Al Gerhards is one of America's most famous boomerang manufacturers. Al started making strip laminated boomerangs in the 1970s and only made boomerangs until the mid 1980s. Al would spend up to a year test throwing and tuning a single boomerang. He never sold or gave away a boomerang until it was perfect. Al taught himself to tune completely from scratch. Al was my tuning mentor and everything that I contributed to tuning of the MTA boomerang in the early 1980s was a direct result of what I had learned from Al. The Classic weighted hook was the most popular Gerhards boomerang. The Boomerang Man sold a few in his early 1980s catalogs as a regular stock item. They were bought up by eager long distance throwers as fast as Al supplied them to Rich. Supply was always a problem. This model had a typical flight range of 77 yards. A few, made out of heavier woods or with added weights, had ranges out to 100+ yards.

This long distance Gerhards hook has a single weight in each blade tip and an extra half weight on the underside of the elbow. This boomerang is signed (faded signature still visible) and the wood is identified as Wild Cherry. It was made in 1978. It has the serial number 76 stamped into the weight on the lift arm tip. This one is a battle hardened collectable that was used by Larry Ruhf in long distance competitions. There are no indications of major delamination, but there is edge damage on the outside elbow section close to the dingle arm (see photo below). Gerhards hooks are not indestructable. In fact, the majority of these hooks have been thrown until broken or until delamination has occured. I visited with Al Gerhards in early 2006 and asked Al 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 the boomerang 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.