Near-space for cheap

I've recently been examining several attempts to reach near space using simple tools and materials available to nearly everyone. Most of them use weather balloons acquired on the internet, and somehow accomplish reaching near space (>80000ft) for only a few hundred dollars. While I think I have the know-how and skills to eventually pull it off, I am satisfied watching the videos and looking at the pictures from others.

An attempt called the BEAR-4 really caught my attention:

These guys managed to get an HD video camera up, getting some pretty decent images and footage. A couple of things strike me:

* First, they used hydrogen rather than helium as the gas for the balloon. Hydrogen may be more available (I'm not sure), and has the advantage of being producible at home. It is probably also a lot cheaper than the helium that has been used ever since the Hindenburg.

* When the balloon pops (well into the video), the strap seems to flop around for quite a while. In fact, it almost seems to be orbiting the camera, which makes sense when you think about it- with no air resistance to speak of, there's nothing to slow it down. All of the energy introduced into it through the balloon pop and strap tension is kept in motion, as it won't bleed off very fast.

* It would be really cool to see this thing pop and burn with the amount of hydrogen in it!