Colin Furze Recreates Griff’s Telescoping Baseball Bat From Back to the Future Part II

The Back to the Future franchise is chock full of iconic props — the most famous of which is, of course, the DeLorean-based time machine that was present throughout all three films. But some of the memorable props were introduced in the second movie of the trilogy. Those include Marty’s Nike sneakers that automatically lace themselves, the hoverboards, and Griff’s telescoping baseball bat. Nike has made real MAG shoes, and Lexus has even made a functional hoverboard. In his most recent video, YouTuber Colin Furze tackled the telescoping baseball bat.

Back to the Future Part II takes place in the distant future of 2015, where Marty and company find their kids getting into all kinds of shenanigans. Thomas F. Wilson plays Griff, who is the son of Biff Tannen from the first movie (also portrayed by Wilson). Griff is obviously the antagonist, and needed a futuristic weapon to wield threateningly. That weapon is a “Kirk Gibson Jr. Slugger 2000” model adjustable baseball bat that can extend from a compact form to its full length. It’s easy enough to find replica props of that bat, but they aren’t functional. Furze’s version is actually capable of automatically expanding at the touch of a button.

There are a lot of ways that you could make a telescoping baseball bat. You could, for example, use pneumatics or even inertia like a police officer’s telescoping button. Furze decided to use a simple electric motor attached to a lead screw similar to what you’d see on a 3D printer or a laser cutter. When the power is switched on, the motor starts spinning the leadscrew and causes the three steel tube sections to slowly slide apart. Power comes from a hobby LiPo battery, which is tucked inside of the smallest tube along with the motor. Furze even tested the bat’s efficacy by smashing some fruit to tiny bits, just like Griff would have wanted.