Boomerang (and other Flying Toys) Safety Rules

Everything that flies through the air is a missile that can cause injury to the body or property if rule of safety and common sense are not practised by the thrower. There is little risk of injury when throwing certain flying objects, such as light indoor foam boomerangs. Other flying objects, such as sporting boomerangs, are unlikely to cause major bodily injury unless they impact delicate body tissues, such as the eyes. A few flying devices, such as throwsticks, throwing clubs and atlatls, can cause severe injury to any part of the body and should be used with strict safety rules. By purchasing products from www.flight-toys.com, you assume full responsibility for using these products safely and you agree that you will not hold the seller and/or the manufacturer responsible for your intentional or accidental misuse of these products. If you are purchasing these products for a minor, you agree to fully supervise the minor to insure the safe use of the products.

Most children under the age of 10 are not good at judging distances (spacial relationships). You can see this when a young child tries to catch a ball with a mitt and doesn't close his/her mitt in time. Boys generally develop spacial relationship skills a little earlier than girls. Most children develop reasonably good spacial relationship skills by the age of 12. Therefore, younger children should never attempt to catch a boomerang (as well as other flying devices).

Eye protection is important when throwing every flying object. I have a friend who lost an eye when she was hit by a badminton birdie and nobody thinks of badminton as a dangerous sport, so please be careful and use protective eye wear. This is especially true for children.

If you purchase a sling, remember that David brought down Goliath with one of these devices. Slings have been used as effective defensive tools since the dawn of history, so be careful and don't launch heavy objects anywhere near other people or property. Supervise children carefully as they have poor judgement on the distance that sling ammo will travel.

If you purchase an atlatl or throwstick or other potentially dangerous device, you agree to excercise the same care and caution as you would do with archery or target shooting. Make sure that the target is not near people or property and that there is plenty of clear space behind the target so that you can avoid injury to anyone who passes behind the target. Generally, the clear area behind a target should be at least 2 times and preferably 3 times the flight range of a flying device. Use the same rules as you would in archery so that no one is walking in front of the throwing line when these devices are in use.

If you purchased a heavy boomerang, or an extreme range boomerang or a boomerang made out of a dense material like Paxolin or Aluminum, you must exercise extreme caution, such as you would when using an atlatl or throwstick (see above). Avoid catching these as you can get serious hand and face injuries.

If you purchased a boomerang, do not allow children to throw it without adult supervision. Do not throw in strong or gusting winds. Calm or light winds are ideal and be aware that wind direction can change at any time. Never throw sidearm as you would a frisbee or let friends throw your boomerang without proper instructions. When throwing with others, establish a rule that only one boomerang will be airborne at a time and all eyes will follow it's flight from launch to landing. Do not throw unless there is a clear space all around you, free of obstructions such as people, cars, roads, houses, etc. The clear space should be 100 metres for a boomerang with a flight range of 30 metres that is thrown so that the flight is in the center of the space and the space should be proportionally larger for longer range boomerangs or if the wind is stronger than in ideal conditions.

Protect your face more than any other part of your body and especially protect your eyes. Most boomerang throwers will attempt to catch their boomerangs. When you get good enough to compete in a tournament, you will be required to catch a boomerang with two hands, one hand, behind your back, under the leg, and with your feet while laying on the ground. The general rules for catching are: (1) do not try to catch a boomerang when it is at the same elevation as your face. Let the boomerang drop to your waist level or below your waist before you attempt the catch. The reason for this is that if you miss the boomerang, it can deflect off of your hands in the plane of spin and hit your face. It is unlikely to do this if the boomerang is spinning in a plane that is not in line with your head. (2) With a one handed catch, it is safest to bring a hand underneath for the catch. I stick a finger up into the hole at the center of rotation and then grab as soon as I feel contact between my finger and the boomerang. (3) Watch where you are going when running to catch a boomerang. My most serious injury was to my legs as I was running hard while looking up and not at the ground. My legs collided with a heavy metal lime spreader and down I went. I have seen other boomerang throwers break collarbones diving for a catch or running into other people and with their heads hitting at high speed. Boomerangs were only indirectly involved with these injuries.

It is impossible to cover every safety issue. It is amazing what some people will do with some commercial products and this sometimes requires a manufacturer to add safety instructions against doing things that would be common sense to most individuals. Therefore, don't eat any of these products. Do not heat these products in your oven and then grab them with your bare hands. Do not try to retrieve a flying toy if it is dangling on a power line or at the edge of a cliff. I can't think of and list all the rediculous things that some people would do, so please don't do anything that would lead others to question your intelligence or enhance your ability to wind up on Darwin's list of the likely to survive.

Have Fun, But Use Common Sense!!!


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