Are Crawlers Fun?
 

Howdy RC Madmen,

My son (7y/o) is asking Santa Claus for an RC, a kit to be more specific, so he can build it and learn all about it. He has a 2WD Slash currently. I was looking at Tamiya Midnight Pumpkin, but then I saw the ECX Amp MT BTD kit. I like that for the price, but now I see that the ECX Barrage kit is coming out later this month. I showed him some video and he seems cool with crawling, but is it fun? No zoom zoom? I myself don't really see it, but I never tried one, and my RC experience is limited to a Falcon and Pumpkin in the 80s, the boy's brushed Sla2h, and a Tekno mt410 that I've just about finished building but haven't run yet. The terrain is rough where we are and there will definitely be some snow and ice running when it's warm enough to be outside. Thanks for your thoughts.

-Mongol Pete

I think you will have lots of fun if you find the right spot. A couple of buddies and I have had the most fun hill climbing and more of a trail driving thing. We look for good spots around lakes and streams.. anywhere that has had some water erosion makes for good trail driving. We used to have a long section of shoreline we would drive down and back, it was funny because it was almost like going for a walk with the dog.. Driving the trucks down looking for the next obstacle to tackle.

The lake we went to was a reservoir so there is almost always some structure to drive over when the lake goes up and down. Even driftwood piles can offer challenges. A few times I have even went out on the hiking trails around the lakes and found fun obstacles. Its a good way to get exercise and scout new locations.

Best part is as slow as the trucks are you don't break very many parts. I do always try to avoid letting my truck roll into a body of water though !

True, no zoom-zoom, but like foodstick said, something you can walk along the trail with as he tackles different obstacles. You may even decide to get one too, so you can join him and have some father-son competition.

I don't have kids, but it's still fun to get together with some friends and tackle different surfaces. Check out my 1/6 Jeep build a couple threads down.

I agree with mentioned before, it's a different aspect of r/c. Even if you don't have great terrain you can always add in the time aspect of a run. So if your kid did a short course of 2x4's, rocks, screwdrivers, whatever you have laying around, etc in say 3 minutes...Start timing him to see if he can do it quicker. Can also lay out boundaries(out of bounds) with tape or string that the tires can't go past to add difficulty. Crawlers are great in this aspect, don't need much room and can spend hours figuring out new lines or layout to overcome. My 7and 4 yr old will crawl right up to bed time with the 1/24th in the shop. Literally took 30 seconds to set up and have some fun.

crawling over some rocks or even a hole in the ground can be fun with these little trucks. if he likes off roading and don't mind the slower pace to the hobby he should do ok with it.
I find trying to drive over the terrain in a realistic manner adds some fun and challenge to crawling. even more so when upgrading. then you can see how the performance changes.
there is a few good starter crawlers out there. don't go with an off brand try to get one of the better brands so you can upgrade in the future.

Thanks for your thoughts guys.

I ended up ordering the ECX Amp MT build to drive (BTD) kit for my son, and then decided I want to try scale crawling after all for myself. I'll open my ECX Barrage BTD kit on Christmas morning when he opens his Amp kit. If he likes my crawler, we'll get him one later. For indoor play, I am thinking the new 1/24 Barrage would be good fun, but I might just see how running the 1/12 indoors works first.

Cheers,
-MP

I think you'll get a lot of enjoyment out of the crawler, and when he sees that it is something you guys can do together, crawling and challenging each other over obstacles, he'll have a lot of fun too. When you get a crawler for him, get another Amp for yourself so you guys can alternate between racing/bashing and crawling/trailing.

Thanks Mike,

We've got a brushed 2wd Slash, so bashers are covered. I'm currently researching what our second crawler will be. I like the 1/24 Barrage for indoors, but that wont cut it hiking trails with my 1/12 Barrage.

There are so many choices out there and it’s hard to narrow them down to so few. If your son is 7 years old, then I think it would be wise to consider checking this exactly: https://www.kidstoystop.com/best-toy...year-old-boys/

It all depends on where you'll be using it, and what level of performance you want. I have an original Nitro Hawk, and a 1st gen T-Maxx, but just picked up a Redcat Gen7 Pro to pull my 48" gas boat. I figured at such low towing speeds the nitro engine would overheat, so electric was the way to go, and many of the crawlers look far more realistic than the other types of trucks available. So for my application, a crawler was the best option, and the Gen7 Pro was less expensive than most of the other similarly optioned crawlers.
I would suggest a more popular brand/model, one that you can easily find replacement parts and upgrade parts for. Some of the niche brands/models are hard to find parts for.

Thanks for the reply 429CV23,

We now have 2 crawlers, an ECX Barrage V2 kit, and a wee 1/24 RGT Adventurer. We are just getting started with crawling, but I think what I like best about it is the indoor/outdoor versatility. Bashers or racers are too fast to run indoors unless you have a huge space.

Happy New Yesr,
MP

mini crawlers is so Fun, when you can driving at home.

Agreed! We are looking for crawler #3. I like the Redcat Sumo or Rocksta from Hobbyking. It's cool for the long winters here.

-MP