by keithy » Sun 03 Jul, 2022 10:28 am
I have used a couple of these portable electric pumps. I started looking at them when one of my lightweight summer mats where the material is quite thin showed signs of mould inside when held up against the light.
The first pump I tried was the original Thermarest Neoair pump (the white one with the protruding rubble nozzle). It ran on 2xAAAs and I can't remember the flow rate but the pump was just ok. I disliked it eventually as I didn't carry anything else that used AAAs. With batteries it was just over 100g.
The next one I tried was the Flextailgear Light Pump 2, I got it not long after their Kickstarter campaign for it back in 2018 from memory. This one didn't have a built-in battery and runs off a microUSB socket so you can use a powerbank. This one came with three nozzle attachments, but the built in nozzle fits the Sea to Summit and some Exped one way valves. This one weighed about 60g without the extra nozzles. I set it up to pump up the mat while doing something else, and I found the deflate to be handy as well so I could multitask while it deflated my mat. Not the quickest mind you.
The thing I would look out for is the flow rate if you are looking at the pumps. The LightPump 2 had a flow rate of 70L/m but with the small pump and fan, this means that you won't get the mattress to firm inflation when the pressure of the air in the mat is greater than the pumps output. So I've generally moved on to pump dry bags now - my favourite since 2018 is the JR Gear Dry Pump 25L as the nozzle fits my Klymit mat as well as the Sea to Summit one way valves.
I've now made an extension tube for the Flextailgear light pump 2 to use an electric fan for my small folding wood stove, but have used it at campfires as well.
Newer pumps with built-in batteries have higher advertised flow rates (150L/m to 300L/m) but I've not tried those out. They do weigh in the 150-250g range. Flextailgear have a few different models, and there's the Exped Widget and the new Thermarest Neoair Micro pump, and Klymit's Electric pump that I know of. Price wise, I think the Flextailgear stuff seems to be at the cheaper end of the scale depending on where you look.