Can Sleeping Pad Inflators Really Be Ultralight?

As a fairly dedicated ultralight hiker, pad inflators haven’t historically made it into my backpacking kit. The smallest pumps and inflators only weigh a few ounces, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Ultralight hiking isn’t just about your baseweight, but minimalism as a concept: only carry what you need. A true ultralighter leaves the pad inflator at home for the same reason they don’t carry a pillow, camp chair or change of clothes: they’re not strictly necessary. In the case of the pad pump, I’ve also gotten by just fine using lung power. That said, I do get the appeal. Today’s backpacking pads are thicker, plusher, and require more air to inflate. A robust pad could take several minutes and more than a dozen deep breaths to air up, leaving you winded and lightheaded.

Plus, the latest generation of pad inflators are light. Really light. The lightest of the bunch, the Alpenblow Micro Inflator ($60), tips the scales at just 8 grams (0.3 ounces). Every ounce matters, but 8 grams is a vanishingly small number—about the same as carrying an extra teaspoon of water. To test this featherlight device, we tested it against the next-lightest competitor we could find, the Flextail Zero ($50).

Weight

On the scale, the Alpenblow and the Zero simply aren’t in the same weight class. On my own scale, the Alpenblow weighed just 8 grams compared to 60 grams or 2.1 ounces for the Zero (both measurements include the nozzle for the Therm-a-Rest NeoAir; other nozzles would change the weights slightly). For any ultralighter who’s suitably baseweight-obsessed, that’s a massive difference. In fact, the Alpenblow weighs less than the Zero’s nozzle alone.

Why the difference? The Zero has a built-in, USB-rechargeable battery. The Alpenblow is essentially just a computer fan with a nozzle attached and requires an external power source connected via USB-C cable. Normally, I’d say that relying on an external battery is cheating when it comes to weight. But in this case, the Alpenblow gets its power from a battery bank or even a smartphone, things that nearly every modern backpacker carries.

Performance

In use, the two inflators are different as well. The Zero is a self-contained unit with an on/off button. With the Alpenblow, there’s no power button—you plug it in to start the fan and unplug it when you’re done. Since it requires a USB-C connection, the Alpenblow doesn’t work with older iPhones with a Lightning port.

After inflating a dozen different pads from ultralight mummy styles to extra-wide rectangular models, the Zero inflated pads about twice as fast as the Alpenblow on average. For a standard-size Therm-a-Rest NeoAir, this was about one minute with the Zero and two minutes with the Alpenblow. The extra power also means that the Zero can almost fully inflate a pad on its own, while the Alpenblow requires a few breaths afterwards for a firm pad. This is more of an issue on larger pads, like the Therm-a-Rest NeoLoft, which took about 4 minutes to inflate and was noticeably underinflated when paired with the Alpenblow. The lack of power also means that the Alpenblow doesn’t work well with car camping mats. The Zero’s more powerful fan is louder, higher-pitched, and frankly more grating on the ears than the Alpenblow. The Alpenblow produces a gentle whirring noise; the Zero sounds more like an oversized mosquito.

For both inflators, battery life isn’t much of a concern. The Zero, which has a rechargeable 650 mAh battery, can inflate an average lightweight mummy pad about 20-25 times on a charge. The Alpenblow, meanwhile, uses about 25 mA per pad inflation, or less than one percent of an iPhone 15 or Samsung Galaxy 24. For long-distance hikers, not having to charge a second or third device in town is a nice perk.

Usability

Both the Zero and the Alpenblow come with extra nozzles that integrate with pads from different brands. The Zero ships with six nozzles, while the Alpenblow comes with three (with five other options that you can buy separately.) In our testing, we found that both pumps had some nozzles that worked better than others, and sometimes had better luck mixing and matching (for example, we had more success inflating Zenbivy pads using the nozzle designed for Exped and Sea to Summit pads).

It’s worth noting that the Alpenblow has a bit of a design quirk that shows up when using pads that have a valve with a gasket, like Zenbivy, NEMO, or Sea to Summit. The Alpenblow nozzles are designed to push down on the gasket, allowing air to flow in. That’s in contrast to the Zero pump, which provides enough pressure to open the gasket on its own. In practice, this means you can turn off the Zero pump and then remove it, which is pretty intuitive. With the Alpenblow, you’ll need to disconnect the nozzle while the fan is still going or risk losing most of the air you just pumped into the pad.

In general, the Alpenblow seems best suited for Therm-a-Rest’s winglock valves, found on NeoAir pads. For one thing, the winglock closure means you don’t have to worry about how you disconnect the inflator. Alpenblow’s winglock nozzle is also the smallest of the bunch, and the easiest to attach and detach.

Lastly, the Zero can deflate pads and the Alpenblow cannot. For most modern backpacking inflatables with rapid deflation valves, this isn’t much of a perk. But if you want a pump that works with car camping mattresses as well, it could be a handy feature.

Durability

The difference in construction between inflators is significant. The Zero has an aluminum body that can stand up to abuse. Dropping it, stepping on it, or leaving it unprotected at the bottom of your pack shouldn’t be a concern. The Alpenblow, meanwhile, has a more delicate plastic shell. Just squeezing it between your fingers is enough to deform the casing. It’s so light that dropping it shouldn’t be an issue, but it could easily crack beneath a boot heel. Like other ultralight gadgets, it should be treated with care and have a specific place inside your pack (like inside your rolled-up sleeping pad).

Is the Alpenblow Worth its Weight?

The Alpenblow Micro Inflator is a nifty device that weighs just 0.3 ounces, but is it ultralight?

To the hardcore ounce-counter, the answer will always be no. No matter how light it is, a pad inflator is a luxury item. It’s another thing that could be lost or broken in camp and doesn’t play an important role outside of making camp setup marginally easier.

But one thing is clear: if you aren’t against luxury items on a philosophical level, this is among the lightest quality-of-life upgrades you could ever find. Really, it’s an 8-gram add-on to one of the most popular luxury items out there—a super-comfy inflatable pad. As backpacking pads evolve to hold even more air and offer more cushion, a pad inflator will only get more useful. If you’re a fan of the nearly five-inch-thick Therm-a-Rest NeoLoft, which we think is one of the most comfortable pads ever made, a pad inflator can save you from a lot of hyperventilating.

For any ultralighter, the Alpenglow should be the pad pump of choice. It’s far lighter than competing models like the Flextail Zero or Therm-a-Rest Micro Pump, powers from your phone, and only costs about $10 more.