Cut Credit Cards In Style - Make Toy Boomerangs Out Of Them

Dave Ramsey is going to be happy with me for writing this post.

Normally, I don’t subscribe to Ramsey’s psychology and I don’t recommend cutting up credit cards (at least not valid, unexpired ones that can still be used). But, I was just re-reading one of my long-time favorite books “Physics for Entertainment” and suddenly thought of using credit cards for one of the *entertaining* experiments suggested in the book [credit card plastic is rigid and virtually indestructible and hence a good candidate].

Before I proceed, let me make a few comments about the book - I am not sure how many of you have even heard about it. The book, first published in mid-90s, comes in a two part series, and was originally written in Russian by Yakov Perelman. Both parts of the book are extremely rare to find in the present times. The only place that still has it (that too only Part 2) is Alibris.com - with a price tag of $130. Interestingly, about 15 years ago, my dad bought the book (both parts included - *used* condition) for some measure of currency that is equivalent to about 25 cents (US $) in today’s world.

Anyways, back to the credit card boomerang thing.

First, it will be helpful if you read up this information on boomerang basics. After you read that, it will be obvious that we are looking to create some L-shaped flying objects from the credit cards. Technically, we are tying to make a “returning boomerang”.

This is easier when explained with images, so here are before-and-after images of boomerangs made out of a Sears Gold Mastercard (that card was still valid when I cut it up - didn’t have any expired credit cards):

To avoid being unfair to credit cards, I also cut up a check card (no more ATM fees ):

Now, to fly those boomerangs, follow these instructions:

It takes a bit of a practice before you will get it right (here, some people may realize that they can’t even flick properly). Also, you could try testing boomerangs of various shapes - try twisting them a little bit (helps for a longer flight), try rounding off the corners, etc. - additional incentives to cut up more cards.

A good L-shaped credit card boomerang should fly up to 10~15 feet and will *almost* come back to you.

Additional tips:

• It’s OK to have two arms of unequal lengths - in fact, that way it might work even better.

• They are fun to play with, but be careful - a good boomerang will come back to you and you don’t want it to get in your eyes. Credit card plastic is very hard (that’s why it works well in the first place), and it can really hurt if it gets in your eyes (or someone else’s eyes). So watch you kids if they are cutting up your credit cards for fun.

• In addition to teaching your kids how to cut credit cards, you can also try explaining some science to them. That will make your card cutting activity a bit productive.

So go ahead… check out if Mastercard flies better than Visa, or Amex.