Blobbing

Blobbing is an outdoor water activity in which a participant sits on the end of a partially inflated air bag (known as a water trampoline or blob) and is launched into the water when another participant jumps onto the air bag from a platform on the opposite side. The activity is popular at summer camps in North America. Various tricks may also be performed while the participant is in the air. The air bag is approximately 10 meters long (33 feet) by 2 meters wide (6 feet). The recommended height for the tower is 15 feet above the water surface, or 10 feet above the air bag.

History

The original blobs used were military surplus items. The "blob" was nothing other than a floating fuel tank that ships could tow. Since oil and gas floats on top of water, the fuel-filled bladders floated next to the ships. The first blobbers were the sailors who would jump from the ship, onto the "blob." Although the first recorded use of the blob was a summer camp near Austin, Texas called Camp Longhorn, in which the founders' sons used the blob in the camp's canoe bay. Tex Robertson the founder of Camp Longhorn, revised the blob for his summer camp.