Well, actually, most of you probably don't, but long time members will know what I'm talking about.
In any case, there is finally one available that is actually within the realm of affordability! Woo-hoo! I hope to get myself a pair of Powerisers this summer.
Talk about a recipe for self-injury, huh? And yet they're so cool! 9 foot strides people, 9 foot!
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
In My Name Is Earl, Earl got beaten up up by somebody with artifical legs like that.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
So. Awesome.
Can I come play? I'll sign a liability waiver.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Yeah, I've seen artificial legs that look like these. I assume that these employ a more powerful spring than those do.
Morbo, did you check out the customer pictures? I liked those better than the official ones. That picture of the girl in the right most picture is incredibly cool; I want to book along like that. And the incorporation of them into the costumes is cool too. I wish I could enlarge that one.
Edit--hey, look at that! That's the one picture on that page you can enlarge!
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Sure ElJay! They'd be a fun thing to have at the next gathering I host, wouldn't they? I'd definitely be worried about people hurting themselves though.
I'm considering a road trip to try these things out, but their outlet is about 10 hours from me. Maybe if there is a gathering that they're roughly on the way to....
Posted by Stray (Member # 4056) on :
I saw these online a while back; they certainly do look like a very effective way to break a bone or three. But also way cool I saw a few videos of them in use, but the videos never showed anyone getting up onto them or down off of them, just the running and jumping around. Would you have to sit on top of a smallish stepladder or pull yourself up from a sitting position hand-over-hand on something, or what?
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
Well, I exceed the maximum weight for those things.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
10 hours in which direction? Remember, I've been talking about having one in July. . .
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
The other direction, unfortunately.
Hmmm...aren't Leonide and Strider in Philadelphia? Mahanoy City isn't exactly close to Philadelphia, but it's close enough.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
The artificial legs always looked awesome to me. I remember a runner whose time was really really good on these (can't remember if she lost her lower legs in an accident or if it was a congenital thing), and her fellow competitors were disgruntled at her advantage. *grin
Disability is always context-specific.
But now we, too, can run as fast! And jump higher, from the looks of it.
Awesome.
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
We're about an hour outside Philly, Noemon.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I thought you were in that general area. Any interest in going to check these things out at some point in the future? It would probably be summer before I'd be able to get out that way, but it sounds like a lot of fun.
Posted by Lalo (Member # 3772) on :
Holy crap! I think this might be, sigh, true love... Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Are you suffering from a Napoleon complex, Jake?
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
These are awesome! They definitely look dangerous. Make sure you have really good insurance, and it doesn't exclude stuff like this. But wow those look like so much fun! Visions of the future, when we all custom design our bodies to be whatever we want them to be like. Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Nope Farmgirl, I just want to be able to leap 6 feet into the air and bounce along taking 3 meter strides. Can you imagine how much fun that would be until you broke your neck?
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
We'd absolutely be interested -- i know Strider would be ecstatic, those shoes are right up his alley. Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Noemon, you're already a superhero!
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
The thing I've always wanted to do is what's described in William Pene du Bois's great book The Twenty-One Balloons -- run along with a balloon that's almost (but not quite) strong enough to lift me off the ground. I weigh 170 pounds; so if I held on to a balloon with a lifting power of 160 pounds, then I'd weigh the equivalent of 10 pounds, and if I went and took a running jump, I'd float for a block or two before landing... Posted by signal (Member # 6828) on :
Here's another video of them in action. Definitely fun looking.
One of the guys I do fire dancing with has these and incorporates them into his fire juggling routine. So... freakin... cool. And they are actually really easy to get into and out of. You dont really need a ladder or anything, just a friend to lean on once you've got one of them on. Noemon, have you ever worked with any other kind of stilts? My friend said that in some ways these were much easier than traditional stilts, and in some ways MUCH harder. But yeah, really freakin cool. And amazingly sturdy and easy to walk in. He even goes dancing in them.
Posted by human_2.0 (Member # 6006) on :
Wow. I think I see a really good reason to get fit.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
I don't. My superhero outfit is a t-shirt and a pair of flannel pants. I'm Slug Girl! And my superpower is napping.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
oh man, I thought this being brought back mean Noemon actually got the Powerisers!
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I wish!
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Me too, Tick! I totally thought we'd have video!
Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
Are you going to tell us you have them before or after you end up in the hospital?
Posted by Tinros (Member # 8328) on :
When I saw "The Tempest," Caliban wore a pair of those. I was seriously afraid he'd hit his head on the fairly low ceiling.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Probably be better to do it before hand, don't you think Zan? Who knows how long it'd be before I could type again, afterward.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Who needs 9foot strides when ya can have your own personal jetpack?
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Sure ElJay! They'd be a fun thing to have at the next gathering I host, wouldn't they? I'd definitely be worried about people hurting themselves though.![[Wink]](wink.gif)
I saw a few videos of them in use, but the videos never showed anyone getting up onto them or down off of them, just the running and jumping around. Would you have to sit on top of a smallish stepladder or pull yourself up from a sitting position hand-over-hand on something, or what?
![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
I wish!