Wraps - not good

too pised to write a proper post right now, it's a miracle i made it home after the amount of bars/pubs i've been too tonight.

Anyway, the purpose of this post:

I've been practising wraps for several months now non lit, but it was only today that i really tired them with fire proplery.

I only did ones which i have practiced well, and i executed them to plan, but when i did a butterfly to 5 beat weave via a wrap of the right hand poi over the left arm, i wrapped too much and the chains were in contact with my bare skin for about 2 seconds before i unwrapped them. At the time it just left black soot on my arms, so i thought nothing of it, but now 7 or 8 hours later when i look at them i see it left burns - Not good

I've done firechains/staff a fair amount of times now over the past 6 months with no burns.

I guess the moral of the story is:

Be seriously careful with wraps on bare skin, however practised you are - yhey arn't good

I always take serious care when i do fire poi/fire staff, i guss i feel ashemed of myself for doing something which could harm myself/inspire other people to do the same

that's it, i should really be in bed right now, just thought i'd share this thought on the internet, cause i think its really important. Feel free to take the piss out of a drunk person posting, but i just think its important to get this point across. Max respect to anyone who does bare skin wraps regularly without burning themselves, i uess i'm just not good enough

I never ever ever do wraps on bare skin. Even done correctly, wraps can burn some skin types with some wicks. I really see no point in it except for increasing the chance for getting seriously hurt.

Wait, let me beat someone to the punch "I DO WRAPS ALL THE TIME ON BARE SKIN, YOU ALL ARE P#SSIES!" Yeah, and I know guys with burns up and down their arms from doing bare skin wraps. Some guys think burns are cool.

I'm actually in the process of getting some kevlar sleeves which are pretty damn near fireproof. I really have nothing to prove in terms of putting my flesh in any more danger than it already is. If the sleeves work well, I'll post results.

Actually, I wonder if there shouldn't be an additional warning on the "wraps" section of poi moves. There are rumors abounding that bare skin wraps are safe.

Someday I think I'll buy a pair of 4 inch tube whicks and enough leather to wrap up both arms so I can try wraps with fire. Leather really isn't my fetish but I'm sure I'll think of/find something so that it fits my style instead of some tight s&m type outfit.

Uh why are you guys going overboard with the arm protection?

Just wear a atleast 80% natural fibre sweater. If your really paranoid wear a natural thinner shirt underneath it. Kevlar? leather? I could see that if you were spinning flares or Steel wool, Otherwise I think it's just going to be uncomfortable and unnecessary.

Kevlar is totally overkill. But they're really cheap. I'm buying them for looks and convenience.

Hmmm...what's the problem? I do wraps on bare skin and I dont get burns......
There is also loads of different wraps....

wrap-stall's - the wicks doesent even touch the skin

wraps higher up on the chain - the wick does almost a beat around your arm before it wraps. witch give you a nice looking small circle AND barely any skin-wick contackt...

and if you do a 'regular wrap' close to the wick you can just pull the chain and that will give you less skin'burning time.....

Peace

J, Do you have any "marks"? Because I know people with scars up their arm who say "Dude, they're not burns, they're permanent heat induced MARKS."

I know some of you have leather skin as well. Not me.

It also depends on wick design.

NYC....No marks at all......
I dont know how I dont get them and others do....
must be that I wrap a certain way or something ....I use 'normal' wicks (no cath. or monkeys) with alot of metal exposed.......
Another thing is that I wait with wraps and hyperloops half a minute into the burn, could be the burning fuel that makes the marks....??

I dont know......but it's possible to do bare skin wraps without getting marks....just dont know what I do.....I'll try to figure it out tonight.....

Peace

jupps ....tried out the bare skin wraps....didnt get any marks......Even on handcuff wraps....
and I could do slow wraps to....didnt burn

So I dont know

[ 17. March 2003, 08:51: Message edited by: Jackelero ]

Maybe the people getting burned are using something that burns hotter then kero. Like whitegas. With kero if you keep the chains moving they don't really get that hot. Touch your chains sometime right after the wicks go out, it probably won't burn your fingers unless you hold onto it for awhile.

hey ppl

ive been on poi for about 2 and a half months and i have resently discoverd wraps.

i practiced the basic forearm wrap whilst doing a weave and i got it almost perfect, the odd hit or tangle nothing serious.

BUT evry time i do it with fire, BURN!and if i do it with a long sleave shirt on i cant even do a proper wrap.

well, ill deal with the pain coz it goes away, and besides it looks and feels really cool

cotton is great for not getting burnt but when i spin in a t-shirt, i use kevlar sleeves.

they are comfy, cheap and have lasted for *ages*, still with no sign of damage from the heat.
they're the only things i trust to be safe for wraps with fire ropes - anyone that does bare skin wraps with those must have burns.

Those kevlar sleves are pretty nifty. I can see where they would be practical for a lot of things besides poi. Like carrying sharp heavy things around.

If you're going to do wraps on bare skin, don't do them with fire ropes.....unless you're collecting burns, in which case "do them with fire ropes - "........

I used kevlar sleeves for a while, but I've found that over the last few years my skin has changed. I used to get burned by wraps on bare skin on a regular basis. Now they rarely even mark me, and if they do, the marks are mild and gone within a week. So I guess my skin is more like Jackelero's.

Clearly there are some skin types that are more sensitive than others. But getting burned by your wicks is also a function of design.

Here are some things I've noticed about getting marked:

Kevlar material with fiberglass core (which lasts longer) is more likely to mark you than that which doesn't have fiberglass core.

Big wicks are more likely to mark you as the bigger flame heats more of your chain.

never noticed much difference between parafin and white gas for getting marked. Fuel splatters during the wrap are more likely to ignite if you use white gas though.

minimize your exposed metal hardware by using smaller eyebolts or whatever (this is obvious). The more metal you can cover with kevlar, the better - I've seen some really ingenious folds to accomplish this.

Ball chain uses less metal in its construction, so does not have the heat capacity of other types of chain, which means coming into contact with hot ball chain will do less damage to your skin. Plus, when you mess up the wrap, it is a snap to free yourself from ballchain as it rolls right off instead of catching on itself. Just be sure to use 15 gauge or heavier, as lighter ball chain is not adequately strong for heavy long term fire spinning usage as the higher temperatures accelerate metal fatigue (10 and 13 gauge are fine for practice or glow poi though).

cool, does anyone know where i can get a set of kevlar sleaves in south africa.

if i do get burned its always for the chain, what can i put on my burns the make it less pain full.
becoz i messed up on the forearm wrap and did an ubisep wrap the chain wraped and got caught under my arm pit. i coudnt put my arm down properly for over a week.

and if there are any poi people from south africa email me

I can do recoils on my forearms all night long and only get a couple little red marks MAYBE, but if I hit the underside of my upper arm just a little wrong I get a nasty second degree burn. I accidentaly hit my armpit with a staff last night, it left a painfull little burn. Tender areas of skin get burned easier than other areas. I do handcuff wraps and I hardly ever get a burn there. And when I do it is so small I don't even feel it. I do tend to lose a lot of arm hair though. (helps remove unsightly arm hair )

but, yes, arm protection is deffinitly the way to go. I need more long sleave cotton shirts.

Carstens whenever you get any sort of burn run cold water over it and let it breath. After it's had some time to breath put aloe vera on it. You can buy an aloe plant and grow it in a pot in your house which is my faviroute source for aloe but you can also buy aloe lotions at pharmacys (I think you might call them chemists over there) Or health food stores.

Third degree burns (burns that blister and bleed and stuff) should be attended to by medical profesionals.

If your doing wraps or any contact fire it helps to keep your skin dry. I heard amonia will help dry out your skin. There is probably other methods to keep it dry to.