Advice for constructing contact double staffs?

I'm putting together a new set of double staffs and hoping to start learning some contact moves. Contact is new territory for me, though, so I'm not sure how this might affect the way I weight my doubles.

For non-contact spinning I currently use flowtoy staffs. These can have an optional wooden "contact core" in the middle. Would adding this 10" core (wooden doweling) to the middle of each staff make contact moves easier? What about flowmass at each end?

Any advice appreciated, thanks!

Generally, contact staffs are heavier than normal ones for spinning. The easiest way to get a "heavier" staff is by concentrating weight at the ends, since the ends then spin slower, but any balanced weight should help.

Another way is by using a longer staff, so doubles may not be the easiest to learn with (but if you do get a move right, it will be super smooth with a bigger, heavier staff).

I have not tried the Flowtoys staff, so can not comment on it specifically though.

My double contact staffs are 130cm and about 900grams there quite heavy but you do get used to it. I find this to be a nice weight and a nice length. especially for doubles. weight is spread towards the ends as this is the wicks generally are.

The key is totally in using the lightest bar possible and adding all the weight on the ends. This stretches out the balance point and makes it act like a much longer staff.

Usually the extra screws and kevlar end up adding enough weight to do this if the bar is a light aluminum or light wood. Of course, if you use wood, be sure to cover the any spot that could be exposed to fire with aluminum tape.

The full length 5 1/2 foot aluminum contact staves I make are only 730grams. These are what I do the matrix, steve rolls, etc with.

So the total weight becomes less of an issue. The whole key is the distrubtion of that weight. I use detachable heads for my contact staves, so I was able to weigh it all and get you some numbers.

The center 4 foot bar weighs 354grams, which includes grip tape and all that. The two heads, each weigh 191 grams. So you can see the distrubtion of the weight where the end pieces are almost three times heavier per foot then the center staff itself.

Hope this helps!

I definitely recommend the dowling + mass for the flowtoys. Unfortunately, they're just not the stiffest bunch of tools out there.

I recommend you make the doubles the same length
Trust me I have played with peoples that weren't

I use 2 x 140cm fibre contacts for doubles contact, much firmer at that length and still able to Matrix also the flex can work well for staff on staff action, and fine for doubles crossed btb jesuses and not too heavy to spin either.