My thoughts have turned to another overseas cycling holiday sometime this year. No actual destination at this time. Although it won't be South-East Asia where accommodation is plentiful and cheap. Therefore I will need to take camping equipment.
The actual equipment won't be an issue as I already have a small tent, air mattress, lightweight sleeping bag and a gas stove. Yesterday I decided to check the equipment; particularly the air mattress. My body is getting old and struggles to sleep on hard ground and a good mattress will be essential. The mattress didn't appear to have a leak and it was comfortable to lie on. However I will need a pillow of some type. Perhaps I can roll up some clothing?
What I did slightly struggle with was inflating the mattress. Obviously my lungs aren't what they used to be! Looking for a solution I realised I could probably use the bike pump. The mattress inlet hole has a diameter of 20mm which is far greater than the pump hose connector.
An adaptor would be required. It's probable one can be purchased, but making the adaptor would be more interesting and cheaper.
Searching behind the workshop I found a length of 23mm diameter pvc water pipe. After cutting 35mm off the end I needed a way to reduce the external diameter of the pipe down to 20mm. In the end I used a steel socket on a extension rod inside the pipe. The socket was a slightly smaller diameter than the pipe so I wrapped some duct tape around the socket to make it a snug fit.
The rod was then fitted into the bench drill press to make a vertical lathe. The pvc pipe was then reduced to 20mm using sandpaper.
Scouring through the jars of "stuff that might be useful one day" I found a valve nozzle that fitted on the end of the bike pump hose.
After drilling a 6mm diameter hole in a piece of wood I was able to insert the nozzle vertically into the wood by 5mm. I taped over the timber around the tip of the nozzle along the other opposite end before placing the pvc offcut over it.
Next I mixed some car body filler and filled the void between the nozzle and the pipe
I now had my homemade adaptor
A quick test to confirm it works!
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