Customer Reviews

Aerobie Orbiter Boomerang - Orange

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I've never been crazy about Frisbees and real wooden boomerangs seem awfully heavy to be throwing around the park, but I love flight and flying machines and gadgets so I had to have one when I saw this. I have 4 now and everywhere I go I'm checking for places to throw it. I keep them in the trunk just in case.
It works like a charm after you've figured it out. Doesn't work well in wind as explained in the instructions, but a small breeze is ok. Wish they made them with LEDs so I could play at night. WAAAAAAAy cooler than a Frisbee, much safer than a wooden boomerang, and it's not necessary to have a partner to play.

I had a plywood boomerang as a kid that I loved to throw around - until one day it hit a concrete sidewalk and splintered one of the aerodynamically-contoured ends. I hadn't played with another 'rang until recently at an outdoor get-together with friends. One of them had one of these for their kids, and I just had to try it out. It flew perfectly! I was even able to catch it consistently after a few tries, and the soft rubber edges didn't slice off my fingers or bruise my wrists. The trick with any boomerang is to throw it at just the right angle into the wind. This one would return fairly closely even when the wind suddenly died - a normal occurrence for southern Arizona. (It's always either dead calm, or gusting up to forty or more miles an hour, it seems.) The flight pattern was excellent: a nice, wide arc, and a gentle float back to the ground on the return (after the sort-of slow-flying see-saw at the end, like a frisbee).

A note on technique: if a child has not yet mastered the art of "flicking the wrist" when throwing to impart a good spin, they will not get enough spin on this for a good flight and may get frustrated quickly (or may still be entertained for hours, depending on the nature of the child). Also, as aforementioned, the angle of flight relative to the wind - and the strength or even existence of any wind at all - is key to a good return. A right-handed design, like this and most other traditional boomerangs, should be thrown over-hand with the 'rang held vertically (with the top facing left), pointing into and somewhat left of the direction of oncoming wind. For example, if the wind is from the north, the throw should be towards the northwest or even west-northwest. The less wind, the more deflection needed, though not past ninety degrees to the wind. Directions should be reversed for left-handed designs. Lastly, the more spin put on the boomerang, the more lift it will have to finish the returning flight and less likely that it will dive into the ground prematurely. It's all about technique, and less about strength.

Following (and practicing!) these tips will ensure a great flight every time.

My 7 year old son saw this in the store and just HAD to have it. I really didn't want to get it for him,as I have yet to see a boomerang that actually worked. Well I gave in. So Glad we got it.

I will say this,it's not for smaller children(to be honest,my 7 year old is really to small for it) The reason I say this,is it takes someone with some arm strength to get this to work. But my son had a blast running after it. He tries to throw it,but has yet to get it to come back to him,mainly because he isn't strong enough to get it to go the full circle.

This also isn't for someone who has a small yard and that's the only place you have to use it. My front yard is about 1 acre with trees along the front road way. It took lots of it flying into the trees before we realized exactly where to stand for it not to go into the top of the trees. You need a really large open area for it to fly right and come back to you.

You have to do it JUST right for it to work. Tilt your hand at too much of an angle,it will just dip to the ground. But that's what made it so much fun for my son. He loved running around trying to figure out where it's going to go to catch it. But he gets Real happy when he sees it actually come back to you.

About 2 days ago my Son threw it and it landed on top of the house. :(
He was soo upset. He wanted to get up there to get it. I told him if he fell off,it would probably kill him. I told him we'd just buy another next trip to Walmart. He loves this so much. So after awhile he told me...I don't know whether to wait and get a new one or die trying to get that one. LOL That's how much he likes this.

It's a great thing to get your kids outside playing. Even though you have to do everything just so to get this to work,I'll defiantly be getting another one.

I got this for my 7-year-old son for Christmas. We live in Oklahoma City, and there are probably 2-3 days a year that the wind is less than 5 MPH. Our first throw put the boomerang on top of the neighbors house. It's still there as I'm writing this review. These things are so flat they don't come down off a roof, even with strong winds and rain pulling at them.

We bought another one and found a wide open area, as suggested in the instructions. The other two reviews are very accurate in their stating that it is difficult to learn how to throw correctly. But a challenge is sometimes part of the fun. Once we figured out the angle and the strength to use when throwing this boomerang, it started to come right back to us as promised.

My advice is to be patient, and if you live in Oklahoma, find an indoor soccer field!