“Mom, dad needs his pump” as he drags my $750 Peewee Pump up the stairs. He’s on a mission to help me inflate his bouncy house. I quickly point out this is the wrong pump for the job. But like most people a pump is a pump. All they know is it blows air and if you need something filled just insert the nozzle and start pumping.
Have you ever taken a bike pump and tried to inflate a truck tire? You come to the realization that, “it’s not going to happen with this pump”, after an hour of pumping. The quest quickly changes from filling the tire to finding somebody with a compressor who can quickly inflate the inner tube.
Balloon entertainers quickly learn that not all pumps are the same and not all will work with every job, as my son found out the other day. Hand pumps, floor pumps, battery pumps, and even eclectic pumps all can blow up a balloon, but if you select the wrong pump a nightmare outcome can be looming in your future. This is true with compressors, not all compressors are the same.
Every year, newbie’s to balloon entertaining seek out advice about pumps and which one they should be using. Balloon artists scramble to figure out what they can offer to attendees at balloon conventions that hasn’t been taught before. Hmmm… this sounds like a class that will be offered at the next balloon convention somewhere. Nevertheless, as I told my son, “Daddy’s balloon pump not going to inflate the bouncy house, we need a compressor.” Later I read the instructions “DON”T INFLATE WITH A COMPRESSOR, use a foot pump”.
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I’ve used a bike pump on my car tire’s many times. It takes a little longer, but certainly not an hour!
I do have to say that I love my Filbert Pump. It’s a colorful prop, creates a workspace and kids think it’s magical.
Jami – As a kid a friend of the family brought over semi-truck tires to use a the lake. Keep in mind these are just the inner tubes. I only had a bicycle pump and it took over an hour to inflate. I was only 10-years old at the time. I needed to eat my Wheaties that day.