Trampolines can be a great addition to anyone’s backyard. They incentivize children to go outside and get in some exercise. In order to be sure that trampolines are as fun as possible while also being a safe place for children to play, it is important to secure your trampoline with sandbags.
Sandbags can be put onto the metal legs of trampolines in order to make them more secure. Without sandbags on the legs, trampolines can bounce and shift position, which can be inconvenient and dangerous. Though sandbags aren’t necessary for every trampoline, it is a good idea to have them.
Here’s a little more information about how sandbags help make a trampoline safer.
Trampoline Safety
Everyone loves to play on a trampoline. The bouncy nets allow for increased mobility, high jumping, and a full range of flips and other tricks. You can find trampolines in backyards and in public gyms and other places for kids to play. Overall, these structures provide a place for kids and adults to play and have new experiences.
- Though trampolines can be extremely fun, they also include a little bit of danger.
- By bouncing too high on a trampoline, children can fall and sprain their ankles or break their legs.
- Though some trampolines have covers that protect the springs which encircle the trampoline net, others do not.
- Without these covers, children can fall through the springs and injure themselves.
You can find great deals online on safe Trampolines with Covers and Safety Nets here on Amazon.
Just like most other physical activities, jumping on a trampoline carries with it inherent risks. Thankfully, most of these risks can be mitigated by taking appropriate precautions. As mentioned above, covers can be added to trampolines to protect the springs.
Nets can be added around the perimeter of trampolines to prevent children from falling out, and trampolines can be placed under the ground so that children have less distance to fall if they make a mistake.
We have another article with additional ways to Anchor A Trampoline to give more ideas.
Sandbagging on a Trampoline
One problem with trampolines is that some trampolines bounce around a lot while they are being used.
When lots of people are on a trampoline or when a lot of force is being used while jumping, the base of the trampoline will bounce around. This can be problematic as it can be both unsafe and unfun.
The biggest problem with a trampoline that is constantly shifting and bouncing around is that the trampoline becomes unpredictable. Trampolines can shift to uneven ground or towards obstacles. The bouncing trampoline legs can also damage lawns and other backyard features, making trampolines more of a liability.
- Another problem is that some trampolines are liable to blow away.
- Trampolines are made to be light and easy to move around a bit, which means that they can be easily shifted by the wind.
- While it is unlikely that you have children jumping in high winds, a moving trampoline will still damage your backyard.
In the case of a trampoline that is inside of a small pit in the ground, you will have fewer problems with a moving trampoline, but you will still have to deal with a trampoline that jitters around while being used.
This can keep you from conserving your momentum and can take away a lot of the fun from jumping on a trampoline.
- The main thing that people do to fix this problem is that they put sandbags around the legs of trampolines.
- Most trampolines are built with legs that are linked to other legs on the trampoline with a bar that provides pockets for sandbags to lay on top of.
- This is a necessary part of trampolines as sandbagging has become so common in order to protect yards and people.
With sandbags on your trampoline, the sand will absorb the jolts of the jumpers while weighing down the trampoline legs.
The sandbags will be easily removed if you ever need to change the placement of your trampoline and they are fairly easy to obtain. Furthermore, sandbags will keep your trampoline from moving in the wind.
How to Secure your Trampoline
If you want to add sandbags to your trampoline, you first need to obtain some sandbags. You can buy sandbags from emergency preparedness centers, gardening stores, supermarkets, and hardware stores. They are fairly inexpensive as a 50-pound bag of sand costs about 5 dollars.
- If you don’t want to buy a sandbag, you can make them yourself (assuming that you have good access to sand).
- Simply fill garbage bags with sand and then wrap them all around in duct tape.
- Try to measure out and weigh the sand in your bags in order to keep the bags uniform in weight and size.
Once you have your sandbags, you can begin to place them around your trampoline. As mentioned above, most trampoline legs are built with a bar in between some of the legs.
These bars are often built with a peak in the middle of the bar, which makes the 2 sides have small dips which are perfect for putting a sandbag on.
Most trampolines have 6 or 8 legs, so you will want 6 or 8 sandbags for your trampoline.
You can probably get by with less than 8 sandbags, however, depending on what you think you need for your situation.
While placing your sandbags, be sure not to strain yourself while lifting them, as it is common for people to damage their back by lifting sandbags wrong. Be sure to lift with your legs and place the sandbags carefully so as to not cause an injury while trying to prevent some.
If sandbags aren’t the best choice for your trampoline, you can also try to solidify the position of your trampoline by using cement or by staking the trampoline into the ground.
However, cement can cause a lot of strain on your trampoline (trampolines are meant to be flexible) and the stakes can be bothersome as you try to navigate your yard.
Overall, sandbagging a trampoline is a good idea to protect your children and your yard. It is simple, inexpensive, and it opens even more fun to come from a trampoline.