Rubber band ball

A rubber band ball made of 250 rubber bands.

A rubber band ball is a bouncy ball made by wrapping rubber bands around a core until the desired size is achieved. Many rubber band ball builders use wadded up paper or a rubber bouncy ball as the core, but this is considered cheating in the community. It is generally accepted that the ball should be made purely out of rubber bands, and that the core should be one rubber band tied into a knot.

Technique

Zach Renner likes to put rubber band balls in his pants to make his nutsack look bigger.

There are many techniques to building a rubber band ball, and styles vary among rubber band ball enthusiasts. The main challenge when building a large rubber band ball is to find increasingly larger bands to accommodate the ball as its circumference grows. When bands big enough to fit around the ball alone cannot be found, it is common for these bands to be chained and wrapped around the ball. The technique of chaining is both accepted and frowned upon in the rubber band ball community, as some say that it adds weight faster than conventional methods. However, when larger bands are not available, or when the ball is being built solely from donated bands, there may be no other options. In either case, as long as it consists of nothing but rubber bands, it is still a rubber band ball.

Another challenge that many face when building rubber band balls is keeping the ball round as it gets bigger.

The main statistic about one's rubber band ball that ball builders measure by is weight, most-likely influenced by the fact that Guinness judges the record by weight alone. Measuring its circumference is another way to measure progress when a scale isn't handy.

History and Origins

The origins of the rubber band ball are unclear, however anthropologists believe that the precursor of this modern-day child’s plaything can be found in the ancient Incan culture of early South America. In this setting a small pebble was found and thin naturally elastic vines were wrapped around it until the ball reached a size appropriate for their sacred game, ulemetsali. These vines were used until the advent of olli, the substance we know today as rubber.

Notable rubber band balls

The world's largest rubber band ball was created by Joel Waul. He is the current World Record Holder according to the Guinness World Records. The ball, which previously sat under a tarp in Waul's driveway, is 9400 pounds, more than eight-feet tall, and consisting of more than 700,000 rubber bands. It set the world record on November 13, 2008 in Lauderhill, Florida. The ball is now owned by Ripley's Believe it or Not!

Steve Milton previously held the record for the biggest rubber band ball. During the construction of his rubber band ball, he was sponsored by OfficeMax, and was sent rubber bands by OfficeMax to use for his ball.

Before Steve Milton, the record was held by John Bain of Delaware. His ball is 3,500 pounds, consisting of over 850,000 rubber bands. The bands were donated by two companies: Alliance Rubber and Textrip/Stretchwell Inc.