Poi handle discussion

I know there are a million and one different ways to hang out to you poi but the standard to my knowledge are double finger loops. I personally can't stand them but that just me. I have tried out a lot of different types on handles on my poi but what I have found best for me are key rings. I have one key ring at the end of my poi and I slip it on my middle finger. This makes it so easy to wrap the chain in your hand and I personally thing it give more chain control. I have found that the best size is one that easily fits onto your finger but doesn't give you to much room to move your finger around.

Discuss your choice in handles.

blue jean bottoms

I use knobs, whether they are tiny monkeyfists, wood, rubber, whatever. They are usually about the size of an endcap for juggling clubs, but have been about the size of a hackey sack or golf ball.

But then again, I like to do a lot of throws, wibbles, and whip catches.

The problems with key rings is that over time they loosen up. Which is fine as long as the poi isn't on fire.

Depends on the poi I'm using but I primarily prefer a single loop, non-finger noose grip.

For my practice poi, that's a thin-ish nylon loop.
For my fire/performance poi I've had the same deer hide leather stitched with sinew handles for 10 years. They are broken in *just* right and feel really nice for me.

I like single loops because I can slide in and out of them really easily for throws, catches, single handed, etc.

I'm a single loop fan also. Leather single loop on my fire poi, on both sets of glow poi its the same.

With my practice poi I just hold the sock... wrapping it around my index and middle finger to take the weight and then around my index for control.

The same. Not that I can wibble, but being able to toss in a release every now and again is nice.

Never really tried single loops though, to be honest.

My practice poi have a nice sized knot on the end that I am getting really comfortable with.

Here is a link to some pictures of my super gheto-tastic knob handles on flikR.

For fire poi I'm testing out a prototype Tedward of Bearclaw made me. I've tested a prototype Flamma Aeterna made me, which they now sell. I like them, but made some suggestions for further improvement. Soon I may check out their updated design, which sounds pretty good at fixing some of the improvements I'd like to see.

My hypothetical ideal handle for fire poi would be as follows:

• A teardrop shape that fit's comfortably in the hand for many grips: thumb and forefinger grip, analogues to the club-swinging grips, chain between the knuckles, etc.
• An integrated ball bearing swivel right at the tip of the teardrop. Positioned so that you can grip directly bellow the swivel with thumb and forefinger.
• The tear drop shape should be amply padded and gripped, so that it has a good feel in hand and during catches, and is forgiving if you get hit.
• It should be highly visible for catches in darkness lit only by burning poi. Reflective, white, neon colors, glow in the dark even.
• It should have a method of incrementally increasing/decreasing the weight, so it can be customized at whatever weight ration you want with your personal poi heads. So far I've used small washers as increments because they are cheap and easy to find.
• All parts should be able to handle the stresses put on it by the most brutal spinners.
• There should be a balance between the ease with which you can change the weight wile maintaining structural integrity. You don't want to launch your poi or parts into the crowd because you just changed your washers.

Let me know if any of you engineers out there builds my dream handles, cuz I'd love to help you test them out!!!


-Alien Jon

yep, Im kind of enjoying those cheapo knob handles, Jon. They work well and hide the washers Im using for weight.

Your ideal handle? That is exactly the kind of thing I want too! Closest I found was a wooden egg shape which I bored out on the bottom to accomodate washers and nut. But I didnt have any swivel integrated and wood just kind of hurts.

I prefer the way nick woolsey also uses. A single loop fabric handle, that is wrapped around the index and middle finger in such a way that the poi wire comes out between the index and middle finger.

Salza had a good lookin nob handle. I liked it the look of it, was round hand indents for the fingers, a swivel.

I don't have my own set of poi so I don't even know what my preference is quite yet. I've liked some of the leather loops I've used, but leather can get kind of clingy, Nylon has been good but it doesn't take much to melt them, which isn't a good thing in the least.

I made a pair for my fire poi. Only problem is that I need gloves because the chains chafe a bit.

Otherwise, thanks for the suggestion.

Mini tennis ball with an eyebolt through the middle of it attached to a swivel attached to a sock/chain

I'm currently making the ultimate set of handles. They feature a small, leather single loop, with a ball handle on the end. The ball handle makes throws better, while the loops allow for one-handed moves (the middle finger through one loop, and the thumb through another.

Is it the chains that chafe or just the hardware attachment? aka quicklinks. I had a 2mm chain welded to those ball-bearing swivels. Finished by threading a hemp rope through the other end of the swivel and then attaching Jon's knob. Smooth as butter.


of course, Jon may not like that Im attaching his knob to my chains.

When Jon visited I took a look at his setup, the design works very well and the orbits do butter very well, the grips are also rather good but leave room for expanding the design.

IDEA!
I was thinking just now about how I like counterweights for throws because it makes pops more fluid, and thats the only reason I don't do handles... but what if I made handles which retract into the counterweights?

I'll play around with this and get back to you guys.

mmm I'm going to be switching at least my practise poi over from double loops (which has been my fav setup for about a million years) to a knob of some kind...either monkey fist or squashball with fishing sinkers in it. Since I prefer club swinging to poi these days I figured I'd like poi better if they were more like clubs.

i usually use
single loop
wrapped around my pinky,
then layed across my hand
so i can hold with my index and thumb.

ideally i would want something like jon described,
only not a teardrop,
more like a grip with finger grooves and made from wood with a thin synthetic grippy coating and hollow center for the adjustable weights.

I'm wondering whether you couldn't adapt a pair of those ball bearing equipped skipping rope handles ? In theory ( assuming you can get the things apart ) you could replace the rope with chain for fire use, or simply cut the rope and use that as your poi tether. It wouldn't be too difficult to saw and file these things down to your desired shape and weight.

Squid: It is the chain going through the doorknob. I think I need to get some cloth of some sort maybe. Can see what I can come up with.

Thanks for the suggestion....

these look pretty sweet
http://estore.websitepros.com/1220297/Detail.bok?no=10

Quite long for a poi handle...

At first I thought "That wouldn't work"

But I guess it would... it would have a very interesting feel to using them.

well ... i guess im the "engineer" every 1 is looking for.. my glow poi are oggz.. the handles are the internals form a pair of oggz that i broke to pieces practicing throws. i made an aluminum case for them. the case is a cylinder with a round piece of ogg casing set in the top to see the light. there are also holes drilled in the sides to see light. the bottoms are wrapped in padded leather. they don't hurt a bit, and the ogg makes for a perfect weight balance. this whole structure is held together with various rivets. ... the lights are amazing in the dark, much easier to see and catch than my fire poi. they have those chinese balls that you rol around in your hands for handles. i than tied a net of hemp around them. if you like heavy poi with bells in the handles these are amazing ... really hard to see though. i just got new chains from HOP with knobs ... they are ok .. but waaay too light for me... and the lack of light is just lame.. my project for the afternoon is making fireproof led knob handles to replace these.. ill repost when im done. ... any questions? sry if my posts come out scatterbrained

I have been getting in to alot more throws recently so main handles on my flowtoy setup are now made out of modelling clay. Not very forgiving but cheap and easy to experiment with what different weight/shapes work (already pre-marked in to 50g sections makes it nice and easy as well :D) Just formed it around a pencil which also turns out to about the same diameter as colecard, then knot both end with a swivel on one.

Mzy not be the most durable but they actually last alot longer than I thought they would, but it's sort of just fun for the process as well. Would love a set of something like what Jon described for my fire poi though.

i use this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k24lOn5ymJQ
very cheap, long life and you can do in all the wieght that you like.

do you put your ball on the top of the loop or on the bottom near the chain?

i love my bouncy ball ones for my pracice poi, or the Px3 ballbering mod for my stage ball poi which i can make a vid for soon as i make more of them ;D

heres the link to the bouncy ball ones anyways.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBFMNRNambs

lemme know what you lot think =]