Al Gerhards is one of America's most famous pioneers in the development of long distance boomerangs. Al was an active thrower, designer and competitor in the 1970s and early 1980s. His most popular model is the Standard Weighted Hook which was made out of strip laminated hardwoods. The standard hook was occasionally made without weights, but the majority of these boomerangs had a single lead weight on each tip with a unique serial number stamped in the weight near the lift arm tip. The earliest examples (1970s) had an additional half weight inserted into the underside of the elbow. This was discontinued on hooks made in the early 1980s because the elbow weight was often the source for the initiation of strip delaminations. Al also made strip laminated large hooks, small hooks, omegas, traditionals and the awesome Big "U"s. The large hooks were sometimes called "White Lightning" hooks and Al used one of these to set a World Record in the long distance event with a documented throw of more than 125 yards back in the late 1970s. Only 500 standard weighted hooks with numbers were made. The last one has a silver star inlayed in the dingle arm tip and is displayed in Al's living room in a specially made holder that also displays his world record "White Lightning" hook.

I visited with Al Gerhards in early 2006 and asked him about the integrity of his boomerangs after 25-30 years. Al assured me that he used strong epoxy glues and that he still throws boomerangs that he made 30+ years ago without any problems. Al recommends that the owners of his boomerangs rub the surface with Tung oil or Gun oil prior to throwing if it has been in storage. The boomerang should be oiled at least once every 3 months if it is thrown regularly. However, I discourage the throwing of this fine collectable unless it is thrown under very carefully controlled conditions. I would prefer that the owner make a copy of this boomerang for his own use and save the original as a fine collectable.

This boomerang is the "Omega" model, signed and dated October 1981. This is one of the earliest of Al's omegas and it was made shortly after Al returned from the first Aussie/USA Challenge match. It has narrower blades than most of Al's omegas. This boomerang flies about 60 metres and doesn't make a full return. It will require tuning if you plan to throw it. You would need to heat the blades and add a small amount of dihedral and angle of attack. Most collectors would prefer to just hang this one on the wall. This model is much less common than the hook and it would be a good master to make copies for your own sports boomerang throwing. There is one area on the underside of the dingle arm tip with a plastic wood repair and couple of additional small pits, also on the underside of the tips. This damage is not so obvious when viewed from the upper surface. Still a very desireable collectable.