Here's another nifty trick--try it out. It works very well. Take a large trash bag (which you probably already have in your pack protecting your down bag. Fill it with air just by waiving it for a few feet around you. Completely close off the opening with your hand just by gathering the opening together. Insert the opened nozzle of your mattress into the the opening of the full trash bag and hold onto the opening tightly to make sure that no air escapes around the nozzle. Bear hug your trashbag until all of the air goes into the mattress. You are essentially creating a bellows effect. For a Neo air mattress, I have to do this about two and a half times. (Obviously, as you are refilling the trash bag, tighten the nozzle on your air mattress.) It works like a charm, keeps me from getting light headed and earns whispers of "That is so MacGuyver" from onlookers.
Brent N
