Skip to main content

You can finally preorder this ridiculous leaf-blower-powered hoverboard

About a year ago, back before the current hoverboard zeitgeist had hit critical mass, a tinkerer by the name of Ryan Craven took the Internet by storm with a video of his own take on the idea. Instead of using fancy supercooled magnets and elaborate metal-covered skate ramps to levitate his board, Craven’s crazy DIY hovercraft –dubbed Mr. Hoverboard— employed four downward-facing leaf blowers. It was absolutely ridiculous, but it ended up working so well that he decided to mass produce it. Starting this week, you can actually preorder a kit to make your very own Mr. Hoverboard yourself — although you’ll have to supply the leaf blowers.

In case you missed the original video, here’s a quick rundown of how Craven’s hoverboard works. Once you’ve attached the four leaf blowers and flipped them on, the air they blast out is redirected out through a special PVC skirt attached to the underside of the board. When air escapes out of the skirts holes, it creates an air buffer between the board and the ground below — effectively allowing it to “hover” over just about any surface. To ride it around, you simply push in whatever direction you’d like to go. Because it’s basically floating, the board will move in the direction of the momentum you apply to it.

Recommended Videos

Related: Hover technology may help your house float during an earthquake

The Mr. Hoverboard kit (which is currently up on CrowdSupply) includes all the wooden components, fasteners, and other materials you need to build the Hoverboard’s deck. The whole thing comes in one box with seven separate pieces, including the board, two “hover discs,” and four blower mounts. These pieces are attached using simple screws and a hex key included in the package, and according to Crave, the entire deck can be assembled in about 15 minutes. The four leaf blowers you’ll need (specifically, Black & Decker LSW20 battery-powered blowers) are not included, but sell for about $90 apiece.

All in all, you’ll need about $780 bucks to complete the Mr. Hoverboard build ($420 for the deck kit and $360 for the blowers), which definitely isn’t cheap — but even at that price it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than the Hendo Hoverboard, Lexus Slide, and even that one-wheeled “hoverboard” that popped up on Kickstarter recently.

This was originally a post on our brother site, Digital Trends.

Drew Prindle
Drew is our resident tech nerd. He’s spent most of his life trying to be James Bond, so naturally he’s developed an…
Beginner’s guide to cigar shapes and sizes — and why they matter
Why your cigar choice says more about you than your watch (and how to pick the perfect one)
A collection of cigars

Walking into a cigar shop and facing what seems like a million options is enough to make anyone panic. Cigars stacked everywhere, each with a strange name, size, and a slightly different shape from the last one. If you haven't done this before, it's tempting to just grab something, anything, and run!But hold on a second. Those shapes actually matter. They aren't just there to look fancy or make things confusing. The size and shape change the whole experience of smoking that cigar – how it tastes, burns, and feels. It's kind of like how driving a tiny sports car is way different than driving a big truck. Both get you where you're going, but the experience along the way is not the same.

What are cigar vitolas?

Read more
The writer of one of Netflix’s biggest drama is taking on James Bond next
We still don't know who will star in this new installment.
James Bond at a casino

The news that Denis Villeneuve would be taking on the next James Bond film was certainly exciting for many, and as we continue to speculate about who might take over as 007, we're also learning more about who else will be working behind the scenes on the film.

We now know that Steven Knight, the writer behind Peaky Blinders, will be writing the next Bond movie. While Knight is best known for his work on TV, which includes Peaky Blinders and the recent Stephen Graham series A Thousand Blows, he's also the writer behind Spencer and Maria.

Read more
Every new Game of Thrones spinoff explained
George R.R. Martin's television world continues to grow
Matt Smith starring in House of the Dragon

When it first aired on HBO in the early 2010s, Game of Thrones dazzled audiences with revolutionary special effects and terrific acting in a unique fantasy world. Based on author George R.R. Martin's series of novels, the universe depicts the battles between several different noble families as they try to climb to the top of the continent of Westeros, both politically and figuratively. The war scenes, family drama, and massive number of characters helped make the story feel fresh and new every time a new episode aired.

As Martin's attention shifted to television and away from his books, fans have looked to the TV series to finish some of the stories he couldn't finish on the page. Game of Thrones left fans wanting more, despite its poorly received finale, and a plethora of spinoffs are on the way. House of the Dragon already has two seasons completed, and there are several others in the coming years to look forward to.
House of the Dragon
House of the Dragon finished its second season in 2024. The show chronicles the heated family dynamics of the Targaryen empire almost two centuries before the events of Game of Thrones. The third season should pick up the civil war between Queen Rhaenyra's forces and King Aegon's after a slow-building conflict throughout the second act.

Read more