Forums > Technical Discussion > What the hell is a burnoff?

Posted: 3rd Apr 2004
A move that burns off excess fuel before a set. I know staffers hold the staff between both hands and roll it really fast creating 2 huge fireballs as their burnoff. Dont know of any real poi burnoffs.

Let's turn those old bridges we crossed into ashes.
We'll blaze a new trail,
and torch the rough patches.

-Me

Posted: 4th Apr 2004
a burnoff with poi is when you don't spin out the excess fuel from dunking your wicks first and then you light up and spin them in a circle on the ground before you start your real spinning. This puts you in the middle of a circle of fire as you start as most of that excess fuel winds up on the ground and lighs in th process. Warning: It can get quite warm in there! Especially if you have larger wicks.

This won't usually work with parrafin or kero, but with white gas it can be rather impressive. just don't do it when it is windy. also be advised that some fuel will always remain on the ground after the fire dies, which can make your spinning area very slippery, depending on the type of surface you are on. Slippery + spinning fire is a bad combination, so choose the situations in which you do a burnoff VERY carefully!

you will also find that the burnoff will leave excess fuel in your wicks (much more than spinning out will), and so you may get drips of fuel (sometimes on fire) flung at you or at your audience.

it looks cool, but is usually not advisable to do.

-v-

Wiederstand ist Zwecklos!

Posted: 4th Apr 2004
and don`t forget our nature!!!

Posted: 4th Apr 2004
There have been threads about this previously too...

another neato poi burnoff is to spin wall plane, lift your foot and hit the sole of your shoe at the right angle that the poi spin and d wee fireballs at your feet.

xdave

Posted: 4th Apr 2004
I know of three types of burnoff but I'm sure more exist

1. staff burnoff; either by hand (between palms) or by cord (wrapped around staff and pulled).

The aim is to rapidly rotate the freshly dipped and lit staff around its shortest axis (as though its rolling across a floor) this has the effect of spraying out the excess fuell in a fine mist from the wick, this then ignites as a large fire ball at both ends of the staff.

This is (usually) done at the start of a burn

2. Poi burnoffs
Either done by
(a)dragging them on the ground as described above or

(b) by lashing out with the poi as though using a whip , again this creates a fine mist of fuel which ignites as a (small) fireball

This last one looks very nice because with practice you can have a few fireballs from the one re-fueling,

enjoy

Posted: 4th Apr 2004
Hmmm... I'm having a hard time visualizing your number 2 poi burnoff, squarefish. Do you mean simply doing an underhanded whip crack with the poi head as the flipper thingy? Does that realy work? doesn't seem like it would. also seems liable to splatter lit fuel in your face, unless I'm misunderstanding how you're saying to do it.

Also, knoxious, I'm having a hard time visualizing your burnoff technique as well.

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Posted: 5th Apr 2004
Yep
thats what i'm saying alright,without the nasty splattering though.

Posted: 10th Jul 2004
Squarefish u forgot the..."hit your poi together and watch the carnage" burnoff

Burn ON!

Posted: 10th Jul 2004
You wouldn't have to watch for splatter, because the splatter ignites as flame. You WILL want to keep an eye on that flame tho.