Any of you old Geezers (like me) Remember Cloud 9's?

[souleman]

Need some help here, I'm going to build a vaulting pit in the back yard. I am going to build an air bag (cloud 9) for my pit so the "war department" at my house doesn't get mad at me for wrecking the yard with a conventional foam pit. Now here's the question, can any of you guys remember any of the particulars of the system? Did it have holes in the sides to help release air or was it sealed all the way around with just the fan opening in it. Suggestions for appropriate material would be helpful also. The portability is also a key reason for me choosing this type of system. Now keep in mind, more than likely I not going to be jumping that high (haven't vaulted in 24 years) so I just need something I can roll out to the yard, blow up and jump, then let the air out of it and put it away. Any and all comments will be appreciated. Thanks..........Later..........Mike

[cdmilton]

Where are you located? You might be better off getting together with a local school or club that would let you play from time to time.

edit...I jut read one of your other posts and you mentioned contacting Kevin Hanson. If you are in Minnesota contact me and I can get you into a place to jump.

[souleman]

I'm up in Wyoming which is north of Forest Lake. Eventually (if I can physically vault again) I will want a good facility to jump. On the other hand I'm positive that, "I ain't gonna look too good" for the first little bit and I'd like to keep that in the back yard until I at least look like I know what I'm doing. Keep in touch because I know I will want a decent place to jump and thanks for the reply. Later..........Mike

[cdmilton]

Right now our club Flight Deck Athletics vaults 2 times a week up at St. Johns. You're welcome to stop in there and mess around or just watch. Otherwise, I coach at Armstrong HS in Plymouth and we vault there all summer. Shoot me an email if you want to hook up.

[souleman]

Thanks for the invite. Once I find out if I can really do this or not I will probably take you up on the offer. Half of the fun so far of this mid life or should I say, "later in life" crisis that I am having is building this thing. As I said in another thread I'm driving my wife looney with the smell of resins because I'm building a mold for my plant box in the garage. Kevin e-mailed me a link to the NCAA rule book and I'm building to official size. After that is done I'm going to tackle the pit. I've got some stage lighting stands that I can adapt for the standards. About the only thing I'll have to buy to start is a crossbar. Then next on the agenda will be the pole. Oh man this is fun! I'm gonna be so disappointed if I can't get the body to accomodate. So with that I'll say...........Later............Mike

[cdmilton]

We have every pole you will need and a place to jump once a week if you want to play the "normal" way!

[ladyvolspvcoach]

Wow! some serious flash-backs. Cloud nines had vents on the bottom at the sides. When you landed the edges (if you landed in the middle) came up and allowed the air to spill. If I can help I'll be glad to. I did my architectural thesis on Pnuematics and Tensegrity stuctures.
David

[ladyvolspvcoach]

Speaking of geezers, I started vaulting in 1961as a sophmore in high school. I used one of those aluminum poles that weren't tappered, then graduated to a swedish steel pole. At that time the boxes were wooden and the pit was packed-too-tight sawdust. You could tell by the ooomphff sound made by the vaulters when they landed.

[vaultmd]

The best air pit was a prototype that Don Gordon developed. It had internal suspension straps that kept the edges from being too depressable. Bill Thilken and I were the guinea pigs. It was a great pit and wound up in Bill's back yard. It also wound up in an early 80's movie that was partially filmed at UCLA. I can't remember the name, though.

[souleman]

This is super! Oh man am I having fun. I thought they had vents in the sides. My thoughts are to sew in flaps along the bottom over the vents attached with velcro so I can "adjust" the venting. I'm guessing I'll probably vault pretty much the way I did when I did it. I normally had the crossbar anywhere from a 6 inches to a foot into the pit from my pole verticle and for the most part if I ever missed the middle of the pit it was cause I gave up on the jump and landed short, (right on my heels on top of that 2 X 4 that all the pits had right behind the box in those days). I'm thinking about 16 X 20 will be plenty big for me. If you have any suggestions for a "cheap" material for the bag, I would sure be interested. I can't tell you guys how much I appreciate all the help you're giving me. So with that I'll just say..........
Later......................Mike.
P.S. I started in 1959 (I was 7). I grabbed a conduit out of my Dads' garage. It had a bend in it at the top. It looked like I was vaulting with a shepards staff. (I did make 5' with that goofy pole. Keep in mind I was about 3'6" tall when I did it). Anyway, back to the story, I stuck a fishin' pole on top of two peach crates (about 2 feet) and started trying to jump over it using the pole. Well from there it went to 2 x 4 standards and many trips to the local sawmill in Luck, Wisconsin with my Radio Flyer wagon to get sawdust for the pit. We all went through it so you know the rest of the story from your own experiences.

[Leap-in-Sky]

Need some help here, I'm going to build a vaulting pit in the back yard. I am going to build an air bag (cloud 9) for my pit so the "war department" at my house doesn't get mad at me for wrecking the yard with a conventional foam pit...Any and all comments will be appreciated.

We used to fear these things, for good reason. I remember jumping on a real "Cloud 9" in HS and having to land on one of the front sections next to the box. Due to the nature of the beast, the air that I needed to pad my feet-first landing escaped to the center part of the pit and I badly twisted my ankle. Hitting anywhere near the edges of these things was a problem. Maybe your design would compensate for this. It would be good if you could get foam for at least the two front sections, behind the box, and all the outside edges (and then the center? ).

The real fun on a "Cloud 9"was if there was some rain just before a meet, you'd land in the pit and the opposite reaction from the airbag would send a sheet of water up in the air and you felt like Wile E. Coyote waiting for the result

[souleman]

Leap, as it turned out I passed on the idea of the cloud nine and ended up with the setup I have now. You can see it at http://www.bubbapv.com/Pages/BYVault-Mike.htm
The funny thing is when I was in high school, we'd vault at UW River Falls for conference and sectionals. They had a Cloud 9 and I loved it. I think that's because I went straight up and straight down always in the middle. Not only that but it sure beat the heck out of the stuffed bags of foam we had at our high school and that damned 2 X 6 at the front of the pit that if I came up short I'd hit on the way down with my heels...(OUCH). Come to think of it, that's probably where I got my fractured L5 from. No, I'm pretty happy with the foam pit I have now. Later..............Mike