Pitsco Heavy Density Balsa Wood Strips (Pack of 100)

Showed up very quickly (5 days) and perfect for my needs. I agree that there are a few flimsy strips in the pack, but the rest are working great for our bridge building project. I know not everyone has had the same experience with these heavy density strips, maybe there are quality control issues... ? This was the best value I could find for thin balsa wood strips when shopping around online, and I couldn't find what I wanted locally. Love the extra long length of these strips. Glad I went for it despite the mixed reviews. I figured that even if it didn't work for bridges we could find some other structure building project to use them for that didn't require heavy weight bearing from the structure.

Used for a bridge building project/contest with my high school students. All trusses. NO bad sticks in my order whatsoever!!

These are not all the same length and vary by an inch or more in length. They also snap easily. My son tested theses in his AP Physics class and said they are not “high density”. We returned them and bought different balsa wood. Sadly, my son tried to make an arch for a bridge with these, and the sticks (which were glued together since they were so flimsy) snapped after being already glued to the bridge. The reviewers are right that these vary. Some snap instantly, and others are more bendable.

When I purchased, the description stated each stick would average 1.6 - 1.8 grams. We weighed each piece, and they all varied from 1.0 to 2.8 grams. I would have preferred to have more consistency in the wood. I bet we had well over 30 sticks that weigh less than 1.6 grams.

I use these for bridge building in a 5th grade class I mentor. I have bought several versions from amazon and honestly cant tell the difference between heavy density and any other density. So maybe they are all heavy density and just not mentioned in the description... Will buy again next year for my class.

I ordered two of these bundles to make kites with kids. They arrived undamaged and well protected.The wood pieces worked really well to make an easy, inexpensive kite.

I ordered the PITSCO 1/8x1/8x32 = 100 pieces medium (57470) and hard (57469) packs.The medium density pieces weighed 149 grams, and the hard density pieces weighed 150 grams. According to the product features description the average mass per strip should have been 1.81 grams, thus i would have expected the aggregate weight to be 181 grams.I weighed both packs strip by strip using a centigram-accurate digital scale, and the distribution of the individual strip weights across both packs was essentially the same. Although I understand that individual strips can vary, Pitsco should confirm a hard density package conforms to the average strip weight.What I got was the same strips as the medium density pack, but sold as hard density. Very disappointing, now I have to try to return or exchange them which is a hassle and not what I wanted to spend my time on when I made this purchase.

Worked perfectly for our use of constructing model houses in a science classroom definitely will order again next year