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Why deflate tires? Reducing tire pressure for the trail effectively creates a larger tire footprint to gain additional traction. The tires will conform to the shape of rocks and provide better flotation on sand. Just as importantly as the gained traction, it also affords a much softer ride, as the tires will absorb the bone-jarring bumps even on those nasty washboard roads, and no doubt saving wear on the truck at the same time.
Staun Tyre
Deflators
The Stauns have been said to be
the smallest, fastest and most accurate deflators on the market. They
can be set to a preset tire pressure from 30 to 6 PSI. They come in
a set of four. They work pretty well, but get pretty slow around 15
PSI and painlessly slow around 12.
Currie E-Z
Deflator
After using the Staun deflators
for a few years, and seeing one of my friends use the Currie E-Z Deflator,
I had to pick this unit up. This thing is fast! You'll be done deflating
with one of these before the four Stauns are done. Going down to 0 PSI
isn't even a chore as it can remove the whole valve stem core to let
the air flow out without being restricted. Check your pressure all at
the same time. The only advantage the Stauns would have is that they
would allow you to talk to others if you're on a group run. Well, their
pocket size is handy, too. However, if you had to choose between the
two units, the Currie should win hands-down. There is no need to sit
around an extra couple minutes at the trailhead if you don't have to.
Here's an online write-up on the Currie deflator.
I'll try and post some air-down times for both units at some point.
