We left our 12×20 Inflatable Golf Hitting Cage outside in Houston from June 2024 through September 2026. Here’s what actually happened.

We get a lot of questions about the construction and durability of our inflatable golf enclosures.

How durable is the PVC? How well do the seams hold up? What happens after prolonged exposure to sun and rain? Can an inflatable enclosure really stand up to commercial use? And one of the most common questions: How long will it last?

We can talk about material specifications and construction all day, but we recently realized we had something better sitting in our own backyard: a real-world test that has been running for more than two years.

The Test We Never Planned

Our 12×20 Inflatable Golf Hitting Cage was delivered to us on June 10, 2024.

It was set up in our backyard in the Houston area and, rather than being cleaned, dried, packed and stored after use, it stayed outside.

And stayed outside.

Through Houston summers, heat, humidity, rain, sunlight, dirt and more than two years of exposure to the elements.

That is not how we recommend storing an inflatable enclosure, and we didn't originally leave it outside because we were conducting a durability test. It simply ended up becoming one.

On September 29, 2026 — more than 27 months after it arrived — we decided to air it up again and see what condition it was actually in.

June 2024 — New

September 2026 — After 27+ Months Outside

So, How Did It Hold Up?

The first thing you'll notice in the photos is obvious:

It's dirty.

After more than two years outside, the black material has accumulated dirt and environmental staining, and the cage certainly doesn't look like a brand-new enclosure anymore.

We haven't cleaned it up for these photos because we think showing its actual condition is more useful.

But appearance wasn't what we were most interested in.

We wanted to know whether the inflatable structure itself still worked.

We connected the pump and inflated it.

It aired up normally.

No repairs were necessary to get it inflated. We didn't discover an air leak that prevented it from holding pressure. The inflatable frame came back up and was functional after more than 27 months of continuous outdoor exposure.

For us, that's the interesting part of this test.

Why the Construction Matters

One misconception about inflatable golf enclosures is that all "inflatable" products are constructed like a typical backyard bounce house.

They're not.

ASI enclosures use commercial-grade PVC tarpaulin, including heavier PVC material in the inflatable structural frame. They're designed for repeated setup, takedown and transportation in commercial applications.

Our inflatable frames are also sealed-air structures.

The pump is used to inflate the enclosure and is then disconnected. There isn't a blower running continuously to keep the enclosure standing.

That means the inflatable tubes, seams and valves have to maintain their own air pressure.

After more than two years sitting outside, this particular cage still did exactly that.

Does This Mean You Should Leave Your Enclosure Outside for Two Years?

No.

This may be the most important point in the entire article.

We're showing this example as a demonstration of what happened to this particular enclosure, not as a recommendation for how customers should treat theirs.

UV exposure, extreme temperatures, moisture, dirt and weather can all affect materials over time. Properly cleaning, drying and storing your enclosure when it isn't being used is the better way to protect your investment and maximize its useful life.

If this cage had been cleaned and stored between uses for the past 27 months, we would expect its cosmetic condition to be considerably different.

Instead, ours essentially received the opposite treatment.

And that's what makes the result interesting.

Weathering and Structural Durability Aren't the Same Thing

The before-and-after pictures also demonstrate an important distinction.

Looking new and remaining functional are two different things.

Extended outdoor exposure inevitably affects appearance. Dirt accumulates. Surfaces weather. Black material that's been exposed to the sun and elements for years isn't going to look exactly the way it did when it came out of the shipping bag.

We're not particularly surprised by any of that.

What we wanted to see was whether the inflatable structure would still hold air and perform its primary job.

It did.

That's a much more meaningful durability test to us than photographing a perfectly cleaned enclosure that's only been used a handful of times.

More Than 27 Months Later

When this 12×20 Hitting Cage arrived in June 2024, we had no intention of writing this article.

More than two years later, we realized we'd unintentionally created one of the best examples we have for answering the questions customers regularly ask us about construction and durability.

So what happens when an ASI inflatable hitting cage spends more than 27 months outside in Houston?

Does it still look brand new? No.

Did it get dirty? Definitely.

Did the inflatable frame still air up and hold pressure? Yes.

We think the pictures tell the rest of the story.