Above Ground Box

[Ins0mnizac]

has anyone ever heard of an above ground box. My roomate was telling me how one of his debate prof. was in a case that involved a girl falling into an above ground box and rupturing her kidney. I have never heard of an above ground box and the way he described it it sounds like his prof was making it up and only knew a very little bit about pole vault. Has anyone else ever heard this story.

[belmore]

Don't know about the accident, but there was a box that would suck down to a gym floor, it was definitely above ground. Never used one, a coach from Michigan, Dave Mohre described it to me.

[achtungpv]

They kind of suction-cupped to the floor. I believe there were problems with people not realizing that you need to drop your grip and pole size significantly when jumping on one.

[Mecham]

Yeah i've jumped on one, just when i was learning though, i dont know why, but those 8 inches make a huge difference.I think its a lot harder on a above box.

[Bruce Caldwell]

The first above ground box I ever saw was one made with plywood and sheet metal and the large plywood sheet set under the pit.
It was used in the city championships in KCMO in 1968 my coach had made it.

I took the city championships as people did not know you needed to lower to the next size pole at your weight.

Then I saw Thermo flex make one out of fiberglass and sand with a rubber sheet on the bottom so it did not move.

I bought the fiber mold and took the bottom off and inserted a vacuum cleaner motor from granger and made it suck to the floor.
The unit was good for indoor facilities that did not have a box.
Sold 100 a year from 1973 to 1991.

I have never heard of any one getting hurt, but you can if you do not pad it with wrestling mats.

The product was not high volume enough to warrant continued production.

[das_1971]

The first above ground box I ever saw was one made with plywood and sheet metal and the large plywood sheet set under the pit.
It was used in the city championships in KCMO in 1968 my coach had made it.

We had one of these burried in a store shed at Mount Vernon HS (ohio). The thing only had the bottom measures right and had verticle sides, had no rust/damage which was amazing for being 30 years old, and was sharp enough to cut a hair on its edges. I burried it in the grass near the runway and let kids do straight pole drills into old mats to clear up pit time. You could do the same thing with a couple boards and a hole in the ground...

[Caseman33]

to visualize an above ground box...just think of vaultin with a slidebox...except its made of strong materials....it stinks vaulting in them

[polecat]

The "NY case" happened a few years ago. I have forgotten a lot of the details, but I recall the girl was a good pole vaulter and was trying to get better for the indoor season. I don't think the school has included PV in its track program since. Good intentions, bad outcome.