The Hop Hoop thread

Also, the first vid from Pyrolific isn't working for me.

ah well - the vid works for me??

Its of a doofer/festival/hippy lady doing really amazingly graceful and flowing things with a hoop...quite inspiring. This girl hoops the way I wish I could twirl. dancing like no-ones watching...really really well IMHO.

complete opposite end of the performance scale to the second vid I posted which is a really really talented "look at me" circus type hooper

Natasqi, I have also had the same question and often finding the right kind of hoop for you style can be the bane of a hoopers existence.

This is what I have learnt so far:

Rhythmic Gymnastics: Rhythmic Gymnasts need to use a regulation hoop so this is the easiest one to work out. You can have a look at some of them on this web site www.amco.com.au. These hoops are a lot smaller than your average dance hoop and the actual diameter of the ‘tube’ is a lot smaller. The nice thing about these though is that they are quite ridged and heavy.

Circus: Circus hula-hoopers use all kinds of different hoops, mostly it comes down the where they learnt their skills and what style of hooping they do.

If you look at people that have a style like the girls in cirque de solei then they will usually have some thing like a rhythmic gymnastic hoops because that is usually where they first started to learn their skills.

If you look at an ameture or youth circus hula-hooper they usually have hoops similar to the hoop dance ones because you can make them yourself. But they are usually a bit smaller. Also lots of circus hula hoopers use these for training because they don’t hurt as much when they hit you.

If you look at circus hula hoopers that do lots of multi hoop splits you will probably find the will have one of two things, the first being aluminium hoops that are skinny and pretty heavy. The down side of these are they are really LOUD when they hit together, The Second being hoops that are similar to the hoop dance ones but again smaller and usually stiffer.

Lastly if you look at the hoopers when they do ‘stacks’ of heaps and heaps of hoops that are some times thrown on, they will usually use really really light hoops because once you have 10 or so going it can get really heavy. Also if you see somebody hula hooping heaps and heaps of hoops that are all going at the same time from the floor to the top of their hands that is called a slinky and is actually a stack of hoops that is threaded together.




Wow that was longer than I thought it would be. I found all of this while searching for the perfect hoops for my style. I think I have found them but am still saving up my pennies to get a matching set.

Currently I use a set of 8 hoops that are made from high density poly pipe. They come roughly up to my hip bone when I rest them on the floor; I have found that this tends to be the standard sizing for circus hula hoopers.

The new hoops I’m going to be making will heavy duty hot water irrigation pipe this was a recommendation from a trainer at the Fruit Flys Circus. The reason why this stuff is really good is that is really stiff and not flexi, this is a must for doing splitting which is what I’m working on, because other wise all of the effort you put in to moving the hoops gets absorbed into the bending of the hoop. Unfortunately this kind of piping is kind of hard to track down.

Thanks for the info ElectricBlue!

We currently use blueline irrigation pipe for our practice hoops, which is heavier and less bendy that normal poly pipe.

It would be interesting to make an aluminium firehoop by welding the spokes on. Does anyone know of previous trials at this?

Glow hoops are so thick and heavy it really limits the style of the hoop dancing.

Gymnastics regulations say:
Hoop (Rhythmic Gymnastics) may be made of plastic or wood, provided that it retains its shape during the routine. The interior diameter is from 80 to 90 cm, and the hoop must weigh a minimum of 300g.

You might have heat issues with an all metal hoop.

You will need to find a way to stop heat travelling down the spokes.

Only today I was speaking with Angie Mackman, an Aussie lady who hoops professionally in the Uk, about fire hoops made from aluminum. Apparently the Fire Oz crew (http://www.flameoz.com/flameoz.html)use these hoops and they are super light. I have heard talk that this crew also use fireworks attached to their fire hoops (blimey!)

I recommend the Kaivalya fire hoops from the US, I brought a 33 inch,100psi, 25 mm thick. I made the following vid to see what I could do with it, this is the first burn of this super hoop:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb4bZzKjrfY

Oh I forgot to add that www.psihoops.com come in the 20 mm o/d thick tubing which is lovely and light and a bit flexible :-)

Yup that blue line stuff is the kind that i am using at the moment untill i track down this wonder pipe
At the Circus festival i tried some hoops made of it that belonged to another girl and they were just amazing, it is strange how hoops that are just a little be stiffer are so much easier to control.

As far as an all metal fire hoop goes i don't think heat transfer would be the problem. Even after a full burn of my fire hoop i can grab the hoop end of the spokes and they aren't hot at all. I think the main problem might be weight, fire hoops are pretty heavy all ready. Though i think with enough development it could work. I know bear claw offer a completely metal hoop but from what i have heard it is really really heavy.

If you are looking for a glow hoop that is more like the blue line pipe i would check out the psi hoop with the stiffer tubing there are a few different styles they offer.
I have one of those and it is the same diameter as the blue line pipe. I love it. Also there is a link on the psi hoop website to the details of that tubing if you are looking to make one for your self.

Heehee, we already have a fire and a glow hoop. And I doubt bossman would be happy me suggesting getting another!

I like the heavyness of the fire hoop, i think it suits my style of hooping, but then my style of hooping was influenced by the fact I have only hooped wit the heavier thicker hoops.

The glow hoop however is somehow even heavier than the fire hoop.. maybe this can be our double hoop and later on we'll get smaller lighter ones for individual.

Hmmm.. maybe I'll contact FlameOz about their hoops then. Time for Jed to get out his soldering iron

They's have wikkid bags too.
For their hoops.

It must be a new surprise every time hoopers cop a 'what do you do with those' comments

I have a cool bag for my hoops too. They are pretty easy for you self to make. But you do get even stranger looks walking down the street with what looks like a giant steering wheel.

Mmm maybe i should do one of those library things on how to make a hoop bag.

totally recommend a backup story about the dangers of not having spare parts for random penny farthing break downs.

Hey Miss Electric Blue, formally Blueberry, are the aluminum hoops any good? I know they clatter but do they separate well or do you find them too light?

Thanks xxx

Ooo i like that one Bender. *adds to cache of witty come backs* Usually i say some thing like I'm going to use it to open a portal to another dimension.

InterSpin, I have only used the aluminum hoops a few times but yes they are quite nice to separate and they are actually heavier than the my regular ones.

Though so far i think the benefits of a really good set of pipe ones out way the benefits of the aluminum ones.They are really heavy and hurt a lot when they hit you and they are a lot harder to transport because they don't bend at all which would make them difficult to get in and out of cars and that sort of thing. Also one of the down sides is that if one takes a bad knock or gets bent it is pretty impossible to fix them. But yes those things aside they are nice to hoop with.

I'm so excited because I've just made my first ever Led hoops. I brought a kit from the states from ProdMod. I brought the basic kit with a upgrade to a rechargeable kit and choose 21 LED's that were different from the kit. I had already brought the natural/translucent tubing elsewhere. The kit and upgrade cost me £54 delivered to the Uk, it arrived within a week of ordering. It just so happened that there was enough in the package to make two hoops, I had to buy more wire and another swith (this cost me £2.90 The tubing for the hoops was less than £15 so the hoops cost me less than £75 to make. It was a great experience and a very positive one. The hoops are too big and too heavy for me (my psi's will never be replaced) but it does mean that when I play with my babies I can give other people toys to play with now. I wholly recommend this kit :-)

Thanks for the recommendation Sharna

Skully, I tried to join your forum, but it wouldnt let me

hey josh, let's start a hooping boy band.
i can be the one who doesn't sing.

Pyrolific, we have had some problems after an upgrade. I think Jon fixed it last night. If you try again and it doesn't work send us a message through the contact page on the site and let us know what happens.

Bender can Jon join?

can i be the choreographer?! or song writer, i dont mind, I'm currently working on a rap about limescale, it's got a West coast hip hop feel to it. heh.