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Ryan Frayne's Windcatcher Magnifies Human Breath, Enabling Super-Fast Inflation

By Rain Noe - May 20, 2013

in Kickstarter

As we saw with NEMO Equipment's gear, clever design can enable air to play a significant structural role with camping gear. In NEMO's case, that air is provided by a pump.

Portland-based inventor Ryan Frayne is also experimenting with air, but he's zeroed in on a particular element of the user experience: How to get the air into the product. To that end, Frayne has focused on designing a special valve, and the results are pretty impressive. Frayne's Windcatcher design amplifies your exhalation, using physics I don't understand to multiply your air volume by a factor of 10 or 15—with the added benefit that you don't even have to put your mouth on the thing. Observe:

Frayne's Air Pad seems like a good entry-level product design, but we feel it's his valve that will be the killer app. An easy, pump-less way to inflate things could play a major role in everything from disaster relief to life-saving devices.

At press time, the Windcatcher's Kickstarter campaign was at just under $16,000 of a $50,000 target, with 23 days left to pledge.

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Greg

11 years ago

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Actually the magnus effect, the same technique used in the Dyson fan. But they will have trouble achieving a high-pressure fill.
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Amanda Silvestri

11 years ago

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I like the design of your windchater air mattress, but it is three times the weight of my Thermarest air mattress. Is Thermarest one of your OEM partners or would you approch them to use their mattress with your valve design? I would love to buy one if it were lighter.
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bob

11 years ago

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this is how they weaponized godzilla
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Azrehan

11 years ago

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Does it get up to high pressure required for an air mattress though? Might need a secondary valve for this purpose.

Cool design though.
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Mike

11 years ago

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It uses Bernoulli's principle. Look up "Bernoulli Bag"
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