you can make really really cheap beanbags with balloons and bird seed. just cut the neck of the balloons. here’s soem instructions:
for each (1) juggling ball:
put 1/2 cup bird seed into non-ziplock plastic baggie
cut the “neck” part off 3 balloons
stuff baggie into one balloon. this will leave some kinda squishing out the end.
wrap another balloon around this one so the holes DON’T line up.
repeat step 4.
repeat steps 1-5 until you have the desired number of beanbags.
depending on the size of your balloons and how big you want your beanbags to be you’ll need to adjust your amount of birdseed. also, the bird seed with the least sunflower seeds will probably work best. the kind that’s mostly those tiny round seeds works awesome and is super cheap. hell, ask somewhere if they have any partial bags that got ripped or damaged or something so they can’t be sold. they might be free…
Well if you ONLY practice on grass, it might be okay and then you’d have the benefit of versatility in your balls. If you wanted to practice bounce juggling, you wouldn’t need a separate set, just a different surface underfoot.
I am big fan of the soft, filled balls. I have soem Beard ones that i bought many years ago from Serious Juggling, they were $8 a piece, well worth it except one now has a soft spot though.
My Tennis balls I filled with buckshot to make them 1lb each, then I covered them with that plasitc coating stuff you use for like tool handles and stuff, so they have a smooth plastic surface. They ended up costing about $10 for all the materials.
I used flour in he balloons and they worked really well. My good ones are from Higgins Brothers, I’m guessing they are just like the Dube’s above. I don’t juggle much but those balls are great.
Compared to the Squosh, they stinketh. Slippery, irregular, inconsistent. But definitely cheaper…
If numbers juggling is a goal, you may want to consider getting all the balls the same color/pattern, versus 2 of each. Just my lil opinion, but consistency of color/pattern just eliminates one more factor that can interfere with your brain being able to process what’s going on in the air in front of it. I used to be a “balls and clubs of different colors” kind of guy, but have converted to the “all the same, and all red” school of thought. There are other schools out there.
But regardless of all that, you are definitely over-thinking this. Re-read the thread, give yourself a maximum of two minutes to process and decide, then either follow my advice, or someone else’s, or what your own heart tells you. But get yourself some balls in a hurry!
I got 7 yellow suede numbers bean bags and they’re beautiful. He made them to order and got me the set within a week and a half. They were $8 each but they compare to commercial balls costing $12 to $15 each.
perhaps this is unusual, but what i use for juggling are the soft solid rubber baseballs in the toy isle of any walgreens/rite-aid (maybe also walmart) but these wouldn’t be good for numbers cause i can only hold three in my hand at once
