Air mattress

[heaviest]

Re: Air mattress

Another $2 Play Day slim air mattress being tested. Adding air to keep it overinflated as it stretches, with just me on it, I got the pillow to 18 inches on the bottom and 17 1/4 on the top in perhaps forty minutes. I let a lot of air out of it and I'll let it rest over night and we'll see how much permanent stretch there is.

These things are definitely less sturdy than the Intex transparent mats, which they don't seem to sell anymore. I'm pretty certain those stopped stretching with just me on them, even while I was 110 pounds heavier. I think the walmart mats will keep going until they burst. And I think they'll burst at a less impressive size than the Intex mats. Those will keep going until they burst only with more weight than my own, but they do so impressively. Very large pillow, and very loud burst.

The Play Day mats are plenty sturdy enough for people small enough to float on them.

[heaviest]

Re: Air mattress

Before bed I overinflated the Play Day mat and laid on it, and reinflated it, until the pillow was 18 inches on top and 18 1/2 inches on bottom, and then let it rest overnight, deflated until very soft. I reinflated it this morning and the pillow measured 16 inches on top, 16 1/2 on bottom, so there was a total of 5 1/2 inches of permanent stretch. Then I overinflated it and laid on it until it was 18 and 18 1/2 again. It is resting again. I'll probably stretch it until it pops later today.

Ideally I'd be able to lay on this thing for a couple hours without popping it. Don't seem to be able to do that without bottoming out, though. It just keeps stretching and stretching.

added...

19 3/4 inches and 20 1/4 inches, so far, and again recovering. That's a 13-inch stretch. I'm going to have to look and see if I ever measured the stretch of an Intex transparent mat.

added...

20 1/4 inches and 20 1/2 inches, and it developed a leak. Didn't pop. A 13 3/4 inch stretch. The blue material on the bottom half of the pillow became a bit translucent and had streaks in it as the vinyl stretched unevenly. It was lovely. Disappointed it didn't pop.

[heaviest]

Re: Air mattress

Tall Girl and Spry Girl are on a stack of two double air mattresses once again. Using them as a couch. Sitting on one side of them with the other side bulging behind them it does look like they're sitting on a couch. Tall Girl only outweighs me by 150 pounds, so it must do that while I'm on it with Spry Girl, too, but hot damn, it's exciting to see the two of them on inflatables!

[heaviest]

Re: Air mattress

We've now tried an 18-inch tall twin airbed as a bench for Spry Girl. An Intex. Even very fully inflated it sinks a lot when she sits on it, so it's still hard for her to get back up off it. She's found that any inflatable that she puts on it will raise her enough to make it easier to get up. Even something like a 36 inch swim ring. That's less stable, though, and won't hold her for long. Fun, but not very useful. But as an easy-to-move bench, the twin airbed works about as well as anything.

It's got a capacity of 300 pounds, which she more than doubles. But we've seen video of two women totaling about 1000 pounds using one of these things to squash a man. I'm gonna say that probably wasn't safe, lol. But Spry Girl has sat on it for long stretches multiple times now. And if it develops a leak, it didn't cost a lot more than a double pool air mattress. She's destroyed several of those.

For lying on, a double or queen would be better for her, as her legs are wider than a twin. But as a bench, the twin is working well. Deeper than an inflatable sofa, and probably sturdier.

[heaviest]

Re: Air mattress

I now have several more such videos, by the guy I've been calling "big guy". He's also about 750 pounds, and has a boyfriend he says is about the same size, but he looks to me to be about 650. They made a series of video blogs about gaming, travel, clothing and other stuff, while sitting on the ledge between the shallow and super shallow parts of a pool, with an air mattress under them. I can't be sure they did it for my benefit, but they also made these videos with only cursory mention of the air mattress.

These two guys took to heart something I said I enjoy. I told them I'm amused by people ignoring something obvious while talking about something else, and I proposed the idea of some really large people doing reviews of products or doing a video blog or something, not even mentioning the size of the participants. These two guys made a bunch of recordings trying to find their groove talking to a camera. It turns out they aren't very good at it, but they are kinda exhibitionists and they want to come up with something, so they tried again.

This time they are just sitting on a bench talking about technology and politics. They made a recording that is mostly uninteresting, so they have to keep working on it, but in my honor they included a bit with an air mattress, just for giggles. The video starts with one of them sitting on a double air mattress that is folded over the bench. The part he's sitting on is flattened and the other side bulges up next to him. His partner enters the frame and lifts a leg high to sit on the bulging part, and has quite a time getting up on it. His partner is lifted as he puts his weight on the mattress, his feet come off the ground and he falls backward. Heavier guy sinks into his side while his partner struggles to get back up from falling against the wall, and they both crack up laughing.

Remember, this is supposed to be nonchalant. The mattress is supposed to be incidental and never mentioned. And one of them has fallen off the bench because of it!

Anyway, the really neat part is that just as he's regained his balance and is sitting back upright on his side of the mattress, wrapped around the bench, and the thing is making a hellacious amount of noise as its pressed around the bench with two huge guys on it, and they're still giggling, the thing pops, and they both bust a gut laughing.

[heaviest]

Re: Air mattress

Swimline single air mattress 76" x 29", i-beams running width-wise, one chamber, no pillow, $15. Cheap, so I got a few. Fits two of the girls as a cushion on the concrete ledge near the pool.

Found Swimline double-wide 36-pocket, single-chamber air mattresses at pre-pandemic pricing. I've taken a liking to the bird of paradise mats, so I didn't go crazy on the Swimline, but I got a couple.

Swimline suntan tub. It's like a shallow inflatable pool with an inflatable bottom. You can fill it with water and lay in it or you can float in it in the pool. We got it for Spry Girl, figured it might be easier for her to balance in. Her butt is wider then the inside of it but she comes close enough to hook into it. Her legs are much bigger, but not bigger than the outside square ring, the main float chamber. She sinks the center of it badly, but it is pretty easy for her to float in it.

[heaviest]

Re: Air mattress

I have a comically small pool, about 13 feet and only about 33 inches tall, but that doesn't stop me from setting the patio up like I have an exclusive spa! I have some retro-like chaise lounges, umbrella shades, flowers.

755-pound Spry Girl has been cooling off in the pool a lot. So, she's established her favorite inflatables. Swimline 36-pocket double air mattress. I was running out of them but found some at pre-pandemic pricing. I have a lot of Intex bird of paradise mats she has sat on on the floor, but they are hard for her to balance on in the pool. Easy to get on in the shallow pool, but they like to dump her. The Swimline conforms to her shape better. Basically, the center of it sinks under water and she floats in a bowl of water with the pillow billowing up behind her. Says it's comfy and cool.

As chaise lounge cushions she's popped all the pineapple floats. The 18-pocket suntanners also make great lounge cushions and they easily hold the weight, unless you shift around a lot. Then they tend to blow the circular seams around one of the many pockets. I have new single mattresses that have the baffles running width-wise, but we haven't had them long enough to prove their worth. For the time being she's using the bird of paradise mats. Way too big for the chairs, so they kinda wrap around it and the metal frame stretches the hell out of the vinyl, but it's really cool to see her pull herself up onto that float without a care for popping it. Insists it spreads her weight to make the chair less likely to break. I don't know about that, but definitely takes some weight off the side of the frame.

Those bird of paradise mats have been abused in so many ways they are all deformed and puckered and unevenly stretched and twisted. They're my favorites.

[heaviest]

Re: Air mattress

It drives me to distraction sleeping on an air mattress, so I don't, but Spry Girl has been sleeping on a "spare bed" kind of air mattress rated at 660 pounds (300kg) and really likes it. Not a thick one, as no matter how firm you make those they don't work well for really large people. Just a 10-inch thick mattress on a wooden platform. Doesn't wear out and get uncomfortable like an improvised mattress or cheap mattress, and doesn't cost a lot and still wear out like a good mattress. But they do eventually spring a leak. Goes through a couple per month. Under $20 each from Walmart. Highest capacity air bed we can find at any price, possibly unrealistically ratesd. Until we find a permanent, good solution, this is working pretty well.

[MrBurster]

Re: Air mattress

I hit a clearance this week and not Jed up a shit ton of air Matt’s. Been on a pool toy popping rampage of late and have just loved inflating then huge, stretching and then aggressively squeezing and rolling them up until they bust!!

[heaviest]

Re: Air mattress

Spry Girl popped two of the cheap Walmart air mattresses today. Put one on a bench and delicately sat on it. When it held, she squirmed a bit, and when it still held she squirmed a lot. Made lots of noise with the skin on vinyl and the vinyl on the bench. I thought she might break the bench, but instead she popped the air mattress. Blew the seam at the top of the pillow. LOUD. Total time to popping only about a minute.

Inflated another and sat mostly still on it for a couple minutes. These are the mattresses where the pillow stretches and stretches even with just my weight on it, and she outweighs me by a lot. In a couple minutes the pillow was large. Takes me a lot longer than that. She added air and sat delicately. About a minute. Just as she was getting confident it would hold and was starting to squirm a bit, it popped. The pillow, again.

These are definitely not as sturdy as the Intex slim mats. They seem to be made from the same press using other material. It's got a bit of a mylar balloon feel to it. It's different and I like it. Thin, stretchy, and LOUD popping.

[heaviest]

Re: Air mattress

I forgot I had two of the Target brand tropical palm leaf float. They call it "giant", and if it actually was really large I'd call it an island float, but it's only rated to 176 pounds (80 kg) and is 5 1/2 feet by 5 feet. Big enough for one person in the pool, two out of the pool. It has an irregular shape with irregular baffles and it has cutouts, which means the seams are loaded unevenly. Printed translucent on one side, clear on the other. It should be lots of fun.

One of them was given to me by "shorts girl", and she made me promise I wouldn't pop it without her. The other I bought myself, but I've reserved both of them for a get together. She's never been to my place but we're going to do that today, and she's bringing a third palm float. I also have a single-chamber 18-pocket air mattress she asked me to get, unopened. Looking for other stuff, but I don't have a lot of her favorites: irregular-shaped island floats.

[heaviest]

Re: Air mattress

Shorts Girl never made it, but New Girl, her friend, and Tall Girl did, a few days later. I had previously said I wasn't going to give New Girl's friend a name since it wasn't expected I'd see her hardly ever, but, here she is, and she's got an interesting story. And I'm gonna call her Gym Girl.

Gym Girl, New Girl and Tall Girl weighed themselves. I have an 880-pound scale. There's an affordable 700 pound scale available, and none of them own one, so they don't know how much they weigh until they visit me! 677, 622 and 628 pounds respectively. Spry Girl is waiting until New Years to weigh herself. She's supposed to be losing weight and doesn't want to obsess about it. Tall Girl is losing very slightly, New Girl has gained 60-ish in the time I've known her.

I've been given access to Gym Girl's Instagram posts, and holy crap, she posts a lot! Her story is that she used to be really fat, like 750 pounds, and then lost more than 250, and is gaining it all back. She seems to have decided that as long as she's active it doesn't matter how fat she is. Well, that's my interpretation of what I see, but she didn't say as much.

Anyway, when she was at her heaviest, she had this idea that she'd get into shape. She believed in dressing the part, so she had several pair of yoga pants made for her, and started going to a gym, after hours. Took it very seriously, got under 500 pounds, but has gained much of it back.

She still posts, is still active in the gym, still is impressively mobile and active, but compared to when she was thinner, her range of motion has suffered. She has a great job and an impressive sportswear collection, the larger pieces being custom made, covering 250 pounds of weight loss. There's a brand the girls were not previously aware of that makes leggings for women up to about 600 pounds. Gorgeous, colorful leggings for women who are wider than doorways. New Girl is sporting them today and is very much sizing out of them. She's into custom size territory now, or the boring leggings Spry Girl gets for women over 700 pounds, or she should hook up with Tall Girl. Tall Girl gets hers from a place that makes high quality yoga pants for "athletes" up to about 600 pounds, and she can still get into them at 630-ish pounds. And she's really tall. I love that there's a market for leggings in these sizes.

Anyway, the video gaming couch is actually two Intex Bird of Paradise air mattresses stacked on the living room floor, and we're trying to limit that seat to two people at a time so we don't pop them all, but we have had all four of them on there, for science, of course! 2650-ish pounds, not all of it on the mattresses as we didn't do anything to keep their feet off the floor. Took about ten minutes before the first one popped, and the one under it did a fast deflate a couple minutes later. I hope to be able to repair that one.

Before they left we did get all five of us on the mattresses, but just briefly. I wanted to do a pile-on laying on them, so we'd get all the weight on the mattresses, but as we were discussing it and the girls weren't enthusiastic, one of the mattresses popped and we didn't wait for the second one to pop. That one lasted only about three minutes.

In normal use, with two at a time on the mattresses, we broke the baffles on two more mattresses, and sprung a leak in one of those and one other that still has intact baffles. More repairs to do. I'm keeping them even with broken baffles, as long as I can repair them to hold air.

ALso casualties were a pillow-end baffle in an 18-pocket mattress, an outright pop of another 18-pocket, and of the single-chamber 18-pocket air mattresses they used, one of them suffered two broken baffles in the pillow, and we retired that one before it popped.

This was all social seating. We didn't do any intentional popping, except when we all got on the stacked air mattresses.

They also broke my kitchen chairs. I've strengthened them all by re-doing the epoxy on the seat mounts and replacing the metal bars the mounts are attached to with thicker bars, so the seat is less likely to break off or bend its mounts, but that makes the seat itself the next weakest link, and those are wearing fast, but this time it was the metal base that broke. Popped a weld and the thing split apart on one side. That put all the weight on the seat itself, and it broke beyond repair. Tall Girl just about fell on her ass.

These chairs are worth several hundred dollar each as retro midcentury pieces. I have a bunch of them, but jesus, it's rough to lose one outright. The three that remain all make noises when you sit on them, and the seats are seriously cracked. One of them has bent legs. Two of them have broken epoxy, which I can repair. If someone heavy keeps using them with broken epoxy you'll probably break the seat. I do have a lot of these, so I'll have out a set of four again soon.

Spry Girl is the heaviest of them, she lives with me, and she sits in the chairs every day for short duration, but it was Tall Girl who broke the base. It was Spry Girl and Gym Girl who broke the epoxy. Spry Girl cracked a seat badly enough that we noticed when it happened, but two more seats were cracked as well. All four chairs damaged. It was lovely to see all four so heavily loaded, simultaneously, though.

We also brought in two of the plastic chaise lounges. They're rated to 300 pounds. I bought them for myself when I was almost 600. They have an arched leg design, which is sturdy, but not up to the task. The girls bent the hell out of these things. I looked them up and they are in the $170 each range if I need to replace them. What the hell happened? I think I paid $100-ish. Anyway, these got abused with and without air mattresses as cushions. Spry Girl has been on these before and generally avoids them, but was on them today. Holy crap! She's definitely still over 700 pounds.

[heaviest]

Re: Air mattress

Crap, they're back. One vehicle not gonna make it home. Sudden need for three real air mattresses. Walmart shopping time.

[heaviest]

Re: Air mattress

Gym Girl found an AppleRound space hopper in the clearance store. It's only 20 inches and rated for 200 pounds. She makes like she's going to sit on it and New Girl tells her if she pops it she buys it, and she sits on it! There's no way she's getting the handle to point upwards, she's way too big to put her entire butt behind the handle, so the handle points forward, and you don't even see it once she's on it. In fact you don't really see the ball at all unless you back up and look for it under her. She's just hovering over the floor on something purple. It's squashed and stretched out and she's still wider than it is. Her feet are stretched straight out in front of her. She's got all her weight on it, and she tries to bounce.

I've learned to respect this girl's athleticism. She's got some energy and strength, and gives bouncing a good effort. You can hear the plastic on the tile floor, and you can see it stretching out to her side as she bounces. Her fat really bounces, and a large part of her back is now bare and her underwear is showing. She gets up and the ball is soft. I don't think it lost air, I think it stretched.

We bought that one and four more still in boxes. They were only $9 each.

By the time we got it home it had partially recovered but was still soft so we added air until it was firm, and we pumped up a new one. The one she had sat on was definitely bigger. She sat on it again, for quite a while. Bounced on it and appeared to be trying to pop it rather than bounce. Had to add air again after that. It's stretched unevenly, and is looking translucent in spots. Sat on it again and it burst immediately. We still have four more. I hope they last longer!

I didn't think she was enthused about the inflatables. I may have been wrong.

Not an air mattress but I don't want to start a hopper thread just for that. Air mattress story next!

[heaviest]

Re: Air mattress

We did a pile-on on the bird of paradise air mattresses. Really unstable stacked two high and completely covered. Me on bottom facing up, Spry Girl on her side next to me. Gym Girl on top of me, facing down. New Girl and Tall Girl across us, facing down. My butt bottomed out through both air mattresses. Spry Girl said her hip bottomed out. Heard a hiss after about two minutes, and then a pop. Both air mattresses went flat. The bottom one has a tear around the end of one of the baffles. The top on has a ten in tear along one of the baffles. The material next to the tear is really stretched.