Instead of lots of foam padding, it'd be great to have an inflatable inner lining that can be pressurized when carrying delicate items (such as laptops). The idea is similar to the "Pump" basketball shoes that were all the craze a few years ago.-- ps, Apr 03 2000 Foam, sweet foam http://www.epspackaging.org/info.htmlI'd like to see a substitute for balloons, in most cases. Most particularly in applications like plastic refreezæble ice cubes. [reensure, Apr 03 2000] The Sealed Air Corporation http://www.sealedai...lair_protect_fs.htmInflatable packaging systems [hippo, Apr 03 2000] ...pump it full of helium to make the laptop bag lighter-- hippo, Apr 03 2000 They use these all the time for shipping stuff (Amazon seems to use them exclusively, f'rex). I think the Sealed Air Corporation makes them. I haven't seen it applied to non-corporate mailing, let alone non-mail packing...-- egnor, Apr 05 2000 think about the amount of time you'd have to spend pumping up the liner to get enough pressure to really do anything, though. other option: compressed co2 catridges like they sell for paintball guns. good stuff, those.-- urbanmatador, Apr 07 2000 I don't think you need high pressure. One lungful is enough to inflate those airplane pillows pretty taut. Even normal atmospheric pressure would work given a tough enough lining.-- rmutt, Apr 20 2000 Of course, you would have to have some way of regulating the pressure; otherwise, the first airplane flight could crush your laptop. Ever noticed how the juice containers are all puffed out on airplanes? It's not just because they use expired containers...-- jweston, May 06 2000 If it can't burst a juice container, your laptop would probably be okay. An exploding lining might sound rather like a gunshot, though, which could be inconvenient when aboard an airplane. Presumably they'd be tough enough and have enough extra space to cope.
It is possible that this rather slight addition doesn't justify resurrecting a six-month-old thread, but I can't see it doing me personally any immediate physical harm, so there it is.-- Monkfish, Dec 19 2000 random, halfbakery