Air-Trekker Jumping Stilts

In the mid 90’s a young German aerospace engineer named Alexander Boeck (bok) designed and patented a device to “facilitate the locomotion of a person by himself or herself by means of a spring system attached to both legs.” He spent years testing and retesting its performance and upgrading its quality in his own manufacturing facility- “Alan Sportartikel GmbH.”

Today Mr. Boeck’s company manufacturers the highest quality jumping stilt in the word – the Powerskip, and believe me it rocks! But it’s expensive. Very expensive. The Powerskip brand of jumping stilts have very limited distribution and are found being used in theatrical shows and used by very seasoned “bockers.”

Mr. Boeck needed mass production if his invention was to gain worldwide traction. Therefore he found two Asian manufacturers whos facilities were setup or could be setup for mass production of his product. One is located in Seoul, South Korea, Hitech & C. Ltd., yet their jumping stilt manufacturing is handled in the Phillipines.

This company’s brand is “Poweriser.” The only other jumping stilt mass production company authorized by Mr. Boeck is located in China. The company is Hong Kong International Amusement Information Ltd. This company manufacturers and sells close to 90% of the jumping stilts sold throughout the world.

HKIAI provided units to the Olympic closing ceremonies in 2008.  Like GM or Ford, this company manufacturers and distributes several world brands: “Flying Jumper” in Europe and Asia. “Pro Jump” for the UK,  and “Air-Trekkers” and “Powerstriders”.   Air-Trekkers has recently been awarded worldwide distribution rights, with the exception of the EU.  Mr. Boeck did not want brand confusion in Europe.          

Air-Trekkers are the first mass-produced body-attachment equipment that gives humans almost bionic abilities. Run, jump and perform like a Superhero. They also can be used as a simple yet extremely demanding exercise and strength development product.

Use of jumping stilts is exploding in Europe and Asia....as evident by their presence at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Closing Ceremonies. Only recently have jumping stilts been available in the USA.

You have found, you have been attracted to a whole new craziness in sports. Air-Trekkers allow almost anyone to dominate their surroundings in a very amazing way. These units are so unique, so incredibly cool that all people stop in their tracks to stare. Better yet, for the user, the feeling of walking 18" off the ground and instantly being able move into a series of 9' leaps is a feeling of.......well......like wearing bionic equipment on your legs.

Bigger, taller, faster, higher. When you have the control and confidence to use the springs the way they are meant be used, you'll be living in a whole new world. No wonder the sales of this new product are exploding around the world. Jumping Stilts are the next new element in "Big Air Anywhere!"

Warning: As with everything in life, there are some cheaters in this industry. A brand of jumping stilts, “Skyrunner” manufactured by some obscure company in China, has made a few attempts to cheat Mr. Boeck of royalty fees, and sell units in patent protected countries – including the USA.

Mr. and Mrs. Boeck are tough though and police distribution closely. They have repeatedly shut down illegal distributors………distributors who bought large shipments and were stuck with large quantities of unsellable units. There are only two mass producers of Mr. Boeck’s patent on the globe. Both are authorized and follow strict patent, and quality manufacturing guidelines. If an authorized distributor sells for less, that’s their business decision. It’s not a quality difference. Some distributors just want to make more money per sale and therefore have a higher markup.

Mr. Boeck has very tough guidelines and distribution rules for his world wide licensees. He has created limits on distribution, mainly for fairness, the need for proper customer service and part availability. In the USA, there are only three authorized, royalty paying licensees of Mr. Boeck’s mass produced brands. Xphub, which sells Powerisers, GetJumpingStilts.com sells both “Powerisers” and “Powerstriders” previously known as “Powerizers.” A bit confusing eh?

When Powerizers became very successful, the Korean manufacturer, who makes “Powerisers” (with an “s”) fought and won a name infringement case against the brand “Powerizer.” Way to go Hitech & C Co.

Due to the size of the USA market and because the other brands have shown moderate financial investments in creating adequate US exposure, Alpine Innovations, LLC received permission from Mr. Boeck to sell Air-Trekkers in the USA in late 2007, and recently received global distribution rights.

Hong Kong International Amusement was chosen to manufacture Air-trekkers due to their production capabilities, world wide sales records and consistent upgrades in parts and models. Compared to other mass produced brands, the Air-Trekker brand has upgraded parts with bomb proof materials and wear resistant components.

The golden rule is: For beginners: if your weight is in the bottom half of a category, buy that category. If your weight is in the middle of a weight category, buy that category. If your weight is near the top of a weight category, buy the next size up. If you are a beginner, please follow these guidelines. Do not buy a spring 2 sizes up as a beginner.

If you buy a spring that is a bit strong for you, you may initially think you bought the wrong spring. Simply follow the above guidelines and you'll be OK. You want to grow into you springs. You do not want to buy springs that are very springy on day one. What happens after use, your legs will become very strong, your confidence will skyrocket, and you intestinal fortitude will greatly expand.

In other words, you want a spring that will perform for you in 2 months, not today. Also if you buy a small spring, as you develop skills, you will find that you are bottoming out. "Bottoming out" is a term used when you over bend the spring and your foot slams into the foot pad. It's a loud and abrupt thud and it doesn't feel very good. More importantly, you have reached your limits to height. If you try to go bigger, you will bottom out more and more.

After 6 months to a year, you may wish to purchase bigger springs - yes springs only - to try to test your skills on a stronger spring. The US distributors do sell springs only at affordable prices. But keeping your first spring is valuable, because it will be worn in and easy to use. The big spring will take alot of effort, and although it will deliver what you want.....having this big spring as your only means is like "sprinting all the time" it's tough to do ALL the time. Buying the correct size of jumping stilts is important and by doing so you will set yourself up for a better experience.

Finally, and this is very important. The Hong Kong manufacturer has upgraded it's process for creating springs......in doing so, the springs are a bit softer than the springs of 2006-2008. Please pay close attention to the weight categories. We've noticed that a few of the licensees have not made the necessary adjustments in labeling weight categories. The manufacturer has given specific directions that the 2009 springs are softer.

Correct sizing:

M60 is for weights 110 - 130 pounds.........not 130 to150 pounds.
M70 is for weight 130 - 150 pounds..........not 150 to 175 pounds. And so on.

A 140 pounder should not be using a M60. You will bottom out very quickly and could crack the spring within weeks. Air-Trekkers are the only brand currently being sold in the USA that has made the necessary category adjustments. Check out this article to see more on how to correctly buy jumping stilts.