Anyone tried the Pilates Stick?

[jahra]

Well, I received an email that my Pilates Stick has shipped.

I never cave for infomercials, and did not on this one.
I saw the system in Pilates Style magazine. For a few years
have been looking for a reformer, but very concerned about
space limitations.

Called Pilates Stick to ask a few questions, and spoke with Charles
the owner. He was very helpful in answering my questions, and
no sales "if you act now" pressure. Since we are on EST, during
the conversation it was revealed he is in LA-so it was about 7 am
PST when I called. I offered my apology for calling so early.

His company is still at a stage where he is wearing many hats,
but seems to have some real growth potential. He is very professional
in his approach, I received an order confirmation moments after
placing the order.My sense is that he is very open to feedback and
suggestions. I also spoke with a studio owner who is using the
system and very happy with it.

I agree with Lovinglife that the price will most likely go down
as sales increase.

Its great some VFers are making there own. My concern is safety,
and with my lack of craft/woodcraft skills letting Charles take care
of design/construction is a better option for me

Good luck Lori, sounds like you have a nice design shaping up.
Looking forward to pictures.

[LovingLife]

I haven't seen the infomercial either. I've clicked on the YouTube links, but each time, my sound wasn't working on my computer for some reason, so I haven't been able to hear them. I'm excited to later on though. (I'd do it now on my dh's laptop, but I'm afraid I'd wake him up!)

Jahra -- I'm excited to hear that yours shipped. Keep us posted on how you like it, what the advanced dvd is like, etc. From what my friend who has Supreme Pilates says, the Pilates Stick can be used with those dvds too.

[la mancha]

I built my Pilates Stick/Springboard this weekend and it turned out really well.
It took a couple trips to the Lowe's and a fabric store, but when all is said and done it cost about $45 to build the entire thing - way less than the $300 that they are charge for the stick and large wall mount. I initially spent about $70, but I overbought on the hardware and am going to return the extras. I tried using the springs, but they sqeaked, which I knew would drive me crazy. There was some trial and error, but it could easily be built in a couple hours if you are following established instructions.
I have made a parts list and will begin writing some instructions. Unfortunately I didn't take photographs along the way, but hopefully photographs of the finished project and detailed instructions will help any who want to build one.
I will try to get the instructions written this week.

Lori

[Honeydew]

thanks for taking time to do this....I can't wait to build one for myself.

[LovingLife]

Originally Posted by la mancha

I built my Pilates Stick/Springboard this weekend and it turned out really well.
It took a couple trips to the Lowe's and a fabric store, but when all is said and done it cost about $45 to build the entire thing - way less than the $300 that they are charge for the stick and large wall mount. I initially spent about $70, but I overbought on the hardware and am going to return the extras. I tried using the springs, but they sqeaked, which I knew would drive me crazy. There was some trial and error, but it could easily be built in a couple hours if you are following established instructions.
I have made a parts list and will begin writing some instructions. Unfortunately I didn't take photographs along the way, but hopefully photographs of the finished project and detailed instructions will help any who want to build one.
I will try to get the instructions written this week.

Lori

Great! I'm excited to hear more and to see the pics of the final product!

[Jane P.]

I'm excited too. Can't wait to get the instructions.

[Taiga]

Yep--- definitely a cheap and relatively easy project. If you don't count shopping or the time it took for the stain to dry, it took me less than a half hour to assemble my own large wall mount (complete with choice of 2 different mounting heights). I was fortunate enough to have a nice piece of maple left over over from another project. I routed the edges and stained it so that it would look like furniture quality. The hardware cost about $14 for all the swivels, loops and hooks. I purchased these at a local industrial hardware store, but it sounds like LaMancha found what was needed at Lowe's (a fairly common store in most sections of the country). I need a trip to the fabric store before I can finish the dowel/footstraps so that will have to wait at least until next weekend.

I just wanted to post now in support of building the wall mount at home. I don't have a doorway in any place that would make a reasonable workout area, so a mount wasn't really optional for me. The price of their large mount ($149.99) plus shipping (I imagine the size and weight would add a LOT to the cost) was out of the question. I'm guessing the entire set (with stick) would cost ~ $350 delivered. Even if you didn't want the hassle of making the pilates stick portion (which takes a little more time, thought and shopping), you could save a considerable amount of money by making just the wall mount. It really is a simple, inexpensive project. The quality of the wood that you choose can make quite a difference in price but even lower grade wood can be stained up and routed to look fairly good.

I can use the wall mount for other resistance tube workouts, but I'm kind of dragging my feet on finishing the stick portion because I would like to hear VFer reviews of the advanced DVD first. I guess I could look into the SP DVDs as LovingLife suggested (thank you ) , but I know myself well enough to know that my best bet of consistency in use will probably depend on the DVD specifically designed for the product. I slipped my body bar through the handles of the resistance tubing (run through the wall mount loops) and have been experimenting with some of the moves they show in the clips. I like the feel and hope that the DVD ends up being fun. With so little investment, I don't worry about the novelty wearing off as much.

[la mancha]

Consolidated into two posts further on

[LovingLife]

Do you have an online photo album like Photobucket or Picasa? If you download your photos to that album, you can just give us the link and we can view them there. Then you don't have to fiddle with them much at all.

Thanks for all your work in sharing this with us Lori.

[Lucky Star]

Wow - thank you for sharing this!!