Where was this 6 months ago, Cloud 9 on e-bay

[souleman]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pole-Vault-Pit_W0QQ ... dZViewItem

[ashcraftpv]

how sweet would that be to have in your yard. perfect for winter storage too! not sure i'd feel safe vaulting onto it, but its still cool.

[souleman]

They're fine as long as you don't have someone trip over the cord and shut off the fan. Another thing too is you have to land in the center of the pit and on your back, side, belly or other side. If you land on your feet , or head,you'll go right to the ground. I jumped quite a bit on one in high school and never had a problem with it. I don't think though (based on the clips I've seen) That a cloud 9 would be a good pit for Scott Roth. Oh yeah, in answer to your question ashcraft, yes it would be perfect for a back yard set up. Later............Mike

[VaultMarq26]

The seller lives in my neck of the woods.....i would like to see this thing in person.

[master]

souleman,
would you jump onto this today? I'm a little skeptical but would feel a little more comfortable about jumping if I limited myself to a 2 or 3 lefts approach. Maybe just stiff pole vaulting. But even having the opportunity to do that would be a great benefit. Does it set up and tear down as quickly as it seems like it would? Still a few days left with the auction and there aren't a lot of bidders going for it yet.

- master

[souleman]

Frankly, It's a great system. Yes, I'd jump on it today. Keep in mind an air bag landing system is still the preferred system for stunt people. Based on the video I saw of you, you wouldn't have a bit of trouble with it. You go up, then you go down. The only bad thing about a cloud nine is if you are off to the side of it. If you're flat, or even legs out butt flat, it'll bounce you off if you land right on the side or front or back of it. I only had that happen to me once and I just kept my head about me and landed on me feet and rolled. I remember the thing would go up in fifteen minutes. Most of that time was spent waiting for it to fill. Take down is about the same. Neither set up or tear down is any harder or more difficult than my set up in my back yard. I sent Becca some pictures of my set up that she said she would get on the forum so you can see what I mean. My tarp covering mine is pretty heavy and taking it off and putting it on is probably more work than doing a cloud 9. Best part about the cloud 9 is that you're not going to wreck the yard (other than dig a hole to put the box in) because it's not up enough to kill the grass. Seriously, if you have any further questions about it just ask. I really wanted one for my set up but I just couldn't find one. Later..............Mike

[Skyin' Brian]

ive never vaulted on one or seen one in person, but i would caution anyone before seriously vaulting on a pit like that.

a coach i know claims that his career ended on a cloud 9 mat that bottomed out. nothing too life threatoning or anything, a broken leg, i believe, but not something i would risk

[souleman]

Darn near guarantee that he came down feet first. There's no question about it, you have to land on your back, side or stomach. The one I jumped on was at UW River Falls. Last time I jumped on it it was when I made 12'7-1/2". I cleared the bar but it was an ugly jump and I sort of landed on my side laid out. In other words no where near flat on my back. I did come down on my butt a couple of times and came very near bottoming out but never did. Back to UW River Falls. At the time they had some 14 or 15 foot vaulters (1970) and there was never a problem with it. Like I said to master, I've seen the footage of his jumping and he wouldn't have a bit of trouble with it. Later............Mike

[vaultwest]

Hate to be a downer but I would say stay very far away from any cloud 9.

There is a reason they were outlawed by the NCAA, they are very dangerous, especially when compared to todays pits.

It was my unfortunate luck to have to vault on a cloud nine back in my college days and that pit nearly ended my vaulting carrier both from injuries sustaned from landing in it and mental problems developed from using it.
You could never land on the front buns, no telling where you would be shot out to no matter how you landed on them. Landing anyway but flat on your back, spread out with your arms and legs out wide in the middle of the pit could result in a very bad landing, then there was the struggle to roll out or climb out of the pit as the bag tried to reinflate.

The cloud nine seemed like a good idea but the actual use of it was a nightmare that I would not wish on my worst enemy.

[master]

Just to play the devil's advocate, what if you had some type of top pad? Perhaps something like wrestling mats on it. The purpose of doing that is the same as why all current pits have top covers, it distributes the body weight over a larger area.

[vaultwest]

Master
That is an interesting question. It might make a difference and it might not. I would not like to make a mistake and land wrong on a wrestling mat but perhaps a mesh top pad might help. I still think landing anywhere near the edges of the pit could still be rather risky, no support out there. And the front extensions ( by the way, they did not come anywhere close to extending out to the front edge of the box) would still be very unstable. But it would be an interesting experiement.

[souleman]

Guys, Guys Guys, they work fine by themselves. You know when you go over and land on or back on a conventional pit how it's, well. kinda hard? You don't get that with a cloud 9. You hit the pit and it let's you down as it loses air. Like Vaultwest said the only thing you have to be carefull with is landing on the edges. That does get a little crazy. I saw it happen several times. The bag deflates and then kinda launches you off to the side. And the buns are rather useless. But then again, I don't have buns on my pit and it's no biggie. (Of course this coming from a guy who in high school landed on 30 tires stacked in two rows with three 50 lb bags of foam on the top).He is also correct about getting out of the bugger. It could be rather comical at times. Rather than put a mat over top, I would (well I'd just use it the way it is) but I'd re-enforce the sides like with a mesh wrap around the pit. That would probably make it hard as a rock though. Another thing that I don't think it would be too hot for is pop ups because in a pop up you're traveling lateraly rather than down. Once you get the pit, I'll tell you how to make your standards out of PVC. Later.........Mike