Land Paddle

At the beach I had seen people on long boards pushing themselves around with these big sticks. They looked pretty fun so I was interested in getting one. But after learning the price on these was $100 and up I decided to make one myself.

The end product works great and I think it looks pretty cool. So if you’re looking to have some fun for a fraction of the price, let’s get to it!

If you like this and want to learn more or see what other things I'm up to check out my website at travderose.com

Supplies you need:

• 1¼” or 1½” wooden dowel – Home Depot has these
• Vurtego pogo stick bounce pad – Vurtego sells these here: http://www.vurtegopogo.com/product/bounce-pad/ – you could also use a tennis ball or something similar but this looked and worked the best for me

• Wood glue or 2 part epoxy

Tools you need:

• Saw
• Sanding block or power sander with sand paper
• Drill
• 1¼” or 1½” drill bit depending on the size of your wooden dowel
• Dremel

Supplies you might need:

• Plasti Dip – Home Depot also carries this
• Wood stain

Cut your wooden dowel to about the height of the rider’s forehead when standing on the skateboard.

Next you’ll need to cut the handle using the remaining material. I cut my handle about 4 1/2 inches long but do whatever’s comfortable for you. Then sand everything down until it has a nice feel and finish.

If you like this and want to learn more or see what other things I'm up to check out my website at travderose.com

Find the center of your handle and, using the 1¼” or 1½” drill bit, drill into the handle about ¾” deep. You’ll use this to sit the long piece of your paddle to your handle. Be sure to sand where you drilled to a nice finish.

Drill a hole through the top of your handle and into the land paddle. Use your glue to attach the two together and insert a screw through the hole you just drilled.

You should now have a handle attached to your land paddle!

For the base of my land paddle I thought back to my days when I rode a pogo stick. I figured the base we used for our pogo sticks would work for a land paddle. It turns out I was right! The Vurtego pogo stick bounce pad has worked great for me. You can buy them here for $20: http://www.vurtegopogo.com/product/bounce-pad/

The bounce pad is made for a square shaft. Since our land paddle is round, we need to cut the bottom of our dowel into a square so the bounce pad can be securely mounted. To do this I used the dremel to cut a square the depth of the bounce pad. This takes a lit bit of fitting but it’s not too difficult.

If you plan to stain your land paddle continue to step 4. If not, skip to step 5 to mount the base on your land paddle.

If you like this and want to learn more or see what other things I'm up to check out my website at travderose.com

If you plan to stain your land paddle, this is a good time to do it. Staining before you mount your base will allow you to get a better finish on it.

Simply wipe on and wipe off your stain to your desired finish.

To attach the bounce pad simply drill and insert a screw from the bottom and up into the land paddle. It’s pretty simple, so it’s also easy to replace if you ever need to.

If you like this and want to learn more or see what other things I'm up to check out my website at travderose.com

This is an optional step but I found that Plasti Dip was great to hold and gave the land paddle a nice look.

Simply mask off where you want your handle and spray on the Plast Dip just like spray paint. The Plasti Dip gives a nice rubbery feeling that is durable and nice to hold on to.

You’re done! Add any graphics or anything you want to your land paddle to customize it. I added a nice “Trav Design” stamp to mine.

Now go out and have some fun and get in a little bit of a workout too. Now agreeably this doesn’t flex as much as the Kahuna Stick so I probably can’t go as fast. But it is just as much fun and I probably get a better workout using this instead. Plus you get a lot of questions when you go out with a land paddle so it is cool to tell people I built this myself. Anyway, it works great for me and I even built another one for my girlfriend. We both have a blast with these things!

-Trav

If you like this and want to learn more or see what other things I'm up to check out my website at travderose.com