Thomas Wayne - Arm-Guards

[skispray]

Does anyone know if Thomas Wayne is still making Arm-Guards? He actually has a website that I found where you can email him your order but I got an 'email undeliverable' message when I tried that. I'm not sure if he's still in the business.

[MISkier]

I tried to buy one a couple of years ago. He answered me once, I submitted the order and never heard from him again. I tried many times over nearly a year to contact him, including through people on this site that know him. No response. I did not receive my order. I filed a dispute with PayPal, but I had waited too long.

 

So, I am out the cash and never got my order.

 

I ended up making my own. I did also buy one from a BOS member who was selling his.

 

I think the Arm-Guard ship has sailed.

[LeonL]

I wonder what happened to him. He was a little different it seemed. Reminds me of a joke about Alaska and women going there in search of a man. It is said "your odds are good, but the goods are odd".

[Horton]

The whole Arm Guard fiasco

 

http://media.tumblr.com/fe497dd337d9af8479bb6398b9565d16/tumblr_inline_mg6n5ltl6X1rxe4lt.gif

 

[LeonL]

I saw the panda before I saw the comment and thought I had scored one for the corny joke.

[Drago]

Should get one for each

[skispray]

So are people just making their own or using the Fluid Motion version these days? Any other alternatives?

[thager]

Make your own.

 

[Glock]

What material do you use to make them?

[wawaskr]

I ordered HDPE material off ebay and made my own.

[BlueSki]

Gorilla Tape

[Than_Bogan]

In-Tow handles have a simple bar to prevent head-through. (Probably not very effective against arm-through, but smashing up your arm is a different thing entirely from breaking your neck.)

[jimbrake]

@Than_Bogan - so true. Head through - pretty much one outcome. Arm through - several ranging from "whew, that was close, look at that bruise" to "where tf is my arm?" I had a mid-range, arm-through accident. Dislocated elbow, missed rest of the season. It's worth throwing some tape on there or guard of your choice to at least decrease the likelihood or arm through. And, no, your arm is not going to get stuck in there and not come out because of your guard. Trust me, it gonna come out.

[MISkier]

There was another thread on BOS about some material from Grainger. I ordered some of that. It was cheap and I made a couple guards.

 

I even bought the same type of zip ties (TyRap, I think) that were used on the Arm-Guards.

[dbski]

Go to Bed, Bath and whatever it is and get the cutting mats that roll up. I made mine out one and its been on my handle for over 2 years. Plus you get a cool cow or pig graphic on the plastic!

[Wish]

This is prob why he stopped making them. To easy to make them at home. Sucks that he shafted folks out of money though.

[keithh2oskier]

Do you guys mind posting some pictures of your homemade handle contraptions?

[WaterSkier12]

Yep TW was a trip! As we say in the south, bless his heart.......

Second InTow, Brenda is as good as gold!

[The_MS]

@keithh2oskier Type handle guard into the search box and hit second thread.

[Than_Bogan]

@OB1 True. Sort of. Some dangerous scenarios actually occur from dropping the handle with a completely slack line, which gives you the (rare) possibility of skiing some part of you through it while it's sitting there. Facing slack line, I strongly encourage folks to keep a light grip on it, so you know where it is, and THEN drop (or even throw) it as the rope comes tight.

[dchristman]

@OB1 That certainly sounds logical, but a difficult tantra to practice for manly men in the heat of the pass. It may be good to have protection for weaker moments.

[Horton]

Don't go for it? I don't get that but if @OB1 wants to ski cautiously that is one less skier I have to work to beat

[Than_Bogan]

If I had one iota of musical talent, I'd start a band called Damn Engineers.

[Wish]

I'm with @OB1 ...live to ski another day. If you're not in tune with your ability and cannot feel or understand when shortening the rope after a so so pass at best is prob not the best idea, then u need every bit of protection you can buy. 38 is something I ski only when 35 is easy that set. Has it held me back..maybe. Have I skied at a fairly high level with minimal injury...yeeup. Best safety equipment is the one between your ears. Horton can have his higher ranking...well at least until my next two tournaments....and Austin.

[LeonL]

Go to Walmart and get a kitchen sink mat. Cut to suit and attach with 1/8 diameter bungee material looped through hole in mat.

[ski6jones]

The bungie for attachment works great. I bought a sheet of clear lexan and attached with some radar binding bungie. Works great.

[MISkier]

@keithh2oskier, here is a shot of mine.

 

 

 

[SkiJay]

@OB1 I hear what you're saying, and you're right. Don't hold on to bad situations. But the problem isn't just holding onto bad situations. The most common scenario involves having nothing to hold onto at all.

 

It happens when you high-side into the ball or just after the ball, and you may not even be holding the handle when you dive through it. It's a really unusual fall that thankfully, we don't get much practice with. But this lack of familiarity could potentially undermine your intention to toss the handle just right.

 

We can even screw up tossing the handle. I saw a guy do a crap job of tossing the handle simply out of disgust, only to have it wack him hard in the back of his head on its way by as he coasted down. He got lucky.

[Ed_Johnson]

Agree with SkiJay..It can happen when you least expect it, ask Chet Raley, it happened to him...I came off 3 ball at 38 off on a new ski, the tip bit hard, and within a milli-second I did a face plant right into the handle. Thankfully I had a Guard on my handle and only ended up with a Black Eye...There is no doubt in my mind that my head could have gone right through the opening and I wouldn't be here now typing this.... I would not even consider skiing without one.

 

 

[skispray]

@OB1 @Wish I agree with you that skiing for the highest buoy count no matter what, especially in practice, is both unproductive and unsafe. In fact I say as much to my ski partners all the time. But I still feel like an arm guard is an important piece of safety equipment that reduces my chance of being injured in a freak accident. To imply that having an arm guard is going to make someone ski wrecklessly, or to imply that you can ski smart enough to avoid all injury (while attempting short line no less), seems off the mark and/or overly confident.

[ALPJr]

The InTow handle bar works well for me

[Drago]

A 12" handle with a small triangle works for me

[Than_Bogan]

Than's Guide to Safety:

 

1) Make good decisions.

2) Have a backup for when you inevitably don't.

[eleeski]

As a trick skier, I fall more than you slalomers. And my hands can be in weird places. The toe harness does an excellent job of keeping my body parts from going through the handle.

 

Anything across the bridle will prevent a majority of the rare arm injury events. Nothing is perfect. Use what you like - if you use anything you really help your odds.

 

And go for it!

 

Eric

[wannabeballer]

Hey guys and gals just thought that I would post a pic of what I had made for my new masterline rope

 

[Chuck_Dickey]

My daughter and I have been using a TW ArmGuard for years. The one I have now is finally showing signs of wear and I hope I can track him down to make a new one.

[LeonL]

The inTow may keep your head out, but I can't see it preventing an arm going through.

[tjm]

@Chuck_Dickey try "fluid motion sports" he has one in his product list

[ToddL]

I wish this product could have made it past the patent cluster.

 

Noose Eliminator

[aussiemc]

I bought a Noose Eliminator from Bruce in October 2013. I've used it for 3 seasons now (about to start the 4th). The product is great and showing no signs of wear. How long does TW's patent last? Surley Bruce could start making them again soon.

[Than_Bogan]

Normally get 17 yrs out of a US patent, so I think still a ways to go?

[Horton]

Just to be clear - TW holds the patent so no one else can make arm guards but he can't seem to bring his product to market. At some point someone will get hurt and sue him for impending the market.

[mwetskier]

i dont have a dog in this fight but there is no legal grounds to sue for 'impeding the market ' when there are competing products available which as noted above there are at least 3 or 4 not counting home made solutions and infringers.

[Horton]

@mwetskier well i did not go to law school. If you invent & patent a safety innovation but refused to sell it to people - from my point of view I think you're responsible for endangering them. I'm pretty sure the FM product is in violation of the patent.

[mwetskier]

i didn't go to law school either, but i work for a guy whose dad held 43 patents which my boss helped develop. my guy says that impeding suits are super rare and typically medical in nature where a company will patent one formula they sell and several very similar ones they don't. kind of like some one buying every version of web address that could be similar to the one he uses for his website which people do all the time. theres an argument about whether its a good business practice or a unfair scheme but if there are similar products on the market that claim to do the same thing theres no grounds to sue.

 

i dont know about the fm product but do know that in tow brenda makes a competing device because i have one and i know that us gear makes one because i saw them too. and somebody else makes a kind of net thing out of ski rope thats spliced into the handle section and a friend of mine on the east coast says theres a guy there that makes something similar. so it seems to me the market is kind a flooded with competing products. not trying to be argumentative but i do think the idea of suing after getting injured because you couldn't buy one particular brand is sort of far fetched.

[wtrskior]

@Horton you back read all those TW posts and got the itch to starta new business venture? I recall there being more back and forth, outright threats and whatnot made on the Nicols board, but some here too. I digress... lawsuits for not selling the handle guard lmao! PANDA TIME

 

He would have people think his piece of plastic cured cancer. suckas

[BraceMaker]

That makes brendas sound OK.

[wtrskior]

patent expired due to non-payment of the fee. not sure how that works if he pays the fee again.

 

he threatened to sue FM on the boards, if not directly, through innuendo. What ever happened with that?...

[MISkier]

I'm guessing that the challenge of an international lawsuit (isn't FM in Canada?) may have deterred him

[Horton]

@wtrskior and that is why he's no longer welcome on this forum.

 

It should be noted that if you ever talk to TW on the phone he's a completely normal nice guy. On the other hand he's also one of those guys that when he puts his hand on the keyboard on the internet another personality comes out.

 

I actually like the guy but he's not welcome on this forum. I wish he had gotten organized and actually marketed his product but for whatever reason he dragged his feet and let it go. He for sure intimidated some other manufacturers from creating similar safety products.

 

Seeing now that his patent is out of date all I can say is he lost a bunch of money to a patent lawyer