My Little Quest for Balloon Gas
Okay, so the other week, it was my niece’s birthday party. Balloons were non-negotiable, according to my sister. Not just any balloons, mind you, but the floating kind. Which meant I needed helium. Simple request, right? Yeah, well, first thought: where on earth do regular folks even buy helium? It’s not exactly something you pick up with your weekly groceries.
My first instinct was, naturally, to just search online. That was a bit of a mess. Lots of stuff about industrial gas suppliers, renting massive tanks… way overkill for like, 20 balloons. I wasn’t trying to launch a weather balloon here. Felt kinda dumb, honestly. Like, this should be easier.
Asked a couple of friends. One guy swore you could get it at hardware stores. Spoiler: checked my local Ace, nope. They looked at me like I’d asked for plutonium. Another friend mentioned party supply stores, which sounded more promising.
So, the actual legwork began. I figured the big box stores might have something. Went over to Target first. Wandered around the party aisle, looked near the gift wrap… bingo. Found these disposable helium tanks. Honestly didn’t even know disposable ones were a thing! They had a couple of sizes. Looked pretty straightforward.
Just to be thorough, I popped over to Walmart too. Same deal. They also had the disposable tanks, maybe slightly different branding, but essentially the same product. Price was pretty similar too.
Then I remembered the party supply store idea. We have a Party City not too far away, so I swung by there. Okay, this place was obviously more specialized. They had the same disposable tanks Target and Walmart had, maybe a bigger selection of sizes. But they also offered filling balloons you bought there, or renting a slightly larger tank if you had a massive amount of balloons. Didn’t need that, but good to know.
In the end, I just grabbed one of the standard disposable tanks from Target because I was already there. It said it filled about 30 small balloons, which was plenty.
Places I Actually Found It
- Big retail stores (like Target, Walmart) in the party supplies section.
- Dedicated party supply stores (like Party City or local equivalents). These often have more options, including filling services.
Things to keep in mind: Those disposable tanks aren’t super cheap for the amount of helium you get, but man, they are convenient. Way easier than trying to arrange a rental for a small party. Just hook up the nozzle, fill the balloons, and you’re done. The tank itself is disposable afterwards, though check local recycling rules, always a good idea.
So yeah, that was my adventure in tracking down helium. Started out a bit clueless, ended up finding it in pretty common stores. It’s definitely out there, just gotta look in the party aisles!