Hold the valve open, squeeze, push the air up from the tail end to the valve, have another squeeze. Why, oh why, don't they just put a zip on the things so that you can achieve instant deflation?-- DrBob, Sep 17 2001 Sussex Sharks http://www.sussexcricket.co.uk/Just a shameless plug for my favourite team. [DrBob, Sep 17 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004] Because zippers aren't airtight.-- bookworm, Sep 17 2001 I've been reading "Many Coloured Land" recently and that has decamole, a flexible format for portable inflatable things that has a powered unit for inflation and deflation. Taking a leaf from that book maybe all you need is a reverse hand or foot pump that allows you to extract the air.-- Aristotle, Sep 17 2001 (PeterSealey, Respect). We also have such a mattress for camping, irritating family stopping the night etc. Ours however is not infalatble.-- March Hare, Sep 17 2001 infalatble shhh you will wake highschoolkid-- po, Sep 17 2001 can you not connect it to the hoover / vacuum cleaner to suck out the air ?-- po, Sep 17 2001 Only if I take the hoover to the cricket match with me and use a very long extension lead.-- DrBob, Sep 17 2001 That's part of the problem UB. I *am* one of the yobboes on the hill. One of the reasons I thought of a zipper (although PeterSealy's big airhole (!) would work just as well) was so that I could flush out the accumulated bodily fluids from poor old Sid's innards (Sid being the name of the shark).-- DrBob, Sep 18 2001 Munchkin mayhem?-- DrBob, Sep 18 2001 Throwing a watermelon 30 feet in the air sounds like no mean feat. Either watermelons are smaller in Australia, or people are stronger.-- egnor, Sep 18 2001 I'm wondering why [DrBob] takes an inflatable shark to a cricket match.-- angel, Sep 18 2001 Because I support the Sussex Sharks, of course.-- DrBob, Sep 18 2001 there are portable machines to blow up your tyres or inflatables, perhaps they could have a suck mode?-- po, Sep 19 2001 you are right UB but this shark business is getting to me-- po, Sep 20 2001 It's a bad sign if you spend all your time worrying about sharks, po. Unless you go swimming a lot, of course.-- DrBob, Sep 20 2001 no, its specifically Dr Bobs shark that I worry about
no sharks in London' s swimming baths not even in the Thames - they would probably be poisoned-- po, Sep 20 2001 random, halfbakery