This was my first idea at a mechanical way of making a valve.

The idea was that the two parts would screw together trapping the plastic between the to halves.

Inflate, then insert a rubber plug to make it air tight.

This part gives us a nice, hard, hole into the bladder. A flap valve can be added to the bottom part so after inflation little air escapes before the plug is inserted into the top part. The ridged structure of the plastic means the pump nossle will fit well and won't wear out the bladder.

This actually worked very well. The amount of surface area contact between the two parts and the plastic bladder was plenty to form a good air tight seal. The rubber compressed well.

But ...

The part was simply too big to fit into the rib sleve.

It was expensive, each one being approx 4 quid, and I needed at least 6.

The hole was too big for the nossle of the pump.

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