Can you believe I 3D printed a sleeping pad Testing it out tonight at -14°C (7°F)

Why, you ask? Well, why not?

I used 10% infill to create pockets of trapped air. I also added divots to reduce the contact surface area and hopefully improve insulation.

It’s a bit stiff though.

image

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Reed said:
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Life, uh, finds a way

I hope you’re using something else on top of that, or you’re gonna have a bad time.

Quinn said:
I hope you’re using something else on top of that, or you’re gonna have a bad time.

Nope. Just my sleeping bag on top

Cade said:

Quinn said:
I hope you’re using something else on top of that, or you’re gonna have a bad time.

Nope. Just my sleeping bag on top

Yeah, you’re gonna have a bad time without a heat source or an actual pad. I urge you not to test this somewhere you can’t quickly get warm if you start to freeze

@Quinn
My balcony

Cade said:
@Quinn
My balcony

Perfect, have fun, hope you learn a lot :+1:

Ooooh… Tell us how it goes and how much it ends up costing? I don’t know how to gauge R-value, but if you do, let us know what it rates at!

Yo, I work with industrial 3D printers and have a few suggestions/questions.

What printer are you using? How did you slice the parts (type of infill, walls, top/bottom thickness)?

If it’s compatible with your printer, I’d be very curious how this would work for you; it’s a TPU flexible filament that foams as it comes out of the nozzle.

Could significantly increase the comfort, R value, and packability, as well as decrease the weight.

If you used a CR-30 printer or similar and worked on your design a bit; I could see printing long strips of Foam TPU (imagine 3 of your blocks printed together) that link together and have lego type attachments on top/bottom as a very interesting customizable sleeping pad. Taller than average? Attach an extra row. Not warm enough? Stack pads with lego-like attachments for extra thickness. Need a pillow? Stack an extra layer under your head.

The more I think about this the cooler it gets. You might have a genuinely original and effective product here.

I don’t exactly know everything about sleeping pads but most I’ve seen are molded foam, cut foam, or inflatable. 3D printing offers easy control over internal structure in a way that other processes simply don’t and internal structure is the most important thing in determining heat transfer.

The right material, infill, and wall thickness could make it more effective than OTS products.

@Kim
I’ll check it out

Cade said:
@Kim
I’ll check it out

Let me know if I can help at all, if what I described can ever exist I want one lol

What kind of filament did you use?

Willow said:
What kind of filament did you use?

Just basic PLA

Cade said:

Willow said:
What kind of filament did you use?

Just basic PLA

Like sleeping on a rock lol

Skyler said:

Cade said:
Willow said:
What kind of filament did you use?

Just basic PLA

Like sleeping on a rock lol

A frozen rock.

Skyler said:

Cade said:
Willow said:
What kind of filament did you use?

Just basic PLA

Like sleeping on a rock lol

This might be the most bizarre thing I’ve seen all year.

@Abi
Stick with me a while, I’ll show you the world

Tell me you’re a masochist without telling me you’re a masochist

So… hours of printing, a rock-hard surface, difficult to pack… what does it weigh, all told?