Inflatable
object that can be inflated with a gas
An inflatable is an object that can be inflated with a gas, usually with air, but hydrogen, helium, and nitrogen are also used. One of several advantages of an inflatable is that it can be stored in a small space when not inflated, since inflatables depend on the presence of a gas to maintain their size and shape. Function fulfillment per mass used compared with non-inflatable strategies is a key advantage. Stadium cushions, impact guards, vehicle wheel inner tubes, emergency air bags, and inflatable space habitats employ the inflatable principle. Inflation occurs through several strategies: pumps, ram-air, blowing, and suction.
Although the term inflatable can refer to any type of inflatable object, the term is often used in boating to specifically refer to inflatable boats.
Types
High-pressure vs. low-pressure
A distinction is made between high-pressure and low-pressure inflatables. In a high-pressure inflatable, structural limbs like pillars and arches are built out of a tough, flexible material and then inflated at a relatively high pressure. These limbs hold up passive membranes.
“Inflatable” enters the record as object that can be inflated with a gas. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Inflatable, object and inflated can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2162595. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Inflatable” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.