How to make your Flag a Tag Flag Football Flags legally harder to pull for 30¢
What if I told you, that for just 30¢, I could make you a better flag football player? Ok, follow my logic here. In flag football, someone who’s flag doesn’t get pulled nearly as often is probably better than the guy who does right? Granted there are many things needed to make that happen, but having flags that are harder to pull definitely helps, and if all things are equal, and your flags are better than the next guys, you’re the better player right? Ok that might be a stretch, BUT technically it’s true, so continue reading below and watch the quick video for this super simple tip on improving your Flag a Tag flag football flags (legally!) for just 30¢! Also, be sure and read our disclaimer note at the bottom for some clarification on what we’re condoning and recommending.
Admit it, if you use the Flag a Tag flag football flags, you’ve either tried or thought about how to pimp them out to make them harder to pull. Many will argue this is cheating or that they’d never attempt such things. Some would say as long as you’re playing within the rules anything goes to create a competitive advantage. I’ll leave that up to you to decide based on your own morality or the rules you’re restricted by, but my goal here is to dissuade you from some of the very poor methods that I’ll breeze over below, and to introduce you to one very effective, cheap, quick and perfectly legal way that you can actually make your flag football flags harder to pull.
I’ve been around the game long enough and either personally tried or heard stories of dozens of ways to try and circumvent the system and make your Flag a Tag flag football flags harder to pull, some discreet, some blatantly stupid. Anything from putting gum/glue in the top of the male end to block the air hole to increase the air pressure inside, putting tape around the outside (like that’s not obvious), putting chapstick caps on the inside, putting Vaseline on the flags themselves, boiling the female ends while clamping them tighter, boiling the male ends while making them wider, freezing them both, boiling then freezing then boiling them both, etc. ALL of which are terrible, terrible ideas that either don’t work, are illegal or will get you caught and penalized or kicked out of a game (or all the above) and NONE of which we condone or recommend.
The ultimate goal of these terrible methods listed above though is to increase the friction of the two intersecting pieces of plastic making them “pop” louder and have more resistance to the act of being pulled, giving you a competitive advantage. In most leagues, there is no definitive rule against what you can and can’t do to “enhance” your flags, other than the unspoken rule that at no time can you have any foreign objects attached to, stuck in or on the outside of your flags making them different than out of package. This is where the boiling/freezing techniques tend to be tried but in general, they just don’t work. However, I’ve personally been using one method for quite awhile that makes a noticeable difference, both for older flags that tend to fall out all on their own, and normal flags that you want to make better, dare I say near equal in quality to the vaunted “mushroom poppers” that are of different design and much harder to pull, yet outlawed in some leagues.
Essentially, it’s as simple as purchasing a 30¢ piece of plastic (or brass if you can’t find it although they’re a bit more expensive), and “plugging in” your flags every time they’re not in use. This creates a wider “male” tip, increasing friction and the suction making them “pop” much louder and increasing the effectiveness of your Flag a Tag flag football flags. Here is a link to the Nylon Threaded 3/8″ Nipple from amazon, and here’s one to the Brass 3/8″ Pipe Fitting, both of which should work, or you can find them locally at your nearest hardware store. What you’re looking for are tube or pipe fittings, specifically the male to male threaded “nipples” or threaded “hex nipples” as they’re called, in the 3/8″ size. Pick up a couple pairs, plug in your flags for 5-10 minutes even and try plugging them in to your flag belt and see the difference for yourself! Then, anytime you’re on a break or are packing up for the day, just plug your Flag a Tag flag football flags back in so they’re ready the next time you play and it’s that easy!
NOTE: Just want to make it doubly clear that it’s understood FlagSpin is not condoning cheating, only that you are allowed to play by the rules you’re governed by. If your league or tournament doesn’t allow this type of alteration, then it’s your responsibility to use a separate set of unaltered flags or those provided to you. The rules vary wildly, some organizations allowing you to use mushrooms, use your own custom vinyl flags, or paper flags, or ball-n-sockets, or don’t care whether you use triple threat or sonic or the velcro kind, and some are so specific that you could get ejected or penalized for using anything outside their rules. The USFTL for instance, has made it clear they consider this outside their rules and won’t be allowed so plan on having a separate set of unaltered flags at these events.
