Published June 30, 2026 12:20 pm
Since its release two years ago, Alpenblow Gear’s Alpenblow Micro Inflator has gained a devoted following among lightweight backpackers. The device, which is the size of a half-dollar coin and weighs just 8.5 grams, plugs into a cell phone or power bank and can inflate most sleeping pads in a little more than a minute. As a luxury item, it weighs far more than it deserves.
In July, Alpenglow is releasing an updated version of the gadget that adds a little more weight and a lot more uses. In addition to inflating (and deflating) the sleeping pad, the new alpenblow lux There’s a lantern with four different modes and a white noise machine with multiple settings, all in a 13.7-gram package. backpacker Had a chance to test the Alpenblow Lux before release day. That’s what we thought.
copy
Blowing up my sleeping pad is probably my least favorite thing to do at camp. After a long day on the road, the last thing I want to do is hunch over my sleeping pad, blow it up with lung power, or wrestle with one of those inflation sacks. I know, I know, they’ve been around for years, they’re the norm, I still struggle with them.
So, the device we are going to talk about today is a little gadget designed for people like me who really hate blowing up their sleeping pads.
This is Alpenblow Lux. This is the latest version of alpenblowThe lightest sleeping pad inflator on the market. This is a really neat gadget, it weighs almost nothing, and it can really streamline your routine when it comes to setting up your camp.
If you’re not familiar with Alpenblow, it was the invention of a thru-hiker named Gadget who did the PCT in 2023. It hit the market in November 2024, and even in just a year and change, it has become really popular. We’ve had more than one thru-hiker this year tell us this was an essential tool during their hike. It is only one third of an ounce. The company says that its weight is approximately equal to two nickels.
So this year, Alpenglow is coming out with a new version of Alpenblow called Alpenblow Lux. If you’re keeping track, it’s a little heavier, at just under half an ounce, that’s about a nickel more than the original, but it has some interesting new functions that really justify that little bit of extra weight.
It’s a really simple design. It has no battery of its own. Instead, it plugs into your phone or your power bank and uses the charge from there.
The company says it is almost twice as powerful as the original. I wasn’t able to test them together because I don’t have one of the originals, but I did try it with one of the mats in my collection. I picked out a Big Agnes Air Core Ultra, which is a fairly thick, rectangular pad. I plugged in the Alpenblow and it inflated it enough in about a minute and a half that I could sleep on it.
Alpenblow will let you know that your mat is finished inflating and is not able to add any more air because the lights on it will actually start blinking. I think most people, especially if you like a firmer mat, will probably want to add a breather or two to get it to the stiffness you like, but you can sleep on it perfectly fine the way it ended up.
Unlike the original Alpenblow, the Alpenblow Lux can also deflate your pad. So if you don’t want to waste a lot of time squeezing the air out of it, you just turn it upside down, add the adapter here on the other side, and turn it on, and it will suck all the air out of your pad, which is a really useful feature. Not necessary, but nice to have.
So this is the main function of Lux. It does what the original Alpenblow did, just a little faster and a little better. But it has a few more features that I think are worth mentioning.
First of all, Alpenglow has added a lighting mode. It now also serves as a reading light. You can set it to low, medium or high brightness. It gives off a nice, warm yellow light that will be more comfortable for most people while sleeping than the cool light of a normal headlamp.
The Lux Lantern comes with something called a strap, which is basically a rubber band that holds the reading light to your water bottle, which is compatible with many popular water bottle brands. It would also work very well with a SmartWater bottle, and this way it turns into a lantern by diffusing the light and softening it.
Another trick the Lux has up its sleeve is that it also works as a white noise machine. There are two additional settings. One of them runs the fan at 40% so can be used as a white noise machine if you need to drown out other people or something. There’s also an ocean wave setting, which is really neat. It keeps changing the speed of the fan to produce a sound like waves.
So there’s one more thing we need to talk about, and that’s weight. I have already mentioned that this gadget is really light. But whenever you’re talking about gear that isn’t absolutely necessary, people want to know how the weight adds up.
Well, one interesting thing about it is that it’s actually a little lighter than the inflation rate that most companies make. Big Agnes Pumphouse SackFor example, the ones they sell are only less than 3 ounces. This is equal to 1/6 of that weight. So really, even compared to less technical solutions, it doesn’t matter much.
Can you blow your pad with lung power? Of course you can do this, but typically when you do this you are adding moisture to the inside of your pad. This can lead to mold, and besides being really disgusting, it can compromise the insulation in your pad, which is why brands have started adding things like inflation sacks to pads when they sell them.
So, who is Alpenblow Lux for? Okay, I’m going to add a caveat here that I’ve just started testing this, but so far I can see an argument for it being for people who use an inflatable pad, especially if you usually camp with really plush pads. This saves a lot of trouble while camping. It’s not essential, but it’s nice to have, and with the really low weight and these extra features, I think it’s a really nice addition to your pack.
