AirBase - The Multi-purpose Inflatable Insulation Pad

The AirBase is an innovative product from Rescue Essentials, designed to offer insulation and comfort in unexpected or emergency situations.

Key and Unique Features

- Provides comfort and insulation from hot or cold ground

- Packaged small and flat

- Lightweight

- Inflates quickly (4-5 breaths, no pump required)

- Unique valve system individually inflates chambers, so if one cell is punctured or cut, the rest will stay inflated.

- Can be cut to desired size for “creative” uses.

Have you ever had to sit or lay on cold, hard, or rocky ground? You can feel how quickly heat is transferred away from your body when so much surface area is in direct contact with a cold surface (or how much heat is gained when you are on a hot surface).

The AirBase is designed to offer an insulative and comfortable barrier between a person and the ground, offering a barrier to individuals who may otherwise be lying on rugged terrain. This is ideal for an injured individual who is receiving treatment in the field or waiting for an evacuation team, or someone spending an unexpected night away from their bed.

Carry an AirBase plus a bivvy or hypothermia blanket to create a warm and comfortable shelter in an unexpected emergency.

The AirBase also has proven to be useful in a wide range of situations, limited only by your imagination!

What’s so great about the AirBase? While a traditional sleeping pad or camp mattress would offer similar insulation and comfort, you likely don’t carry your expensive camping gear with you on a simple hike or bike ride. The AirBase is small, lightweight and affordable, making it easier to add to a first aid kit and use for emergency / unexpected scenarios. Additionally, it can be cut into sections for other uses, or left with a patient waiting on an evacuation.

This product has only been on the market for a short period of time (only about 2 months as of this writing), but there is already a buzz around the huge potentials for this simple design.

Within days of this product being available, we had our first real-life use review:

Great for preventing hypothermia in trauma patients, it is also a great piece of kit for other applications

Posted by Tyler on 07 02 2025

I was introduced to the AirBase at SOMSA 2025. I felt this product, although low tech, was the best thing in the vendor hall. I was given one to try and give feedback on. I did, and I have to say, this thing delivers a high yield for the extremely low weight and cube of the product.

I was on a medical rescue mission in a wilderness area above 10,000 feet. The patient was not able to be flown out until first light and unable to walk out in that period of time. I had to remain with the patient and their party overnight (about 8 hours). During my insertion, my feet were fully submerged in an alpine marsh. I had to take my boots and socks off to dry them by the fire. Although not its primary use, I used the AirBase to stand on so my feet wouldn't freeze. After that, I used it as a pad to sit on throughout the night. Later in the operation, I had to set up a plan for people to get some sleep, and we were able to use the AirBase for people to rest on. Last, since the AirBase was near a campfire, at one point, some embers landed on the AirBase and burned a hole in the plastic. However, this was no factor since the AirBase was designed to have single cells deflate without any effect on other cells. The rest of the cells stayed inflated with no problem, and the AirBase was effective the entire mission.

So, while great for preventing hypothermia in trauma patients, it is also a great piece of kit for other applications and costs nearly nothing for weight and cube constraints in austere environments.

The coolest and most useful thing I’ve seen in a long time!

Posted by Jon P on 09 03 2025

It weighs a little more that 3oz and the applications for it are astounding… >Pad to get an injured party insulated from the ground >Improvised Splint >Bivy pad >Sit pad All in a package that can fit into virtually any kind of response pack or hiking pack!

See all AirBase Reviews here.