Vinyl Gauge question

General Questions
#1

I’m shopping for an air mattress and wondering about differences in the gauge of vinyl.

For some ithings like cable the smaller the number the larger and more heavy duty…like a 14 gauge extension cord would be more light weight than a 10 gauge (at least that’s how it’s been explained to me)

Does vinyl work that way too? I’m comparing two air mattresses. One is 15.5 gauge vinyl and one is 20.8 gauge vinyl. Is the 15.5 gauge the more heavy duty vinyl?

I’ll be sleeping on this for a week at my in-laws this summer and then it’s going to replace the futon in our spare bedroom so I’d like to get something that’s pretty tough.

#2

In my experience, gauge almost always works that way. Usually it’s ‘number of thicknesses to equal one inch’, so 15.5 gauge means 15.5 sheets of the vinyl stacked would be one inch thick, and 20.8 gauge means 20.8 sheets of the vinyl stacked would be one inch thick.

#3

I’m not so sure about vinyl. I did manage to find out via google a shower curtain that was 12 gauge. I’m thinking an air bed has to be thicker than that at 20.8 gauge rather than thinner than a shower curtain but based on your information acaos I’m not completely sure. Maybe that was just one hell of a shower curtain…

But since I’ve been unsuccessful in my quest to learn about all things vinyl
(but thanks for the information about gauge = how many per inch) I’ve decided to purchase my air bed based on style and price and weight capacity.

I found a model that I like and then subsequently found it on e-bay for less than the best retail price and then found out that the ebay seller is in my area so I’ll be able to save shipping and pick it up. It has a built in pump, remote control for firmness and a 600 lb capacity so I think it’ll do.