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. The history of the rubber band ball can be traced to its South American roots, where the ancient Aztec peoples would wrap local vines soaked in the sap of the rubber tree around small pebbles which would serve as the core of the ball. This vine ball was then used for their combat oriented game, ullamaliztli.

Technique

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.

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.