Cool Footbags

"Footbag? I thought they were "hacky sacks"? I mean, I "hack the sack" - I don't, "foot the bag"! Not quite. "Hacky Sack" is a trade name and is like what Kleenex is to facial tissue or what Frisbee is to flying discs. What you are kicking, actually is probably a whamo "hacky sack" as it is the most popular and only form of footbag sold say at K-mart but what you are really kicking is actually a "footbag". But just call it a footbag and don't get all preachy about it or you'll lose your "coolness" factor.

If you are looking to purchase something other than a hacky sack you should try out many of the offerings by companies like Duncan Toys, Sandmaster, World Footbag Association, Dirtbag, Magic Geek, Adventure Imports, yes yes Whamo, Flying Clipper or Peregrine. Amongst many others. These manufacturers provide a variety of panel styles, types of filler (plastic, dirt, sand, hemp) and colors. There also are a variety of footbags which are knit versus made of leather and new materials are being put to use everyday.

Most people just want to kick the footbag around in a circle. It's fun and it's social. I'm still old school and believe in the three rules of 1. No saying your sorry 2. No selfserving 3. And no hands!!! Since the skill level of your average circle is going to border around low most days where even one hack (a series where everyone in the circle kicks the footbag at least one time) could be an achievement... you might want to have a looser, more easily controlled footbag in your pocket. Something that is woven like a sipa-sipa or a variety of knits made by Hacky Sack do well for novice kickers and make for more successful and happy kicking circles.

Footbag net is a game you play on a badminton sized court with any agreed upon footbag but usually the footbag is a tighter and harder footbag than is used for freestyle or casual play. A really good footbag net will be strung tight and have a mesh small enough to not allow a footbag to pass through. A footbag that hits a footbag net will actually bounce back and still be "in play". In the real world though, you often have to settle for a saggy badminton net. For more rules on Footbag net check the link below and checkout some of the cool types of footbags available as well.