[blindkid] never stands still

Sat Jun 12 04:22:05 UTC 2010

Does the Reebok happen to have both a handle or net surround and  
traditional (metal) springs? There must be more around that are better  
built than I have found. Many of the trampolines for kids have some  
sort of bungee solution for the springs and those all give up after a  
while.

What I really want is basically what I have except with springs that  
hook to (or around with some sort of mount) the frame in a non-self- 
destructive way. I only went searching hard for a design with real  
springs that looked stronger once we broke our fourth unit with  
bungees (well, the first was really with elastic straps).

I have seen one unit on-line that is rated for a 300 pound adult and  
has a handle to hold as you jump, but none like what we have that is  
small with a surround that looks any stronger than ours. The nice  
thing with the surround netting is Kendra can be relatively safe  
jumping without holding a handle. It gives her more options and I  
suspect also helps develop more lateral stability and control than  
with having to hold onto a bar to jump (or risk flying off to one side).

Richard

On Jun 11, 2010, at 8:16 PM, Kathy B wrote:

> We got our trampoline from ToysRUs for about $60.00.  It's a  
> Reebok.  The only problem we've had with it is my daughter jumps so  
> hard we had to attach weights to it.  Once we did that it's been  
> wonderful.
>
> Kathy
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Richard Holloway <rholloway at gopbc.org>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)"  
> <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Fri, June 11, 2010 1:38:11 AM
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] never stands still
>
> Sure,
>
> The best we've found so far (our fifth small trampoline) has been  
> our Bazoongi 55" Junior Combo Trampoline with Teclon Pad. (That's  
> the official name on the web site.) I mention this with some  
> reservation because we have had some problems with it, but it  has  
> been better than our first four... All of these small units seem to  
> be within a foot or less from the floor.
>
> It has steel springs which I thought would solve everything over our  
> previous elastic and bungee "springs". Well, the springs mount into  
> little slots in the frame. Jump enough and the edge of the punched  
> slot and the hook of the spring rub one another. The holes get  
> longer while the springs get thinner. After about six months,  
> springs began to break. (The hook ends simply snap off.) They sent  
> replacements but then I realized the frame was getting damaged  
> (slots tearing to the center of the frame, my oversight-- could not  
> see that before I took it apart to add the springs though). They  
> sent a new frame but then I realized they sent the wrong frame (too  
> small, their mistake). They sent another frame but then I realized  
> we were short on springs from the first batch (also their mistake).  
> Finally they sent 40 more springs and I replaced every one again.  
> All this took several weeks and I expect to have springs failing  
> again this fall sometime and suspect the
> frame could be getting unsafe a few months after that. People at  
> Bazoongi were very nice and polite and all parts and shipping to  
> date have been free but the hassle factor is still pretty high.
>
> Bottom line is that any of these $100-range products simply seem not  
> to be designed to last for a terribly long time.
>
> The Intex Jump-O-Lene (I assume that's the one?) looks fun, but my  
> first reaction is the sides look low enough that a jumper could  
> vault over the side. Also, ultimately most of these blow-up units  
> spring leaks and deflate. This becomes a huge pain, re-inflating  
> over and again until the leaks are so fast that you can't use them  
> anymore. Adult weight may also pop them if you have to crawl in to  
> rescue a child with a "boo-boo", for example. Usually patch kits are  
> included but these often fail to stop the leaks properly. The  
> trampoline above has about 6 feet of surround netting so there's no  
> chance of that, though you can fall out the door if the netting  
> tears up or the "door" is not closed.
>
> For something smaller than the Bazoongi we have, I'd probably look  
> on their same page at the 48"  Bazoongi® Bouncer. (Comes in pink or  
> orange camo.) This one is $100. (The next one up is only $7 more.)  
> The key difference is that the 55" unit has no actual handle but  
> tall sides with netting while the 48" has no surround netting but  
> does have a padded, "inverted-U" handle. Smaller kids could probably  
> do better with the handle, but if they do let go, there is no safety  
> net so think of that when you set it up. All of these small units  
> (like the 48" and the 55") seem to be within a foot or less from the  
> floor. Carpet with a pad is better than a hard floor. Pillows around  
> it might help, but put them out far enough to catch a rebounding  
> child.
>
> Here is the Bazoongi page:
> http://www.bazoongi.com/trampoline.htm
>
> You could also go in the inflatable bounce house direction of you  
> have enough space and can tolerate the noise of the blower.  
> Honestly, I'd want a basement room to use these inside but they are  
> great to softly stop a fall and the surround nets are strong.  
> However they'd completely fill most of our living rooms, especially  
> when you factor in the blower that has to run all the time it is up.  
> Better for most of us to find outdoor space but then you have winter  
> snow and summer mosquitos to factor in or whatever local  
> frustrations mother nature will throw your way.
>
> I hope that helps a bit.
>
> If anyone else has some better recommendations, please jump in with  
> them. I know of more durable solutions but they are in the larger  
> trampoline and bounce house realm. They require a chunk of outdoor  
> space and are from several hundred dollars to up in the $1000-plus  
> range for even the lower end offerings in that arena.
>
> Richard
>
>
>
> On Jun 10, 2010, at 11:31 PM, Heather wrote:
>
>> Richard, this might be off topic, but since you brought it up,  
>> could you please recommend a good quality small toddler trampoline  
>> and then maybe one for slightly larger kids?  We baught Jeremy one  
>> when he out grew his baby jumper at around 12 months old, but the  
>> one we got was a pain to set up, has very little bounce, is very  
>> small considering the amount of space it takes up and is already  
>> showing signs of ware and tare and Jeremy only jumps about thirty  
>> to forty minutes a day.  It's funny that you mention all that your  
>> daughter does on hers.  Jeremy loves to watch TV, listen to the  
>> radeo, sing, talk to himself, or his checkered towel, his version  
>> of a security blanket, even look at books or pet the cat who has  
>> learned that for pats he needs to stand on the table where Jeremy's  
>> bouncing hand will pat, but not hit him while meowing up a storm to  
>> go with the toddler babble.  I am always having to stop him from  
>> bringing his sippy cup or finger food snack
> up there with him.  In a pinch for time with Jeremy in a pissy mood  
> I have even managed diaper changes and clothing changes while he  
> jumped lightly.  lol  He never jumps for more than five minutes at a  
> time, but he will do it through out the day, and if thwarted by time  
> constraints, it is clear that his mood and receptiveness to learning  
> suffers if he can't jump.  His other thing, that I will post about  
> and ask some thing about later is going up and down and up and down  
> our stairs for up to an hour and forty minutes with various games  
> and make-believe employed while doing it.  So, second the trampoline  
> recommendation, add the recommendation for something called a  
> jumpaline, a mini bounce house for the living room that Jeremy also  
> recommends, as he has one of those at Jim's house and the trampoline  
> at mine, , and request recommendations for spacific trampolines that  
> pass the Kendra ceal of approval.
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard Holloway" <rholloway at gopbc.org 
>> >
>> To: <empwrn at bellsouth.net>; "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for  
>> parents of blind children)" <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2010 2:18 PM
>> Subject: Re: [blindkid] never stands still
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