Unique foam question

[Ageorge]

I need help from a foam expert or a really good company that someone has worked with regarding foam. About 6 months ago we made these 'bumpers' for a zip line company. These are basically 10" thick by about 42 inch rectangles that we pieced together  using 5" thick high quality extra firm foam. We then made covers for them out of marine grade canvas. The covers are holding up fine, but the foam is beginning to break down (not from water damage, just from being repeatedly hit). I think if the foam was too firm, it could cause problems also, but then again, I don't know how much firmer foam I could get. Any ideas? Any ideas on who an expert company could be that I could contact?

[scarab29]

albany foam

[gene]

What are the numbers on your foam?

Density - ratio of weight to volumn. minimum of 1.8 lbs. / cu. ft. The higher the density the higher the quality of foam.
IFD - Indentation Force Deflection - measure of firmness or load bearing capability. How much weight to compress foam to 75% of it's height. 25 to 32 lbs. Independent of density.
Support  Factor - also called comfort factor. Measured by compressing foam to a 25% deflection and 65% deflection. Related to density.
Compression Set - how well a foam cushion will maintain it's lines and shape. % of height lost over compression of 22 hours.
Flex Fatigue - the loss of IFD with repeated use. Related to density.

Search this forum for foam and you'll see what other folks use in different situations.

Soft, medium, and hard are generic terms that mean nothing in terms of technical information. A company can call a 1.8 / 32lb. their hard foam and another company can call that same foam their medium foam.

Wear and tear due to use is something no one can control. If your seats were sat upon in the last six months as many times as most seats would have been sat upon in the last 3 years, then you can't control that. But you can use foam that will better stand up to such use.

It would be helpful to see what numbers your foam has.

gene

[Ageorge]

I ended up trying something new...the rep said it resemebled carpet pad. I can't remember the exact term. Hopefully this works....I'm trying to explain to the company that furniture foam wasn't really meant to stand up to people coming in off a zipline hundreds of times. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for the input.