Hey whats up. Does anyone know where I could get some good juggling clubs kinda cheap here in the US? I want to start juggling them but I don’t know where to start. If anyone knows where to get some great clubs for kinda cheap I would appreciate it. Also if anyone knows about information about it, it would also help me alot thanks. Kelly.
Bowling alley?
For about $13 each you can get Dube Airflite clubs. They are as indestructable as juggling clubs come and just about the least expensive good quality kind you can get.
They are solid plastic and are rougher on the hands than some of the other more expensive clubs. However, I juggle them almost exclusively and have no major complaints.
In fact, as it turns out you can get them at Unicycle.com if you like. I very strongly urge you not to get the JuggleBug clubs. They are too light and short resulting in a too quick spin which is difficult to control.
Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ
JJuggle and I agree on many things, but I cannot recommend Airflite clubs at all. Juggling just shouldn’t be that painful! And when it comes to the point when you want to learn to pass clubs, fuggetaboutit. The last thing a good juggler is going to want is to have one of those rock hard missiles thrown at their head by someone just learning to pass with no control. Actually, it’s relevant when solo juggling too. When you are first learning, you WILL hit yourself on the head with your clubs. Airflites hurt MORE. The only thing that hurts more than an Airflite is a Jugglebug, which JJuggle wisely advises to stay away from.
If you are serious about wanting to juggle clubs, I’d recommend saving up a bit more money and investing in one of the less expensive models in the European style. Rather than being one piece of super-hard molded plastic, they are multipiece, and have a plastic handle wrapped around a central dowel, which adds some forgiveness and “squeezability” to the handle, and is a heck of a lot nicer to your hands. This is especially helpful when you’re just learning and your catches (and throws) will not be as precise. I have owned Airflites, but the last day I used them was the first day I tried a buddy’s multi-piece Euro clubs. Night and day, and I never went back.
A couple multi-piece models that are worth looking at:
The Henry’s “Delphin” club. This is a very light multi-piece Euro design. Because they’re undecorated, they’re also pretty much impervious to drops and damage. I have a set I use as my “camping clubs”, or taking along on work trips. When packing them for travel, they definitely take up less room than the bulky Airflites.
At the following link, they’re about $17.50 each: http://yoyoplay.com/delclubsetof.html
It looks like the Delphins are out of stock at the site above, but a Google search will probably turn up other sources. Serious Juggling might have them or be able to order them also (www.seriousjuggling.com).
The link below goes to the Todd Smith site and his Hederon clubs. I can’t speak for the Hederons personally, although they are the same concept as the Delphins…multi-piece Euro design, un-decorated, less expensive. I have higher-end Todd Smith clubs (Satellites), and they’re fantastic. The Hederons are pricier than the Delphins at $27 each. When you’re getting into that price range, it’s almost better to just break the $30 barrier and go for a really nice set like the Henry’s circus clubs or the Todd Smith Satellites or the Dube Europeans.
http://www.toddsmith.com/prods/clubs-hederon.shtml
$.02,
Tom
If you want to start juggling clubs before you buy a set, you can make some like I did for my first set:
you need 3 plastic bottles, wooden dowel, 3 screws, and some tape (I used hockey tape).
cut the wooden dowel to the approximate length you would like your club, stick it into the bottle right to the bottom, and screw it into place. Use the tape to weight your new clubs just right, and wrap tape over the wood handle because it will hurt after a while if you’re just catching the bare wood.
These worked great for me for a long time, although I found that they were not a replacement for real clubs, so eventually I went a spent the money on a set. They worked well for learning and held me over until I got a real set.
On to knives now…
Another option that friends of mine have used is to go to a big hardware store and buy a set of 3 “mini toilet plungers”, i.e. the ones with a standard rubber plunger on the end, but only about 14" of handle instead of the usual 24". They are actually balanced pretty well given they’re meant to plunge toilets versus be juggled.
But ultimately, you need to consider the Goal v. Spend ratio. If you really want to become a club juggler, then save up and buy a set of decent juggling clubs. Analogy: if you want to learn to play the guitar, don’t go rig up a gut-bucket.
Who are you going to believe on matters of juggling, someone named JJuggle or some clown named tomblackwood? 
Tom makes some good points. Airflites do hurt a bit more but I don’t personally find it to be as much of a problem as some (wimpy) people do.
Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ
I use three sink plungers for juggling clubs. I put some foam and coloured tape on the handles because I kept hitting the ends of my fingers when I was learning. Nice to hear that other people have done this - I thought I was weird…
They’re good enough for me to play around with, and as Tom says they’re pretty well balanced, but then again I’m not really a “juggler” (can’t do more than three of anything), I just mess around with them.
Rob
Non-sequiter. Just because other people have done this doesn’t mean that you’re not weird…
i learned to juggle clubs with a borrowed set of dube something or others. I currently juggle some renegades. that cost ~$35/each. the plunger thing is somewhat harder than learning with clubs, but doable. The homemade ones work surprisingly well. google for some instructions. If you don’t want to do that, see if you can find some clearance/mismatched clubs somewhere for a discount.
Don’t give up when it seems like you’re making no progress. it takes a while to learn clubs.
two words, Mr Babache
Actually, the Beard “Circus Special” clubs shown on that same web page for $19 each are pretty nice. I passed with these clubs a bunch lately at a regional festival, and they work well for both solo and passing. Personally, I’d scrape the extra $18 to get a set of these over the Mr Babache. That said, I haven’t juggled with those as much as with the Beards.
GILD: Good link to Serious Juggling site. Not sure how they do for shipments outside the US, but around these parts, they dominate. If you’re not sure what to get, give Ben a call and talk. He really knows his juggling.
good call, we have a load of those floating around our club
more expensive but probably just a touch ‘better’ than the Mr Babaches
depending on your finances, make the call
thanx tom, how’s this one?
A few hundred views richer for having you provide the reminder…
Still have a ways to go to again achieve Rightful Place in Forum Stats.
Re: Juggling Clubs.
My Apologies, i should’ve refered u to this site right away
i know u said something about the US but some misguided sense of patriotism forces me to at least point u in the direction of Garth’s site
I must say that I still think Airflites are good enough to learn on. They are essentially indestructible, unlike any of the cheaper multipiece clubs. I had a friend who has a set of airflites that he’d had for 10+ years. They all are in perfectly usable condition. All his more expensive clubs have fallen apart.
Of course, the more expensive clubs are much nicer on the hands and do help considerably when trying more difficult tricks. But for outright durability for the price you pay, go with Airflites. They’ll get banged up while you learn, so you might as well get a cheap set to start with and upgrade when you get proficient (whoa… does that sound familiar?)
And in other news, I prefer Airflites for passing outdoors. The narrow profile and weight make them much less succeptible to passing gusts of wind. This is very important when passing around a line of 3+ people! But they are murder on the hands when the temperature drops!
I used to have a set of Dube Classic American clubs. Those were made of hard plastic. The airflites, when they came out, were made from soft plastic. Big difference.
A friend of mine “upgraded” my hard clubs with some bicycle handdlebar foam. These were foam tubes about 6" long that he managed to coax over the big knobs at the bottom of each club. They made great soft handles. All you had to do then was not get nailed by the other parts of the club!
The idea being, similar things can be done with a set of airflites or other one-piece clubs. Besides, if you’re being cheap, you get one-piece clubs or build your own. Later on you can worry about a comfortable handle, and the extra expense that goes with it.
I have had a set of airflites for about 7 years. They are indestructible (almost). I highly recommend them for three club juggling. They are not the greatest for four+ but still work for that as well as passing.
I’m a renegade juggler all the way, their 85mm clubs are great.
Good clubs at a good price, and they are always nice to throw in a discount on bulk purchaces for groups.
I know several post on this thread have said don’t get the jugglebug clubs. Maybe it’s just 'cuz I’ve never tried anything else but I bought a set of these on ebay for about $14 and I can juggle them all day long. I learned to juggle clubs fairly quickly and for someone on a budget I think they’re just fine. Maybe if I ever get the chance to juggle some ‘real’ clubs I’ll change my mind but for now I’m OK with these.