I'm not sure if it's a specifically South African thing, but check these swings out. Which brightspark (and I do mean that) thought of turning a car tyre inside out and fashioning a bucket-like swing seat from it? Most playpark swings I come across in and around Cape Town seem to use these kind of seats... the only difficulty with them is that if you're all grown up, and if the tyre was from a small vehicle, it's kinda difficult to get it off your butt once you've plopped in. :D
I used Google Image Search to see if I could find swings like this in other countries. I have to admit that I only checked the first four pages of results, but what was interesting was that the only similar ones that I found appear to have originated from South Africa. Others were full tyres tied to a rope... which is cool, but just not the same. ;)
On the topic of swings, check out the cartoonstock.com cartoon depicting the dangers of installing swings in high-density housing areas.
Tracy
I didn’t see any of these in the UK play parks during our stint there. You could buy them at around R1000 a pop from posh garden centres though.
Laura
I lived in Ireland for some years and never once saw the car tyre swings and I visited plenty of parks with my kids. I think they are a Proudly South African item!!!
Pamela Pattison
Hi from a UK resident – we don’t have them here nor have I seen them anywhere in Europe – but we can get door mats made out of strips of tyre rubber, hideous but effective! We noticed the swings in SA and loved seeing the really little children cocooned by them.
Paul
Post authorTracy, the sad thing is that it’s quite possible that some underprivileged person, perhaps even in SA, is getting paid around R10 for the item which (as you say) is sold for about R1000 in the UK. I’m not saying that it is so, just that it happens with other items (and not specifically with the UK either :) ). This is how the world seems to work.
Laura, yup, they must be! It must be part of the African recycle mindset, or rather “use what you have” ingenuity, from where these ideas are born! :)
Pamela, ha ha, doormats, yup, we have those too… we also have sandles made from old tyres! Well… the soles at least. Apparently you can walk with them for at least 40,000KM before sending them in for retreading. ;D Perhaps I’ll track down one of these to get a photo of for you guys.
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Where to buy tyre swings | Cape Town Daily Photo
Bob
I’m trying to find a “how to” site for making these, so I googled “tyre swing”.
10 pages later, this is the first photo of the type of swing I’ve been looking for! Other than this, I’ve just managed to find one ancient sketch of one. Looks like people outside of South Africa don’t know what they’re missing out on!