Boomerang Dave's Boomerang Journal

Blog: Booming in Avon, CT

Fri, 23 May 2008 15:21:57 GMT

The following are comments by Art Rentz and me, following a get together in Avon CT to throw boomerangs'

ART: Notes from my session with Mr. Hendricks. That man has an arm on
him I wouldn't believe. I had a red translucent ABS Pro-Fly that I
couldn't get to turn the corner at all, so I put it in the back of the
shelf. That was one of the booms I put into my bag. I gave Dave that Pro-fly telling him it wouldn't work for me. Well... he gave that a fling and it went out at least 40 m and came right back to him. WOW. And he doesn't look like he's throwing hard at all. So of course I told that now he had trained it he has to keep it and take care of it.

DAVE: I found the red ABS Profly to be a bit slippery. I had to get a good grip on it to get lots of spin. With my quick turn around at home, I had forgot to pack boomerangs for Art (although I remembered the one for his wife). I'll have some for him next time, which should be soon.

ART: We had a great time throwing our boomerangs. This was the first time I had thrown booms with another person and it was a great learning experience. I had such a good time watching Dave throw booms out 50 meters with what looked like no effort at all. I gave him a Rusty I made from 6mm 5 ply Russian Birch and he tossed that boom further than it's designed to go and brought it back to his hand first try. A real pleasure to watch. "I know your going to be reading this Dave, so don't get too big a head"

DAVE: Yes, it was really fun, until the storms hit. I was surprised we could use the field so long without anyone chasing us off. Art was throwing well, just not as far. I was using heavier rangs to fight the wind. I wasn't really showing off. BTW, Art's "Rusty" traditional is a fine work of craftsmanship. Smooth finish and nice artwork. I am proud to include it in my collection. You can see me holding it in the photo, along with two boomerangs Art made from fast food trays. He used a design of mine called the Lemon Lyme Spotted Fever Tick.

ART: We had a ball, he had brought one of his coworkers along who had never thrown a boomerang before. Another ringer I think. This fellow Joe was throwing like a pro after a couple of tries to get the feel of it. I felt insignificant next to these guys. Joe was throwing a vee shaped bo om and throwing it out 40 - 50 meters and getting it to come right back to him. Although I gave him a 1/4" 5 ply Dragonfly to throw and I told him if he caught it in 5 throws it was his. The last throw just bounced off his fingertips. That one I can catch.

DAVE: Joe was a newbie and not a ringer. His first throws were high and with little spin. Once he got the idea, he was pretty much unstoppable. He had lots of nice throws and was getting into catching them. It was nice seeing Joe do well with a boomerang I made.

BoomerangDave

Photos of our session are at: http://sports.webshots.com/album/5635589

Blog: Thoughts from first timers....

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:00:31 GMT

The following are comments from a group of us whom got together to throw boomerangs after work. Russ and Hector were firstimers. Joe was on his second outing. Art has been at this for a year and I have ben doing this for 18 years.

RUSS: This was my first experience throwing boomerangs and I really enjoyed it. I was amazed at the speed and distance you can get out them based on different throwing techniques. However, I was even more amazed that I actually got a few boomerangs to return to me, but of course I failed to catch them!

HECTOR: Prior to our boomerang outing, the only experience I had was simply being familiar with the basic theory. You throw the boomerang and if you do it right, it should come back to you. Sounds easy, right? I was in for a big surprise once I got to the field. It was so much harder than it looked. My first few throws I was aiming to high. Then I wasn't getting enough spin. Then my delivery was side arm. Then the wind started blowing so I had to aim another direction. Needless to say, I got my exercise in that day chasing after my boomerang. And that was just throwing the piece of it. Next came the catching part, which ncluded other techniques. Unfortunately, I didn't even have a chance to catch many of my throws. I was more so just chasing after them. However, I felt like I did improve as the day went on. I did catch one before we left and I was very proud of myself. Coincidently, the camera was put away already at that time and I have no concrete proof that I caught one!

DAVE: It's always fun to see a first timer get a boomerang to work. When it magically comes back they just can't believe it. Russ had the technique but not the power. Hector had the power but not the technique. Joe, on his second outing had loads of power and technique. Hector did improve throughout the session and has 4 eyewitnesses who will vouch for that last minute catch.

HECTOR: All in all, the boomerang experience did exceed my expectations. It is definitely a lot harder than it looks and if your technique is off, you will be sure to get lots of exercise. Also, if you don't do much throwing in general, be prepared to be sore for a couple days! I learned something new and now I have something to talk about if I ever run into other boomerang enthusiasts.

DAVE: Exercise? I need to start throwing bad so I can lose more weight. Maybe that, or I need to chase down every throw.

ART: It was a lot of fun throwing with these guys. I have more experience than all except Dave but I still have a lot to learn. We were out there to have fun and it was. We all had to chase errant throws and a few times we almost got beaned. Kind of scary to hear a boom goes wooshing past your head. I'm looking forward to our next outing. Thanks Dave.

DAVE: I think more of the scary throws were caused by the terrible sun angle we had to deal with. Almost every throw came screaming in from out of the sun. It was hard to follow them in when you couldn't see.

Photo: left to right, Dave, Art, Joe, Hector and Russ

Blog: Bob Burwell boomerangs

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:40:54 GMT

ART: This evening I had a chance to get together with Dave Hendricks for a throwing session. Before we met today, Dave said he wasn't really prepared for a session as he had brought "only a bag of Bob Burwell boomerangs". Never having seen a Burwell up close and personal I took Dave's statement as said. Well, let me tell you...

DAVE: Ok, I was setting him up. I had a spare Burwell available and instead of bringing a variety of other stuff, I decided just to pack the Burwells. Besides, I did only bring those, it's not like I had other boomerangs with me. Now, it would have been better if I remembered to pack my sneakers too. Is it happened, I had to throw in my work clothes, which were slacks, a long sleeve shirt and dress shoes. It was low 80's and a bit uncomfortable.

ART: Dave had a bag full of Bob Burwell boomerangs and I've never seen such beautifully worked wood. (see photo) There must have been 25 boomerangs in the bag and I got to throw them all.

DAVE: I think there were 26 before Art got his. The oldest one is dated 1986, the newest is 2008. Everyone is slightly different and it was fun to compare them to each other. I was really impressed this time with the small Lazy Seven, the Modified Lazy Seven, A C-Hook and the Pine Viper Mate. Some of these I have not thrown for a while and it was good to get them out again. It was pretty cool to get out the small triblade of Bob's and make a finger catch on my first try. I think Art felt I was showing off.

ART: I am now the proud owner of a PJ5. Thank you Dave for the boomerang and the opportunity to see and throw the rest of these marvelous booms, and thank you Mr. Burwell for making it possible. The workmanship on these boomerangs is superb. The words "only" and "Burwell" should never be used in the same sentence.

DAVE: Well, unless the sentence is "I am only thowing Burwell's today"

ART: If any one out there gets the chance to throw a Burwell boomerang, take it. It is so nice to see the large lazy circle they make, and the hover at the end of the flight that makes it a pleasure to catch. The PJ5 is marked 25m but we paced off a throw at 35m and that was just the average distance on this boom.

DAVE: If you are throwing with me, I'll gladly let you try some. Art had the pick of the bag. Over the weekend I was camping with a group from church and they got to throw some Burwell's too. One got stuck in a tree and report in another journal entry.

BoomerangDave

Blog: The thrill of victory....

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:22:04 GMT

....and the agony of defeat.

Thursday lunchtime flight testing of some new boomerangs I got from Bob Burwell. With afternoon thunderstorms looming on the horizon, I decide to take a chance and test the boomerangs anyway. The wind was a bit stronger than I would have liked but I need to throw when the opportunity comes along. Bob had sent me 4 models, some of these to be passed on to two other boomerang enthusiasts. The models were the Mini Rippah, Modified Lazy Seven, Pal Joey 5 and weighted Pal Joey 6. Here are my comments.

Mini Rippah, 5mm Hoop Pine 5 ply Marine grade, 20 to 30 meter range, reversible. This is a smaller version of Bob's Rippah and it's a joy to throw. Very easy, almost flies with just a flick of the wrist. I'll be sure to keep it for beginners as they will do well with it.

PJ5, 5mm Hoop Pine 5 ply Marine grade, 25 to 35 meter range. The PJ5 is very nice and easy to throw. It has good hover too making catches very easy.. Very accurate and did a good job in the wind too. Another boomerang I would not hesitate to loan to newbies as they will master it quickly.

Lazy Seven. 6mm Hoop Pine 5 ply Marine grade, 30 to 40 meter range. The Lazy Seven is very nice to throw and accurate. It's easy to catch too. It looks great and is a winner in my book.

PJ6 weighted, 6mm Hoop Pine 5 ply Marine grade. Weighted with a Australian five cent piece at each end, 50 to 55 meter range. I simply am amazed with this boomerang. I have always be in love with Bob's Viper and didn't think I would ever see a boomerang outperform it. Was I ever wrong! After warming up with all the other boomerangs I pulled out a Viper so I could check the performance of the PJ6. I made two throws with the Viper and had it come up short (maybe I wasn't warmed up enough). I tried the PJ6 and it screamed out farther than the Viper and sailed right in. I tried another and got the same results. Then a third PJ6 and I was hooked. This is an amazing boomerang. I can't believe that a hoop pine Joey out performs a 12 ply Finland Birch boomerang.

My next thing will be more difficult. Two of those PJ6 need to go to other people and I am going to have a hard time parting with them. I'll be packing their boxes and sending them on the way. I am sure these guys are going to love the boomerangs.

Friday morning update. When packing the boomerangs last night I couldn't find my Viper. I had the sneaky suspicion that yesterday when I was testing I didn't pick up the throw that came up short. Not finding the Viper in my bag had me really worried. Early this morning I headed out to the field to see if it was there. I checked the soccer field I was using and had no luck. I was using one of the soccer fields that is closed, which meant there should have been less people walking on it. There were a lot of storms that rolled through in the afternoon and evening so I was hoping no one saw it and picked it up. I guess I was wrong. I could kick myself for not picking it up after I threw it. I am in the agony of defeat, or maybe the loss.

BoomerangDave

Blog: Stuck up a tree

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:54:54 GMT

I was camping all weekend, a bunch of us from church went together. Our campsites were right on the edge of a field which was big enough for 30 meter rangs. Of course I had plenty with me so started throwing after we got our camper set up. Some of the group decided to join me and get some pointers. One of the guys, Ken, had thrown before, but only with backyarders. I tried various boomerangs with him and he was getting pretty good with my new PJ5 from Bob Burwell. I finally decided I had enough and headed to the camper for a cold one.

Ken was still throwing but as I walked in off the field, he moved in too. Not the best idea, because of RV's and trees. Ken made a throw, and it was a bit laid out. The boomerang heads up and into the tree at our neighbor's RV (not part of our group). I dug out my baseball and started tossing it at the boomerang hitting it a few time but not knocking it down. The the baseball landed on top of the RV and I was left without something to throw. My kylies were at home so that was not an option. Ken got a rope and a weight and tried to loop over the branch. We finally had to quit to make and eat supper.

Saturday after doing some sightseeing, we got back to camp. I started to look at what was available to get the boomerang back. I had 2 load bars from my pickup truck and removed the feet. I also had a 4 foot aluminum pole and removed one adjustable pole from my screen room. I duct taped a picnic tablecloth holder to the short pole for a hook, then taped that pole to the adjustable one. With one of the load bars taped on we could just about reach the branch.

We taped the second load bar on and Ken took over. I think he felt guilty for getting the boomerang stuck. Sneaking the poles past the branch he was able to snag the branch and pull down. All of a sudden the boomerang pops off the branch and tumbles it's way down. Then all I was stuck with was 20 plus feet of poles taped together. I had to disassemble them and put them back in their proper place.

BoomerangDave

Blog: Visiting Gary Broadbent Part 2

Wed, 21 May 2008 17:24:26 GMT

Saturday was a day in the shop, unless it was teaching visitors to make boomerangs and how to throw them. Things just sort of happen when I am visiting Gary and I never know what to expect. Two women stopped by with their daughters, who were in a basketball tournament in town. One woman had seen Gary's demo at a school the previous week and they decided to take up his offer. Gary showed them boomerangs, and then all four got to make an invertible boomerang in Gary's shop. Although it was drizzling, we still hit the field to test the boomerangs and get some throwing instruction in.

I did get boomerangs made, and picked up some materials for home. I also was lucky enough o use Gary's carbide tipped band saw blade to cut out about a dozen Voyagers from G10 from material I brought along. I also made a couple Ice Runners and Karma 2 booms. That was certainly a big improvement over using my saber saw at home to cut the G10. Sanding and shaping at home is easy.

Tom Brausch showed up in the afternoon and we decided to make a 4mm copy of the Deep Woods fish. We made 3 and hit the field to test. Our copies were going near 50 meters! We decided to do a wood burn detail on the copies. They look pretty good.

Sunday morning was a wrap up of things. I paid Gary for some materials I wanted and for some special zero clearance router bits. Gary had recently received a bunch of 1/4 inch thick lexan (polycarbonate). The sheets were 7 foot 3 inch by 9 feet. I was taking some home so we had to make it smaller. It must have been quite a sight to see four of use balancing these huge sheets and running them through a portable table saw to cut smaller. I think I have enough lexan to last a lifetime. We finished loading up, said our goodbyes and headed out of Ohio and across PA to get home. It was a great weekend.

Photo: Original Deep Woods Fish and three modern copies.

Blog: Visiting Gary Broadbent

Wed, 21 May 2008 17:22:46 GMT

I visited boomerang guru Gary Broadbent this past weekend. If you have not been to Gary's, you should try a plan a trip. Gary has such a collection of boomerangs and aboriginal artifacts it is worth the trip alone. You walk in the door and see walls full of strip laminated and hardwood lap joint boomerangs. Other boomerangs are around the house and elsewhere.

Gary has a great shop with lots of sanding stations and almost any type of material you can imagine. He also has several router mounted in tables to speed the process. His bandsaw is a nice one and he has a special blade for cutting composites, which ruin regular steel blades, you can certainly make any kind of boomerang you want. People are always stopping by because Gary invites them when he does a demo.

Just before we arrived at Gary's he had a visit from a woman who wanted him to identify a few boomerangs that belonged to her late husband. These were two Deep Woods boomerangs, which he had purchased in Ocean City MD between 25 and 30 years ago. None of us had ever seen this "brand" before. The boomerangs included a fish boomerang which resembled an antique fish decoy and a Bird boomerang painted as a cardinal. The cardinal is sort of unusual as it is a very old triblade, something that was not very popular 30 years ago.

Friday evening we did a demo for a scout camp. After a 75 minute drive we arrived at the camp around 6:30 and the demo was supposed to start at 7. Time marched on and we finally got it going way too late. Before the demo, a woman and her grandchildren came up to us holding a boomerang which stopped Gary and I cold. Ever from a distance we could see the logo and could tell it was another Deep Woods boomerang, the third on of the day. This one was a left hand traditional. After playing 20 questions, we discovered it was her son's boomer, who has been living in the Ocean City area for over 25 years.

Gary is amazing to watch for these demos. He talks, and with lots of humor, presents his story of boomerangs. Adults and kids alike laugh. Kids are sucked into his talk. He doesn't throw anything for nearly an hour and when he does, they go nuts. Moving from roomerangs, to backyarders, then regular boomerangs and up to his Colossal Comeback, he builds excitement. It is quite a show. We ended up selling boomerangs in the dark, autographing nearly everyone (I had no idea people wanted my autograph). Gary had asked me to bring some plywood boomerangs to sell, since he has been too busy to make any. This was a bonus for me as I got much more selling them with him, then I get normally. We finally left the camp about 10:30pm, after breaking away from the kids who still wanted their boomerangs signed. Getting back to Gary's place we were relieved that Jacinda and Barb had picked up barbecue for supper and we ate around midnight. Then it was back to the hotel hitting the sack around 1:30am (my normal time is 10pm)

Photo: Gary talking at the scout camp

Blog: New Aussie Record!

Sat, 10 May 2008 10:50:42 GMT

I just received some great news from my friend Bob Burwell in Brisbane. My good friend, Tim Lendrum, set a new Aussie record in Trick Catch/Doubling with a points score of 114. He set the record and took the all around title during the Boomerang Association of Australia's National Championship held at Beenleigh Queensland. I first met Tim when I visited Australia in 2005. Tim and I got together to throw boomerangs near Sydney on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. The photo was taken that day.

BoomerangDave

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Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:22:06 GMT

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Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:21:41 GMT

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Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:21:10 GMT

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Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:27:59 GMT

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Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:21:13 GMT

Ian and I at a picnic held at my employer's location. This was a "social" held to get the email buddies (CAI and Sacred Heart School) together in person.

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Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:21:27 GMT

Ian after graduation from 8th grade, holding the special Bill Elliott boomerangs I made him.

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Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:22:14 GMT

Ian and I with some of the boomerangs he made for his graduation project.

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Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:21:43 GMT

Ian and I at the 2005 Emmaus boomerang tournament

Album: Dave and Ian

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:18:46 GMT

Photos of Ian and I with boomerangs.

Album: Just boomerangs

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:12:30 GMT

Better photos of some of the boomerangs in the journal entries

Album: Night Boomerangs

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 13:37:54 GMT

Photos of various night boomernags

Link: Ian's Boomerang Project Photo Album

Sun, 08 Jul 2007 15:15:54 GMT

Link: Australia trip photos Vol 3 & 4

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 11:57:02 GMT

Australia trip photos: Ayer's Rock, the Olgas, Sydney

Link: Australia trip photos Vol 1 & 2

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 11:55:00 GMT

Australia trip photos: Melbourne, Yarra Valley, SE Coast, Sydney

Link: Dave's Boomerang Site

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 14:10:40 GMT

Everything you wanted to know about boomerangs and more. Online catalog, crafting hints, photos and links.

Calendar: 11th Annual National Chilli Pepper Food Festival

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 14:00:27 GMT

2006-09-10
Bowers Chile Pepper Food Festival - A must event for all chileheads. So popular it's been expanded to a two day festival. 9AM to 6PM
http://www.pepperfestival.com/

Calendar: 11th Annual National Chilli Pepper Food Festival

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 13:59:43 GMT

2006-09-09
Bowers Chile Pepper Food Festival - A must event for all chileheads. So popular it's been expanded to a two day festival. 9AM to 6PM
http://www.pepperfestival.com/

Calendar: Pocono Garlic Festival

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 13:52:23 GMT

2006-09-02
STROUDSBURG - Pocono Garlic Festival 2006 is all day long, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Saturday, September 2, at Stroudsburg, PA. Admission is free, but bring money. Thousands and thousands of garlic lovers will be making a pilgrimage that day to partake in the joyous event in beautiful downtown Stroudsburg, which has proclaimed itself the Garlic Capital of the World. This year's festival will be held in charming Courthouse Square, right in the heart of town.
http://www.poconogarlic.com/welcome.html

Calendar: Meadow View Farm Field Days

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 13:49:35 GMT

2006-09-10
13th Annual Chile Pepper and Heirloom Tomato Field Day, 9AM to 6PM

Calendar: Meadow View Farm Field Days

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 13:48:59 GMT

2006-09-08
13th Annual Chile Pepper and Heirloom Tomato Field Day, 9AM to 6PM

Album: Boomerang Videos

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 13:46:20 GMT

Boomerang Videos

Album: Throwing Booms

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 11:51:20 GMT

Photos of Dave and others throwing or catching boomerangs.

Calendar: Christmas Eve

Mon, 31 Jul 2006 20:17:55 GMT

2006-12-24
Christmas Eve

Calendar: Martin Luther King Day

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 19:58:00 GMT

2007-01-15
In the name of love...remembering an American hero.

Calendar: Ground Hog Day

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 18:58:44 GMT

2007-02-02
Will the ground hog see his shadow?

Album: My Tunes

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 21:09:40 GMT

My audio files