Giant Hamster Ball

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 3:58 pm

Breathing is for noobs.

It's going to have to be rigid or airtight. And airtight is dangerous. Or...

Two spheres with a hatch, but they're all one inflatable pouch (or many in case of a puncture).

I don't know how this would work.

Carry a rebreather?

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:17 pm

Kyo wrote:i gotta be able to breathe, though. That rules out giant beach volleyballs

Unless you're planning to spend more than an hour or two inside the ball, oxygen levels should be more than sufficient. There are a fair number of balls like what I'm describing for commercial rent. There's a fair amount of air trapped inside. You can find the calculations online for a given volume of air versus how long you can breathe in it. For an 8 foot diameter sphere, there's ~267.9 cubic feet of air (minus your own volume of course).

Examples:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24691505@N00/1394944248/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpasden/402270424/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h7izJ8tIgE

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 4:00 am

i really hate the idea of being trapped in something airtight, though. What if the zipper doesn't work?

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 1:00 pm

Kyo wrote:i really hate the idea of being trapped in something airtight, though. What if the zipper doesn't work?

It'd be very hard to fill it on your own, as you'd have to be inside it for the last part of the filling, since the zipper will let air out when open, so you'd need someone around for that anyway. Let them have a go after you, where you monitor them, and I'm sure you'd have plenty of people willing to watch you. There's other hazards, like falling and hitting your head, that would warrant monitoring anyways.

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 1:42 pm

but it's not as much fun if you need a monitor. Can't you just turn it inside out and make it airtight from the inside?

grossaffe · Post by **grossaffe** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 3:45 pm

Kyo wrote:but it's not as much fun if you need a monitor. Can't you just turn it inside out and make it airtight from the inside?

and suffocate?

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 4:02 pm

it would be a good death

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 5:24 pm

Death by slow suffocation trapped inside a tiny ball is a good death?

What's a bad one?

NO! DON'T TELL ME!

(You can always just carry a knife...)

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 5:31 pm

kurt, you have such a negative outlook on things

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 7:40 pm

Kyo wrote:but it's not as much fun if you need a monitor. Can't you just turn it inside out and make it airtight from the inside?

Err, and the pump to fill it would get air from where if it's inside with you?

I suppose it would be possible to do simple manipulations from inside the ball, and simple self-sealing plug could be used together with an easy to turn off pump that is located outside, and just bump into it to turn it off. Zippers could be two-way and simple flap could make it more or less air tight.

As far as emergencies, you could carry a box cutter knife and a cell phone. With the flap that makes the air-tight seal on the zipper being inside, you could open that and breath through the zipper if need be (my thoughts are a large toothed zipper that would be rugged enough, and have a bit of space between in between segments).

However I'm re-thinking the practicality of such a ball. Right now, the single digit (F) weather makes it far to cold for me right now. However, when it warms up the debris (sticks, etc.) around the yard could damage the ball quite easily. It makes me wonder if that is why I've only seen them on beaches and in controlled environments.

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 9:10 pm

tom61 wrote:However I'm re-thinking the practicality of such a ball. Right now, the single digit (F) weather makes it far to cold for me right now. However, when it warms up the debris (sticks, etc.) around the yard could damage the ball quite easily. It makes me wonder if that is why I've only seen them on beaches and in controlled environments.

Nice point about debris, I never thought about that. Snow would be fine...
I think one similar in design to the ones used for zorbing would be best. A sphere inside sphere, with the space in between being the pressurized and a tunnel to get out. No suffocation, extra padding, but probably lower visibility.

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 1:35 pm

vskid wrote: Nice point about debris, I never thought about that. Snow would be fine...

Freezing temps would make the plastic brittle, and you're going to compact the snow at least a little, revealing debris just under the surface.

I think one similar in design to the ones used for zorbing would be best. A sphere inside sphere, with the space in between being the pressurized and a tunnel to get out. No suffocation, extra padding, but probably lower visibility.

A lot more complicated to build, and you don't have as much control as when you're interacting with the outer skin directly. The Zorb insides have almost no bearing on the outside, you're pretty much just rolled down a hill.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 4:05 pm

You also assume that everyone gets the same two-inch yearly snowfall that you do.

In the last three days we've gotten over a foot.

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 4:15 pm

Kurt_ wrote:You also assume that everyone gets the same two-inch yearly snowfall that you do.

In the last three days we've gotten over a foot.

Same here, except it got kinda warm yesterday so the current total is a bit less.
The zorbing balls have ropes from the inner ball to the outer one to hold them together.

Post by **bicostp** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 4:34 pm

We got a total of 9" over the weekend.

But I suppose that's enough to cover most debris, aside from tree stumps.