balloon. No more water experiments until I have another balloon!

4 hours later... I have released the air, it was about 2000 l. The balloon remained very big, about 1m length and width. I wonder, if that will shrink overnight. I want to know as much as possible about these balloons, in order to keep the lifespan of each balloon long.

[Like Ra]

The balloon remained very big, about 1m length and width. I wonder, if that will shrink overnight

What happens if you let the balloon swim in a hot water? Without any strain or inflation? Will it recover?

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The balloon remained very big, about 1m length and width. I wonder, if that will shrink overnight

What happens if you let the balloon swim in a hot water? Without any strain or inflation? Will it recover?

It should, I will try later today. So far, it hasn't changed any further.

later today...

I have put the balloon into hot water, probably around 40°C (104°F), slightly too hot for my hands. It uncrinkled instantly where it touched the water. I drowned the balloon completely for a few minutes to make sure, that all parts got the same temperature treatment.

Measurements are now 63 x 63 cm, width of the opening is 17 cm, almost the original size. Of course it got very sticky, so I powdered it. Even though the size is not original, the shape is in proportion, so there are no extra wrinkles now. The balloon looks as good as new!

Perhaps it is possible to use this effect for mummification? 40°C is pretty hot, but perhaps it works at lower temperatures. I simply used the hot-water tap, because I aeady knew, that latex can take much higher temperatures. Around 150°C (if I remember well), it will turn into goo and never returns to its original form.