The basket is the bottom part of the balloon. It carries the passengers, pilot and propane gas cylinders. Baskets come in a variety of different shapes and sizes, some can even carry 20 or more people!
The basket must be extremely strong as it is constantly on the move, being shifted from place to place and also when the balloon actually lands there is a large amount of force exerted on it as it hits the floor and comes to a halt. The flexibility of the cane helps with the balloon landing as wicker material flexes a little, absorbing some of the impact energy.
Baskets can be completely tailor made to a set specification.
There are 2 main types of basket, Open and T-partition. Open is obviously an open space where the passengers, pilot and fuel are all housed in the basket in just 1 compartment and T-partition is where the basket is split into sections so the passengers can be separated from the pilot and canisters.
Here are some examples of different basket types below:
