Column Fun

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  • Guy360
    Junior Member
    • Jan 2018
    • 23

    Column Fun

    Does anyone like to make balloon columns and ride them.
    In my case I like to take a few 24" at each end, or a 36" at each end and Mexico 15"s in between in clusters bunched together all tied together in a column.
  • Dude1234
    Senior Member
    • Sep 2017
    • 253

    #2
    Re: Column Fun

    I have made a small column with small balloons before but never tried sitting on one I have to try that now

    Comment

    • Bubblyzzz
      Senior Member
      • Jul 2017
      • 266

      #3
      Re: Column Fun

      I have a decorator friend that allowed me to play with a column after a party!

      Comment

      • Mailman Looner
        Member
        • Jan 2017
        • 38

        #4
        Re: Column Fun

        I have always wanted to make a column of my own, I need to learn how to do them because they look like fun.

        Comment

        • LoudPopper
          Senior Member
          • Jan 2016
          • 228

          #5
          Re: Column Fun

          I've made a few columns. They're awesome, but they take so much time to make. The wife is out of town so maybe I'll make one this weekend. I've had a few times where I've been lucky to get access to a column or 2 after an event and bring it back home with me. The first time I got to do that was in middle school after the 8th grade graduation. One of the most exciting times in my looning life. Outside of the one's I've made, I've stumbled upon or had columns given to me a few times afterwards including in college and about a year ago after an event. I'll post the link to my posting on this blog shortly. In that particular incident, I got access to 4 columns and I absolutely destroyed them, all while hiding from public discovery. Another highlight of my looning life.

          Comment

          • LoudPopper
            Senior Member
            • Jan 2016
            • 228

            #6
            Re: Column Fun

            Here's the blog post to the story. I had tremendous fun popping the columns, but OMG I forgot how fucking nervous I was to take them away from the convention. It was funny bc I was "helping" out my friends clean up after the convention.
            A place for poppers to openly discuss, without upsetting the non-poppers.


            Here's the 4 columns and the aftermath. Hope the link still works.

            Comment

            • LoudPopper
              Senior Member
              • Jan 2016
              • 228

              #7
              Re: Column Fun

              My mistake, here's the link to the pics

              Access Google Drive with a Google account (for personal use) or Google Workspace account (for business use).

              Comment

              • Mailman Looner
                Member
                • Jan 2017
                • 38

                #8
                Re: Column Fun

                I remember that post LoudPopper. I would love to just take a column from somewhere and have my fun. I think if I had to make my own I would get sick of doing it in the middle and just start popping.

                Comment

                • LoudPopper
                  Senior Member
                  • Jan 2016
                  • 228

                  #9
                  Re: Column Fun

                  So the wife left town for the weekend so I decided to have some more fun than usual and try something different. Knowing that I would have time on my hands, I decided that I would make a couple of balloon columns. I made a total of 4 columns, which you can see in the pictures attached. I tried to stack each quad of balloons that I made at least 9 times, but the process of making columns is still challenging for me, so I easily lost count every time. When I counted, I think each column had around 40-50 balloons in each one. I did notice that I would get impatient at times and tell myself to not pop, and push through to finish the columns.

                  I used I've had 2 BIG looning sessions in which I've so far used 3 out of the 4 columns that I've made. In each session, I tried to have about 30 or so lose 12"ers (of course I half-tied half of those so I could easily untie them during the session for a quick BTP). I tried to count, but made sure that I had about 30 TT17s and 40 U16's on top of some Mexican 15" paddle balloons, and Bebal 14"s. As per usual, I scattered about 2 or 3 TT24's, a Cattex 32" and/or a GL500. Knowing I was going to have multiple sessions during the weekend, I tried to keep each session to the low 100's so I think I ended up with about 125 loons in each session.

                  I think my bags of TT17's are going bad because they didn't put up too much of a fight when I STP'ed them, which was disappointing. But I gotta admit, the highlight of both sessions were those columns. I only played with 1 column in the first session, and 2 during the second session. OMG it was so fun! And talk about getting physical with those loons! The columns were super sturdy and strong, and were able to easily support my weight. I'd start by sitting in the middle of the column. I rolled around with the columns, and tried to squeeze whole quads of balloons at a time to by body. The first column (Red, White, Blue) was made out of super cheap dollar-store balloons so the loons were a lot more easily squeezable, and the loons would pop 2-3 at time when I did that. After doing that a couple of times, and listening to the rapid POP, POP, POP! And feeling a bit of the column give way, but still being surrounded by loons was super hot. When I'd pop my way into a nice bit of the middle of the cluster, I'd fold it around myself and hump away at the bottom half of the column, while the other half would lay on top of me. I'd nail pop a bunch at a time, but then just lay there and savor the feeling. Then, after doing some sitting on the other half of the column, I would go into a rapid fire popping frenzy on one half of the remaining cluster (making me rock hard in the process) until I'd run out of energy. Usually, at that time, there'd be a small little cluster of the column remaining, which I'd squeeze each balloon individually.

                  The black/gold and clear/silver clusters were more durable Party City loons, half of which were perlized (the gold and silver loons). Basically this made these clusters even more durable and resistant to popping, which was a SUPER FUN challenge to work through them. What was so fun about the second session was that the room was so stuffed, I had to on a bunch of 16 and 17'ers in the room just to make room so a single column could lay onto my bed. The other awesome part was knowing that I could be as reckless and wild with the column that I was playing with without worrying that my fun would come to an end. Why? Because I still knew there was a whole second column begging for my attention when I was done.

                  I really took my time in this session, popping half a column, before switching to ride the Cattex 32", the TT24's and the GL. What was also a bonus was riding these more durable columns actually made the long snake shape of them sorta shift to a big cloud as I would wrap it around me, and it was able to take more abuse. While riding the big loons, I was able to pick up the more manageable half-column, and move it around and manipulate it more independently without the super long tail of ballloon quads trailing behind it. I would throw myself back onto it, hump, roll around, bounce and everything, and it was such a struggle to get them to pop. I ended up finishing off the first column with my hands. I had a hard time working through the second column too, but I didn't touch it towards the end of the session, because I was enjoying all of the U16's and TT17's around the room as well. I used this one for a while like a couch, bunching it together and laying back on it to rest, while I took a break to BTP a bunch of half-tied loons. Then it was back to the madness!

                  Needless to say I had a great time. I still have one last column and a GL500 left over from the other session. Maybe I'll have one last session tonight before my wife returns home with my nephew for a few weeks. Needless to say, there will not be much looning going on while he's around. Hope you all found the columns enjoyable. I sure did!
                  Attached Files

                  Comment

                  • Meililoon
                    aka lyckr
                    • Sep 2014
                    • 700

                    #10
                    Re: Column Fun

                    I love making columns with 12" balloons and just go nuts with them.

                    Comment

                    • Blowitbig
                      Senior Member
                      • Jan 2016
                      • 688

                      #11
                      Re: Column Fun

                      Those balloon columns are beautiful, the loons are sooo tight ,they look like they could bust at any second
                      The bigger the better

                      Comment

                      • LoudPopper
                        Senior Member
                        • Jan 2016
                        • 228

                        #12
                        Re: Column Fun

                        Thanks, yeah they were beautiful columns. I especially liked the pearlized ones that I made. Didn't expect them to turn out as pretty as they did. What I really wanna work on next is improving my linking of each balloon quad together on the string as I build the column. I really want that super clean and organized look that balloon professionals achieve where the column is super sleek and organized without bulky or lumpy sections where I've tied the balloon quads too closely together. Also, it'd be super nice if I can get the colors of the column more organized so you get that spiraling effect, like if I could have had the black balloons stack in one clean line and the gold in another so it looks like the lines of black balloons twist around a line of gold ones.

                        I think to achieve that though, you have to kinda underinflate the balloons so that they are more managable and they all need to be filled to the exact same size. I know professionals usually use a cardboard cut-out with a hole maybe 10" in diameter, inflating each 12" balloon inside of the cut-out until it is snug inside the hole. That way each loon is perfectly the same size and smaller than their rated size. First, I just don't have the patience for that. Yeah, I want my columns to look pretty, but I'm not decorating for some sort of party people are coming to. There's only one or two people coming to my balloon parties; myself and my wife if she wants to join in on the fun. Second, unlike professionals, these columns are not just going to look pretty in a corner somewhere. These columns are gonna get wrestled down, rode super hard, and eventually go BANG, BANG, BANG! Wimpy underinflated balloons aren't gonna do the trick. Well on second thought, maybe not. Underinflating the loons make accidental pops less likely, and they may actually be able to take more punishment. Sure, they may not pop as loud, but that's why I have a whole room of additional loons, right? Who knows, maybe in the future I'll make some underinflated columns for comparison, and I'll let you all know how it goes.

                        Comment

                        • BigBang123
                          Member
                          • Aug 2015
                          • 71

                          #13
                          Re: Column Fun

                          Have you ever tried making a balloon column out of larger balloons, e.g. 14", 16", 24"? Or have you ever made a column and topped it with a giant balloon, like the images attached?
                          Attached Files

                          Comment

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