what filler is best??

bro1129 · Post by **bro1129** » 01 Mar 2010 15:49

hey everyone, i just started making my first footbag and i wanna hear your opinion on what footbag filler you think is best, and where do you get your filler?

mc · Post by mc » 01 Mar 2010 15:58

Now that's what I call a good thread title.

lead, stainless steel, and tungsten are the three most popular metals to give weight to your footbag. To add "body" to the fill without adding much weight, I use little plastic bits with all three of these.

Lead - 2nd heaviest, very inexpensive, toxic. This is my preferred footbag fill, being that I do not eat my footbags. I've been meaning to go to the doctor recently, I'll confer with him or her about my use of lead for the past 4 years or so, and maybe get a blood test if he or she is concerned, and let you guys know the results.

Stainless Steel - not even close to as heavy as lead, very inexpensive, non-toxic. This is my second-most-preferred footbag fill, because I can fill a bag to about 70% with nothing but stainless steel and get the weight I like. However, I prefer more of a 50% fullness to my bags, which is why I prefer lead. Non-stainless steel will rust and ruin your footbag.

Tungsten - heaviest, very expensive, non-toxic. It's great for all the reasons lead is, and also, it's non-toxic. The price is just too much for me, though.

bro1129 · Post by **bro1129** » 01 Mar 2010 19:16

where do you get the plastic beads from? and how large should the metal filler be?

Alf · Post by **Alf** » 01 Mar 2010 21:21

my oppinion:

stainless steel filler for middle sized bags
stainless steel with plastic pellets for large ones
and stainless steel and tungsten (or only tungsten) for small ones!!!

I don't use lead cause I don't like the aspect of beeing poisenous (or at least not thaaaaat good for your health) and because I never found a kind of lead beads that performed as good as my steel filler mix!

Donovon · Post by **Donovon** » 02 Mar 2010 07:45

Matt pretty much highlighted it all.

Some people use seed bead as a complimentary filler instead of using plastic. Im under the impression they are little tiny glass beads.

Tungsten is definitely the way to go with smaller bags.

And i would like to give mad props to Brad Benson's stainless steel disc filler. It seems slightly counter-intuitive, but these really small flat discs are my favorite filler. They sit really well and i think they set very true. And they are so small, they take up a lot of space that larger shot wouldnt, allowing for true %.

I dont think someone can tell you what it best (this is quite a long standing debate) You just gotta figure out whats best for you. I primarily use steel discs and tungsten.

~Donovon

Wasabi · Post by **Wasabi** » 02 Mar 2010 13:44

I need stainless steel shot/beads. Any idea where to get it?

Mind you, I don't want any zinc-plated steel or anything that would PREVENT rusting. I need steel that has ZERO IRON in its alloy composition. Does anyone have a site that specializes in selling this stuff?

will_T · Post by **will_T** » 03 Mar 2010 12:44

+1 for brad benson's disc filler. i use it by itself, or with a dash of tungsten on smaller bags. it's 409 stainless steel. info:

http://www.azom.com/details.asp?ArticleID=969

waylon, there is no such thing as steel without any iron. it's the primary ingredient in all steels.

mahhkohh · Post by **mahhkohh** » 03 Mar 2010 13:39

he, thats a good thread indeed. after emptiing lots of deiffrent bags of diffrent stitchers i do have to say: the best filler is a good mix of what you have there.

i like to use platted lead and small rocks and maybe a little plastik and such. others use just lead, or just tungsten, or sand, or just rocks. in the end you have to stitch a few bags and fill them with diffrent stuff to find out whats best

i so hope that does not help

Wasabi · Post by **Wasabi** » 05 Mar 2010 12:10

Will, not to sound rude or anything, but I work in the restaurant equipment industry. We deal in plenty of stainless steel wares. Type 304 and 430 stainless steel is what we primarily use in the food industry (I believe 306 or 360 is used in medical supplies and such). Type 304 is the best type used in situations where a lot of water is involved.

I understand there is no such thing as steel without iron in it, but there is such a thing as steel with EXTREMELY SMALL traces of iron in it. Or traces so small it is not detectable with the use of a magnet. Planetfootbag steel fill is that, and Brad Benson's referenced fill is somewhat like it. Alf bags are close to stainless steel fill as well.

I'll see what I can do in my end and help the footbag stitching community out on this matter. I think we may be a little misinformed on where we can get available non-toxic filler on the internet/etc these days.

Richardlss · Post by **Richardlss** » 05 Mar 2010 14:35

I dont get the argument with lead, yes its poisonious but you've got to ingest it, or get it through your blood stream in some kind of way. I worked at a refinery, they melted metal to pour in molds, to each laddle we added zinc filler and lead, full face respirator's and the whole works... you got tested every 3 months for lead poisoning, even though the lead stuck to our clothes we didnt get tested for that, we were tested because the respirators may leak. You have lead in your system, your body needs it, but too much is toxic, 65grams of lead in a bag that you dont ingest or rub in your blood stream wont do anything... like i said we had lead on our clothes and shoes for 12 hours a day 4 days a week, and not 1 case of lead poisoning. But i might be wrong, im no doctor nor a lead expert just my experience.

otherwise brad's fill is great! but man i love the heavyness of lead, and cant afford tungsten.

Muffinman · Post by **Muffinman** » 05 Mar 2010 15:05

I think some people also use Bismuth, which from what I've heard is somewhere between lead and tungsten in density, and non-toxic.

I think Bismuth is more readily available in Canada than tungsten.

brianbear · Post by **brianbear** » 05 Mar 2010 15:05

well said. i would have said something more like stop being wussies about lead people, just don't eat your footbags.
As far as my favorite fillers:
size 8 or 9 lead is the bomb, along with size 9 tungsten for filling a bag to a proper weight (minis only need this, no space fill).
For non-toxic requests, stainless mixed with tungsten for weight.
As for space filler, tons of stuff, fabric scraps, foam scraps, glass seed beads of various sizes, poly pellets, and anything that would feel good.

Wasabi · Post by **Wasabi** » 05 Mar 2010 19:35

Did some research, and I found a manufacturer in NY that makes stainless steel shot and stainless steel wire-cut shot in various sizes (steel wire-cut shot is whatever Alf bags are filled with, I've found in my research): http://www.pelletsllc.com/AboutPellets/ ... eShotSizes

Booyah?!?!?!

And if NY is too far of a manufacturer for you to get in contact with, here's a search engine of local refineries that you can get on the phone with. A simple phone call or e-mail does the job right: http://www.thomasnet.com/products/abras ... 301-1.html

Anything around or below the .1"/2mm diameter mark is what you want for size in regards to shot used for footbag fill.

Hope this helps.

Alf · Post by **Alf** » 06 Mar 2010 03:14

Wasabi wrote:

steel wire-cut shot is whatever Alf bags are filled with

Really? dope to know! I just know it's some sort of metall stuff that I put in my footbags!

do you think it's good, waylon?

Wasabi · Post by **Wasabi** » 08 Mar 2010 08:49

I think it's really good Alf.

Btw, I could be mistaken. It could be a different size grade of steel grit (not steel wire cut shot). However, I'm pretty sure it's 304 or 304L, since I haven't seen your fill rust on me yet. I believe planetfootbag steel fill is of the same make, except in a smaller/finer variety.

Brad Benson's steel filler would probably be considered steel wire cut shot, since it's circular in shape.

Filler doesn't necessarily have to be spherical. The more surface area/tension (with a smooth finish) the metal filler has, the better the bag will perform overall. This, of course, is dependent on how dense enough (or soft enough) the bag is made to be.

will_T · Post by **will_T** » 08 Mar 2010 09:20

thanks for the research and links, waylon. alloys are designed to fill an application. food and medical steels do have the highest corrosion resistance, and they tend to be antimicrobial. 409 works slightly differently in that it forms a protective film to prevent corrosion.

what i'm saying is that many of the different alloys of stainless steel will probably work just fine for footbag. anything called 'stainless' has high resistance to corrosion. proper footbag care is the biggest thing.

anybody want to do a group buy on some wire cut shot? i only need to order 500 pounds of it.........lol

EDIT: took so long editing this post that you posted again before i did. you're probably right about brad's filler being wire cut shot. never even occurred to me.

DOUBLE EDIT: these types of fill will probably get better with time, as the fill will actively be abrading itself. i know this is true with my disc-fill.

habitat · Post by **habitat** » 08 Mar 2010 13:05

The best filler is RAT'S EYES! RAT'S EYES! RAT'S EYES!

AeR0 · Post by **AeR0** » 22 Jun 2010 02:26

I have metal filled footbag. Is it normal that it wobble in air, it's kinda annoying.

billyg · Post by **billyg** » 10 Oct 2011 12:45

Where can you get Brad Benson's Metal Disc Filler? I searched it up but couldn't find it.

billyg · Post by **billyg** » 10 Oct 2011 12:47

Also, what size should I get? I assume the smallest possible, but what should the minimum size to even consider be?