Flextail Tiny Pump 2X

Took one star off for the loud high-pitched noise, however that’s a feature not a bug and overall it’s a winner. A capable, convenient device that doubles as air pad inflator/deflator and lantern. Rechargeable, sturdy, and comes in orange so maybe won’t get easily lost in the woods.

Presentation

The Flextail Tiny Pump is one amidst a slew of compact, lightweight, and rechargeable pumps available in all formats and colors nowadays.

Thanks to advancements in brushless motors and rechargeable batteries, these pumps are being used for everything, from bike, motorcycle, and car tires, to flaming barbecue and camp fires, filling balls and balloons, and lots more.

Some have pressure gauges, programmable digital readers and controllers, the works. The Flextail is more straightforward, and though it can fill other stuff it’s intended to inflate air mattresses, sleeping pad insulators, and pillows. It doubles as a lantern, and works very well as such with 3 settings (low, mid, and high which is very bright at 400 lumens or so).

The manual advertises it can be used to deflate things, all it takes is switching the tip side (outlet to inlet) and it will pull air out rather than pump it in. It comes with a USB-A to USB-C cord for recharging, assorted tips, and a foldable ring at the bottom allowing it to be hanged when used as lantern. 

Charge and capacity

Recharges in about an hour from low to full (there’s an LED indicator in red and green to show that, no charge status bar or anything fancy). A full charge is enough for more than 20 fillings, maybe 30 (I’ve never let it run empty) or even more. Considering my sleeping pads are both large/wide and 3 to 4" thick, one charge should last even longer for smaller ones.

Battery capacity tends to decay over time, at one point it might require more frequent recharges, but so far (about a year of use) it has functioned consistently and reliably. 

I’ve found the Flextail works best to inflate and illuminate, but not as much to deflate. Besides, the loud noise is OK to fill the pad, which is convenient and all, but I find it unnecessary to deflate things. That can easily be done while rolling up to store it—sans the noise.

In use

Just plug it into the pad‘s valve, push the button, and let it work. Takes about a minute or less to fill a large and wide pad such as Sea to Summit’s Ether Light XT which is 4" high. I leave it on inside the tent inflating my pad while I’m out doing something else. That’s convenient.

Once I hear it revving up I know it has reached max capacity, which is above my favorite hardness, so I basically have to deflate the pad a bit once I’m ready to hit the bed. 

Limitations

Sometimes it will detach from the valve during inflation. Just reinsert and let it finish. I’ve had to cut a small ring of road tire butyl tube to put around the tip so it will stay on into the Nemo Tensor UL’s valve without leaking or falling. I pull the ring down to the tip up the nozzle body to use with the Sea to Summit Ether Light, and use my lungs to fill the pillow. That’s it. 

Background

This is the first time I use a compact pump to inflate my air pads while backpacking and camping, but since I started carrying it I’ve only used a pump sack once or twice because it’s convenient.

This is currently Flextail’s lightest and smallest mattress inflator/light. Exactly what you want for backpacking,

On the web I found out about backpacking mattress pumps. I decided to investigate and ended up buying this model—I checked out many others, but they were too big and heavy for my backpacking use.

It arrived and I charged it up. When charged I inflated my Sea-to-Summit hiking single-person air mattress. It comes with 5 nozzles of different sizes. One fit perfectly. Next I tried the pillow. None of the ridged nozzles is small enough for my Sea-to-Summit pillow. So I used the flexible rubber attachment to go over the inflation hole rather than into it. Bingo this worked. Inflation pressure is an amazing 4kPa so in the field I may have to let some air out for comfort. Mission accomplished as advertised.

For my camping gear I always like to choose gear that can serve more than one purpose. So a camp light. You can use it as a light with three brightness levels. In the field I will use the light after I inflate my mattress and pillow.

Question: how long does the light last on the 40 Lumen setting after inflation? The manual says that after a full charge the light will last 10 hours on the lowest setting. This is wrong. After inflation without recharge, the light has a useful life at 40 lumens of 29 HOURS!! That’s one extra item I don’t need to carry on my next camping trip. I definitely do not need to carry an extra tent lantern! Wonderful. Incidentally it charged back to full in less than 3 hours.

Background

Tested as described in review. Yet to take it on a camping trip. After mattress and pillow inflation 29 hours of useful light at 40 lumens.

Lightweight and effective option for quick inflation/deflation of air mattresses and other items.

Over the years, with the advent of backpacking air mattresses, I have progressed from simply blowing earlier mattress designs up by mouth, to more recently using complementary air-pump bags that allow sizeable volumes of air to fill the mattress without the introducing moist blown air.

Such bags are super light and tend to work well. However, due to their largish size such bags can be cumbersome, requiring elbowroom for inflation of the pump bag prior to squeezing it into the increasingly inflated mattress. Maneuvering these items can be especially awkward when weather is poor, and filling a mattress in the more cramped confines of backpacking tent is preferred.

This little pump helps address that issue. Once attached to the mattress using one of the included nozzles, my S2S mattress fills in about 45 seconds. The biggest downside is the loudness of the pump when on. The pump can also be used for deflation by putting the nozzle on the other end of the pump. I haven't tended to use it for deflation, because my mattress deflates fast enough on its own.

All in all, a nice option for certain conditions, and one that saves a little bit of hassle.

Inflates a sleeping pad with less effort than using a stuff sack or your lungs! Total game changer!

When charged the Flextail pump has never failed to operate. It's lightweight and small enough to fit pretty much anywhere in your pack or pocket. It weighs about as much as an energy bar. I have had it several years, I also have a backup.

I was so impressed I bought two to give as polyannas last holiday season, and both people are still bringing them on every backpacking trip they go on.

Background

Used to have a small battery-operated pump. However, I live in a cold, humid climate where it rains almost daily in the summer and autumn months and it snows all winter and spring. Batteries go bad quickly in below 0°F or the batteries rust and corrode in the dampness. My air pads are insulated and blowing into them causes the insulation to clump or mold.