Batting Improvement System

To say I hadn’t been a particularly athletically gifted child would be a colossal understatement. That first time I swung at a baseball, though, I hit it, purely by luck, right in the sweet spot. When you hit a baseball like that it makes a curiously clean “tock” sound. You barely feel the impact in your shoulders and arms, and oh, it flies! The feeling you get when this happens washes over you like a warm glow. Then you spend the rest of your life trying to do it again.

It’s no secret that hitting a baseball is one of the hardest activity in sports, a notion to which my subsequent trials attest. The narrowness and shape of the bat, the movement of the ball, the pre-committal to the swing, the prediction of where the ball is going to be at the moment of collision rather than where the ball is and the timing required to put the bat in the same exact location in space are all factors that stack to determine whether the batter is cheered around the bases or booed back to the dugout.

Harmony is key, and even the best in the world struggle to make a .300 batting average – a statistic that measures the ratio of “number of hits” to “at bats”. What this means is even the best batters struggle to hit the ball just once in three swings. And this is where the Batting Improvement System from Hammacher Schlemmer steps up to the plate.

Easy Up, Easy Down

The batting cage is an often used too to train batting technique, but rather than travel to a remote location and pay to use one, The Batting Improvement System can be easily assembled and erected in your own yard, affixing to the ground with spikes for stability. The steel-framed cage is padded with foam for safety and the netting is made from rot-resistant nylon, and includes a ¼ horsepower height-adjustable Heater pitching machine with a 12-ball auto-feeder that throws a ball every 12 seconds at a speeds from 15 to 46 miles per hour.

This very same system is used by many little league coaches for training their young players; the height adjustment accounts for players as they grow. The cage can easily be disassembled in 30 minutes or so when space is needed for other activities.

The Batting Improvement System uses regulation-size balls and is recommended for ages 5-14 with adult supervision. Dimension: 12’/3.6m tall, 12’/3.6m wide and 24’/7.2m long. Weight: 105lbs/47.7kg. Shipping: Gift wrapping is available. Price: $799.95. Available from hammacher.com. 2-3 weeks for delivery.

Click here to learn about the Rather Famous Hammacher Schlemmer guarantee and to see the finer details of the incredibly convenient Batting Improvement System!

Gigantic Water Play Slide

Gigantic water slides like these are usually only found at resorts and water parks but now the family can have one of their own for playing on. One of the biggest concerns today is the lack of exercise that children are getting. This lack of exercise has led to a rise in childhood obesity and all the health issues that go along with it. Having a gigantic water slide that they can play on is just the ticket to getting them outside and getting the exercise they need while having great fun.

The material used to make this water slide is the same stuff used for the inflatable boats used by the Navy Seals. This will assure you of many years of enjoyment for the kids and grand kids. This is especially important if you worry about puncturing the side. All the seams are heat sealed and it has been treated so there are no worries about the sun’s UV rays fading out the brilliant colors.

Durability and Safety

This water slide is made to last for years of pleasure. It has been built with commercial grade polyester fabric placed between two layers of PVC. One side of the gigantic triangular shaped water slide has ridges with heavy duty plastic handles for climbing to the top. Once at the top you go down the other side to splash playfully in the water. The construction is made so that more than one person can play on it at a time.

Teenagers will have a great time swinging out from one of the three handles on the inside of the slide to drop into the water. The bright yellow coloring inside the triangle adds a degree of safety as well. The ability to stand up inside of the triangle for the teens means that when they swing out they will be well able to clear the slide. This water slide is one that the whole family will fall in love with and will enjoy for a long time to come.

The gigantic water slide needs to be moored in, at the very least, eight foot of water. This will allow you to have fun without having to worry when swinging or jumping into the water that anyone will injure themselves by hitting bottom. It is easy to deflate, taking approximately thirty minutes to do so. This makes off season storage for your slide that much easier. The size of the play slide for storage is about 40”L x 48”W x 36”H. This is great when you consider the size when it is fully inflated which is what helps make handling it for storage so easy.

With this sixteen foot water slide you are sure to have years of fun and memories for the whole family. Great fun, great exercise and great memories, what more could you ask for? You’re your family a great gift that will last for years.

Dimensions Fully Inflated: 25 ½ ft L x 12ft W x 16ft. H Cost: $9,000 Shipping: $71.90 Available from: Hammacher Schlemmer

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Transparent Canoe Kayak

Obvious applications such as wildlife-watching, photography and fishing are just three that immediately spring to mind. Imagine being able to actually see the very fish you’re trying to catch! You don’t need a fish-finder with this boat.

The hull is constructed from Lexan® polycarbonate (a bullet-proof material with 250 times the impact resistance of glass and 30 times that of acrylic), the same material used in the F-22 Raptor fighter jet cockpit canopy and the Space Shuttle windows. Unlike most polycarbonates, Lexan® does not yellow from prolonged exposure to sunlight thanks to its protective coating, so the view of the habitat beneath the paddler will never become discolored.

It is designed with a broader than traditional beam which increases its water displacement. This concept, combined with the lower, kayak-style seating positions for two occupants (up to 425 pounds), makes for greater stability in the water. Seating is adjustable to customize leg room. The interior frame is made from corrosion-resistant anodized aluminum which lends the boat rigidity. The canoe weighs in at 40 pounds and comes equipped with two double-headed paddles, two floatation devices and a water bailer.

Maintenance Light

Those of us who canoe or kayak are familiar with the rough and tumble such boats get exposed to, and one might profess concern about the likelihood of the usual scratches from submerged rocks, pebbled beaches, sand etc. inhibiting the view through (and therefore the point of) such a hull. As with any canoe or kayak, scratches do occur and unfortunately polycarbonate does scratch easily. However, with this material, these scratches disappear when on the water as if by magic.

If the aesthetics of the scratched hull still bother you when storing or transporting the boat, there are several ways to remove them – polishing with a Lexan® approved polish (or a polish such as PlastX*) and a soft cloth such as an old t-shirt (never a paper towel) removes fine scuffs and clouding, while the best method for deeper gorges is to play a small torch over the area to re-smooth the surface, then finish with the same polishes mentioned.

As with any open-top canoe or kayak, this craft is not recommended for rough water or children under the age of 16. A Coast Guard-approved life preserver is mandatory.

Although this canoe kayak is significantly more expensive than comparable craft, the unique nature of this products recreational advantages far outweigh the price difference. Thoroughly recommended.

Dimensions: 11’1”/3.38m long, 33½”/85cm wide, and 11”/28cm deep. Price: $1600. Shipping: $115. Available from: Hammacher.com.

Click here to learn about the Rather Famous Hammacher Schlemmer guarantee and to see the finer details of this incredible Transparent Canoe Kayak!