Rusty Harding is one of America's best known boomerang manufacturers. I first met Rusty in 1979 when both of us were living in Florida. Rusty was a lefty thrower who was making sporting and competition boomerang models at his home in Vero Beach, Florida. In the 1980s and 1990s, Rusty moved to Lebanon, Tennessee where he continued to make boomerangs for the retail market. Rusty still makes a few boomerangs, but his old classics are becoming valuable collectables. The Harding boomerangs that have the highest collectable value are the Concept models that were made out of lapped hardwood boards and had angles of 60, 70 or 90 degrees. These were often weighted. Rusty's Hurricane Hook and Contender [omega] designs are the most popular sporting models.

This boomerang was given to Eric Muhs, a scientist from Seattle, who works at the South Pole. As can be imagined, there is not a lot to do at the South Pole, so boomerang throwing is a major passtime there. When a boomerang is thrown around the pole, it traverses all 360º (24 hours) of longitude. This boomerang was thrown repeatedly around the pole in the summer of 2002/2003 (December is like June in the Northern Hemisphere). The boomerang is signed by Eric Muhs and a Chinese scientist named Xinhua Bai with a note about the boomerang being thrown around the pole. This boomerang was made in 1999. It is an excellent flyer with a range of 20-25 metres. There are some dings on the tips and a ding on the outer elbow from hitting the pole marker. It is still a valuable novelty collectable boomerang.