Boomerang FAQs Copyright SkillToyz 2018
Are you RIGHT or LEFT handed?
Boomerangs are made for either right or left handed players. We sell both right and left-handed boomerangs.
Make sure you select the right one when you order!
RH = Right Handed
LH = Left Handed
Want a recommendation?
New to boomerangs? Want to try one to see if you like them? Younger player? Want something almost indestructible? Our recommendation has to be the Outdoor Magic boomerang by Rangs Magic (now called the Outdoor Booma by Wicked Vision). Affordable, fun, very tough and durable, easy to throw, lovely circular flight, easy to catch, suitable for all ages (8+ but please supervise younger throwers) with a design that suits both left and right handed players.
Care of your boomerang
Boomerangs will break if they hit a hard surface at speed. This includes concrete, walls, fences, trees, cars, frozen ground, even compacted mud. Even a stone buried in the soft ground under grass can break a boomerang. Breakages are almost inevitable. We cannot refund for broken boomerangs, however soon after purchase this happens! Please only play in a safe area away from obstructions. Never play with a boomerang over a hard surface.
Tuning your boomerang
Most boomerangs will need some degree of tuning to make them fly well. Tuning includes bending, twisting and adding weights and drag to the wings of a boomerang to change its flight pattern. Tuning a boomerang is part of the skill of getting a boomerang to return consistently.
When you purchase a boomerang you are buying a 'blank' which is ready for tuning. Even a very good boomerang will need tuning to function well. Indeed, the more expensive rangs like the Blue Star Rangs will need a lot of tuning to get them to return well.
For more information on tuning boomerangs follow the maker's instructions and/or search on the internet for "Tuning boomerangs". The British Boomerang Society web site [LINK] has some very good articles on this subject.
Health and Safety
Boomerangs can be dangerous, please use them properly. Please observe the minimum recommended ages and ensure that responsible adult supervision is provided for all children.
Boomerangs can cause injury to other people and animals. Do NOT use near other people or animals.
Boomerangs will become uncontrollable and unpredictable in excessively windy conditions. This can be dangerous for both the player and any people or animals in the vicinity.
DO NOT USE IN EXCESSIVELY WINDY CONDITIONS.
Allow plenty extra space around you when you throw a boomerang. They can fly a lot further than you expect, especially if thrown badly or if a gust of wind carries the boomerang off course. Some winds can even carry a boomerang high into the sky. Be careful.
Boomerangs can hurt or injure you if they are caught badly. CATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK! Consider wearing protective padded gloves.
Do not attempt to catch a boomerang if it is at head height.
A note about boomerang durability (or Boomerangs break!)
Picture the scene. You throw a boomerang only to watch with dismay as it climbs high into the air and then descends at great speed and nosedives into the dirt. Maybe it wasn’t thrown quite right, the tuning was wrong, or a gust of wind caught it. You run over to pick it up only to find it has snapped or cracked.
Breakages are inevitable, even for experienced throwers, and you shouldn’t take up boomerangs unless you are prepared to accept that. When you throw a boomerang you are throwing it hard and with as much spin as you can mange into the air. The boomerang has to stop somewhere! Boomerangs can break when they crash, and also when you are tuning them. The first few throws of a boomerang can be the most dangerous, as you learn how to throw and tune that particular model.
Many factors determine the robustness of a boomerang. These include the material, thickness, shape and weight. Some boomerangs are more robust than others and here are a few pointers to help you choose.
Boomerang Material
Standard Plywood is probably the least durable of boomerang materials and tends to be thicker and heavier. If a boomerang is simply described as ‘wooden’ or ‘plywood’, it is probably made from cheap standard plywood. These can be quite prone to breakages, but are relatively cheap.
Aviation plywood is far superior, having many more plies (layers of wood) per inch making it stronger but more expensive. Aviation plywood boomerangs are often a bit thinner and so lighter than standard wooden boomerangs. Even so, boomerangs made from aviation ply can break in a crash!
Wood is a natural material with inherent variations in weight and strength. Wood is easily worked, with a natural beauty and remains a popular material for boomerang construction.
Synthetic materials such as plastics are becoming much more common, and are generally stronger. Some synthetic materials such as Paxolin can be brittle, especially in cold weather. Please take note of any warnings given for your boomerang. Synthetic materials have the advantage of a more uniform density and strength, and most are easier to tune for flight. Many will even retain their shape when tuned. But even some seemingly robust plastic materials can snap on impact - it is not impossible to break these boomerangs, but they tend to be more durable than wooden models.
Boomerang Thickness and Weight
Thicker boomerangs are generally stronger than thinner ones, but conversely they are heavier. Heavier boomerangs will need more effort to throw, and will succumb to gravity sooner. Heavier boomerangs will have more energy when they hit anything and so may be more prone to damage. So a very thick, heavy wooden boomerang may be more easily broken during use than a light weight thin one.
Shape
Curved shape boomerangs tend to be stronger than angled boomerangs such as the Vee design. All two bladed boomerangs have a natural weak spot at the join of the blades. Two bladed boomerangs can also be more prone to nose-diving into the ground, the commonest cause of breaks in our experience. From experience, Tri blade boomerangs seem to be more tolerant of bad throws, tending to hover down to the ground rather than dive-bombing it.
Please do not assume that more expensive boomerangs will be stronger. This is not necessarily true! Indeed, the most durable boomerang we sell is one of the cheapest, being made from injection molded plastics (the lovely Outdoor Booma).