Southern Balloon Works' digital earth globe balloons are made of an internal bladder of 4 mil thickness Polyurethane for Helium or air retention and an outer layer of digitally printed 1.9 oz. Nylon. All materials are made in the USA and manufacturing and printing are performed at our facilities in Florida.  There are two types of Nylon; ripstop for flying outdoors where conditions are not as controlled and smooth Nylon for earth balloons that will be used indoors.

Benefits of an earth globe balloon from SBW:

• Better Helium retention than balloons from China
• Lower cost than many of our competitors
• Sizes range from 5 feet in diameter to 35 feet in diameter (18 ft. pictured at right)
  
• Artwork options: globes can be printed with cities, countries, clouds
• Outdoor models have pressure-relief valves and materials and construction similar to our military aerostats.

Differences of an SBW digital earth balloon and our competitors
SBW globe balloons are comparable in price, but much higher in quality, than most other digital globe balloons you find on the web. We use premium materials and a large-format digital plotter using artwork that can be rendered without artifacts at any size. (Encapsulated Postscript native). The globes we produce have a matte finish instead of a plastic and glossy look that appears cheap. Our printing is sharp and has excellent contrast compared to globe balloons that are made of toxic PVC plastic. You can also choose for your globe to include cities, countries and clouds printed on the balloon. You can see the impact our earth globes make in a recent Greenpeace commercial (which you can view along with the other YouTube videos highlighted on our home page). Greenpeace ordered from us for good reason: we deliver an excellent digital earth globe at a fair price using non-toxic materials and at almost any size.

Some of our competitors offer museum quality globes which are meant for viewing more minute details of each land mass. The  printing is at a super-fine resolution and the print quality is superb. These pieces are used for displays where the viewer is very close to the balloon and the budget supports the expense. Typically the museum quality earth balloons are priced 3 to 4 times more than the SBW globe balloons. So it really depends on the demands of your event, and as always, we will work with you to make sure the product you order from Southern Balloon Works fits your needs.

Size *6ft. man used for scale	Price	Approx. Helium Required	Net Lift
5 ft. (1.52m)	$650	±65 cu. ft. (1.8m3)	N/A (For hanging only)
6 ft. (1.83m)	$850	±115 cu. ft. (3.3m3)	±1.5 lbs. (680g)
7 ft. (2.13m)	$1150	±180 cu. ft. (5.1m3)	±3.4 lbs. (1.5kg)
8 ft. (2.44m)	$1550	±285 cu. ft. (8.1m3)	±7.5 lbs. (3.4kg)
9 ft. (2.74m)	$1900	±385 cu. ft. (12.0m3)	±10.7 lbs. (4.9kg)
10 ft. (3.05m)	$2400	±525 cu. ft. (16.4m3)	±16.4 lbs. (7.4kg)
12 ft. (3.66m)	$3700	±905 cu. ft. (25.6m3)	±32.6 lbs. (14.8kg)
14 ft. (4.27m)	$5300	±1437 cu. ft. (40.7m3)	±56.7 lbs. (25.7kg)
16 ft. (4.88m)	$7500	±2145 cu. ft. (60.7m3)	±90.2 lbs. (40.9kg)
18 ft. (5.49m)	$9700	±3054 cu. ft. (86.5m3)	±134.5 lbs. (61kg)
20 ft. (6.10m)	$11900	±4189 cu. ft. (118.6m3)	±191.2 lbs. (86.7kg)
22 ft. (6.71m)	$14500	±5575 cu. ft. (157.9m3)	±261.8 lbs. (118.8kg)

Options:
Pennants - A long string of triangular pennants available in a variety of colors! (16 oz. / 454g) -- $35