For a mobile installation of this sort that is only in place for a weekend at a time, often with valuable equipment inside, you would normally have 24hr security or a temporary fence at night. Our inflatable consultants (Tectoniks) say that in 11 years of business they haven’t had a single “punk with knife goes amok” incident on one of their touring structures.

Once in Dubai someone accidentally drove a forklift fork through an inflated section. The pump controller sensed the loss of pressure, turned on all the pumps, and the structure stayed inflated until an on-site repair was made. Small repairs can be made on-site with a patch similar to a bicycle tire kit. Larger repairs can be made seamlessly in the factory by replacing a whole damaged section if necessary.

The high-pressure PVC inflatable fabric is tougher than you might think. It feels a lot like a zodiac rubber boat when inflated and is very solid in appearance and feel. Quite a different creature from your typical low-pressure “bouncy castle” type structures.

I just got around to uploading a video of us inflating the mock-up we developed for the Arts Alliance Mobile Performance Venue. You get a feel of the solidity when it suddenly gets fully inflated. – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vybc0AWUtUo