Forums > Technical Discussion > what is the difference in fire poi heads?

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t0xicmember
54 posts
Location: los angeles


Posted:
i was browsing through the poi head catelog here on HOP....and i saw like 5 or 6 types of poi heads.there are shrort bootleg ones, 2.5 inch, 4 inch, then cathedral, and round ones....i have no idea what the hell the diff is bisdes the weight and size, but these different heads cause the fire to burn a certain way or add effect? please let me know...

MillenniuMPLATINUM Member
Hyperloops suck
595 posts
Location: USA


Posted:
Tube cores are relatively cheap for the size, are nice and round-ish, but lack a large surface area, resulting in a relatively small burn compared to cathedral wicks.

Cathedral wicks are *generally* considered the best, as they have a very high amount of surface area compared to length and width, burn pretty damned long, burn extremely bright, and can soak up a good amount of fuel. They also have the advantage of having little to no exposed hardware (read: hot metal) if built correctly.

Monkey fists are for people who will be institutionalized within the near future ubblol. They're big, they're heavy, they're painful... I've never spun them lit so I can't exactly comment on their burning characteristics, but I would assume they give the most "fireball-ish" effect as they are round, and seem like they would burn for about eleven years based on the sheer amount of kevlar inside.

For most people, I'd recommend cathedrals, but it's all a matter of what you want.

MikeIconGOLD Member
Pooh-Bah
2,109 posts
Location: Philadelphia, PA - USA


Posted:
The difference mainly comes in the form of weight, flame size, and burn time. The larger the surface area, the bigger the flames. The more volume the longer the burn time, and weight is a matter of preference. Cathedrals are the preferred wicks for most pure fire spinners as they are good in all 3 areas. The 2.5 and 4 inch tube cores are usually preferred by glowstringers as they are light and have smaller flames.

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

-Me


MillenniuMPLATINUM Member
Hyperloops suck
595 posts
Location: USA


Posted:
I agree with all of that, except for the tube cores being lighter stuff... a 4" tube core is 25 g heavier, which doesn't seem like a lot, but for someone looking for a lighter poi head with the same flames, cathedrals are actually a much better choice... since they are built with no metal (on a good cathedral head, that is), all of the weight is used to increase your burn length and intensity, resulting in a better poi for glowstringers. Also, the slightly more "cubed" design makes it quite easy for wraps, which glowstringers seem to be madly in love with.

t0xicmember
54 posts
Location: los angeles


Posted:
dope, ill be sure to use this info b4 i buy any poi heads, i am a glowstringer, and so ill probably be getting the cathedral heads, they look very un-proportioned like a flat sponge, do they really look like that, or is it just the picture?

and ummm i wrap and stuff a lot, and i dont own my own poi setup, but i use my friends poi setup, which is the 2.5 inch head, and also a flat typed dog chain, with some two looped handles, i hate the way the chains feel, when ever i wrap, they dont feel very nice on my skin, is there n e type or cloth or soft type string/rope/cable, that i could use that wont cut my skin? and will make wraps more comfortable? because i do a variety of wraps and traces and airwraps, and chains do not cut it....

Big AndyBRONZE Member
member
186 posts
Location: Dallas, Tx, USA


Posted:
In the pic on the menu screenin the shop, the cathedrals look wider than they are tall, but the big picture (after you click on the item to see the details) shows that they are more cubical, a little taller than they are wide, but not significantly.



Any fire head is going to be heavy, but if you are a glow sticker who likes to wrap alot and spin at high speeds, then you might investigate some of the smaller designs out there. If you just want the normal size cathedral, then go ahead and get it here, but other manufaturers have some good smaller designs that could be wrapped and twirled more like glowsticks IMO. Adam Rice (www.fire-gear.com) offers cathedral wicks in 5 diff sizes I believe. I'm going to order some of his smaller wicks in the future. There's another manufaturer, I can't remember the exact name, I think it's Bear Claw Manufacturing or something like that. I know it has "Bear" in the name. Anyways, they have some smaller poi sets that I have seen in action. Good lighter set with a good flame. You can find the site by looking through the links in the "fir twirling web ring" thingy.



As far as the chain hurting you, you're going to have that to a certain extent just because you're always going to have metal chain/hardware on a fire rig. That dog chain you're talking about I'm sure pinches a little! If you get a #13 ball chain rig, the chain shouldn't bother you too much. It will be less confortable than your glowstick strings, but not as a pinchy as your friend's dog chains. The only thing that might hurt is hardware. I do wraps with my fire rig all the time, and only occasionally do I get pinched or scratched by the connectors. It's not near as bad as whacking your knuckles with a hard plastic glowstick, so I'm sure you can handle it! wink



Happy spinning! weavesmiley
EDITED_BY: Big Andy (1075084400)

"We can't stop here! This is bat country!"

"Welcome to the U-S-A,
We'll treat you right, unless you're black or gay, or Cherokeeeeee!!"

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MillenniuMPLATINUM Member
Hyperloops suck
595 posts
Location: USA


Posted:
Due to the flammable nature of pretty much all cloth, you'll need to be using chains. I find dog leashes quite uncomfortable for wraps, you might want to check out ballchain from the HOP shop. There's setups which include double finger loops, ballchain (at whatever length you want), quick links, and ballchain connectors (link the ballchain to the handles/quicklinks). It's easier to wrap, but do expect to burn your arms a bit unless you wear something to protect your arms, such as leather arm guards, or even a sweat shirt.

Now that I think about it, you might be able to use kevlar rope to replace chains, and simply not soak them in fuel. They'd be easy and painless for wraps, not to mention you could soak them in fuel if you want your chains lit on fire as well.

Do a search for "flids" or "flid construction" or something like that, a HOPper by the name of flid makes these nice poi where you have a poi head, and then about 2/3 of the chain is kevlar rope, and 1/3 is ballchain. They're quite nifty.

MikeIconGOLD Member
Pooh-Bah
2,109 posts
Location: Philadelphia, PA - USA


Posted:
Only thing with using Kevlar rope in place of chain is that the rope will absorb some fuel from the head and will burn quicker than the head itself thus leaving a weak rope not capable of holding the centripetal force. You could use this for a while but before long you'll have unsafe poi and you would have to put in a new rope or waste a bunch of burns by making a whole new set.

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

-Me


DeepSoulSheepGOLD Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
2,617 posts
Location: Berlin, Ireland


Posted:
I think spherical is the most efficient shape for weight to surface area ratio. There was a thread on it round somewhere, but I don't fancy looking for it.

I disagree that Cats are the best....monkeys forever!! tongue

I live in a world of infinite possibilities.


t0xicmember
54 posts
Location: los angeles


Posted:
well thnx for all of yourhelp people, i will probably look for the smaller cathedral wick, i just hate those metal chains,

about 4 months ago, i had some metal cored 2.5 inch poi heads that my friend let me borrow, all i had was the poi heads so i took my shoelaces and soaked them in water and wrappewd the middle of them with duct tape,it was the worst idea ever, the strings never ripped or n e thing, but when i would wrap them the duct tape was melted and it got on my skin, so it didnt feel very nice, so i had black [censored] all over my forearms for a couple of days.. frown yeah but the wapping and airwraps were nice... biggrin

MikeIconGOLD Member
Pooh-Bah
2,109 posts
Location: Philadelphia, PA - USA


Posted:
Lol, that was a really bad idea.

Anyway, as stated above, 13 guage ball chain is really the best thing. It doesnt hurt too bad once you get used to it (you may have to adapt your wraps style a little bit to compensate). Also as stated above, if you really cant stand the pain, wear a long sleeve shirt/long pants and you wont feel a thing.

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

-Me


darkpoetBRONZE Member
Irish
525 posts
Location: Dallas.........ish, USA


Posted:
Quote:



Monkey fists are for people who will be institutionalized within the near future ubblol. They're big, they're heavy, they're painful...



I've never spun them lit so I can't exactly comment on their burning characteristics, but I would assume they give the most "fireball-ish" effect as they are round, and seem like they would burn for about eleven years based on the sheer amount of kevlar inside.








exactly youve never spun them before......i love the monkies

yeah their big, yeah their heavy, but they look really really good esp since i do meteors w\them

and they burn for prolly 7 minutes...if you cant spin for 7 minutes you need to go back to spinning glowsticks lol

i also use a 6lb staff made out of iron for partactice, and the monkies really arnt that heavy

just a little bit more than beaming poi, (not soaked) and they hurt hella less too!

beamers are like...lethal....ive given myself a small concussion once, and i damaged a nerve in my arm screwing up a wrap w\ them

its been prolly 6 months and only now am i beginning to feel my pinky and ring finger along w\ the rest of that side of my arm....... umm

yeah they are harder to spin, and you have to be hella strong to be able to spin them, but its worth it, pretty soon here im going to be making some cathedrals out of the 4 inch kevlar so that should look really nice

but if im right...they is gonna be heavy as hell...so yeas...






EDITED_BY: darkpoet (1075321493)

Jesus saves sinners and redeems them for cash and
prizes

Co-Founder of Keepers of Light

Educate yourself about the Hazards of Fire Breathing STAY SAFE!


MikeIconGOLD Member
Pooh-Bah
2,109 posts
Location: Philadelphia, PA - USA


Posted:
Quote:

i damaged a nerve in my arm screwing up a wrap w\ them
its been prolly 6 months and only know am i beginning to feel my pinky and ring finger along w\ the rest of that side of my arm.......



Lol, I did the same thing with my beamers. Hit my funny bone and my ring and pinky finger went numb. Mine only took about a week and a half to get better... But yeah, they're pretty nasty when they're not in a good mood ubblol

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

-Me


[Nx?]BRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,749 posts
Location: Europe,Scotland,Both


Posted:
yo,

I guess im one of the commited, cos i got monkeyfists biggrin but then my practice poi are 200g each eek so the monkeys in comparason are a bit light.....

I do loads of wraps aswell, and they seem to be fine, but dont expect the same sort of snapback you get with glowsticks. I havent figured tracers yet but i presume they wont be as good with a bulky wick like a monkeyfist. I also use 15gauge ballchain, beutifull for airwraps cos teh balls lock together and keep it stable. wraps with fire hurt, no bones about it, but you learn to love the pain....

For serious wrapping with fire we present the genius of NYC *pokes NYC* who has made fire glowsticks, yeah, real ones.

basically they are a long cathedal head, made with relly thin wick (about 1 inch wide) folded into a head about 5" long, wiht wires running up the middle to support and attach. Ive used thease babies and they wrap like a dream, aswell as giving a nice burn, for you id highly recomend you try making some. I want some myself but im gonna wait till my monkeys die first.

Laters.

T wave

For ser

This is a post by tom, all spelling is deleberate
-><- Kallisti


CirRusBRONZE Member
member
38 posts
Location: CT, USA


Posted:
Hey Nx., those fire err..uhh glowtsticks sounds really cool. How much kevlar do you need to make the 5" long ones?

-Brett

A cute girl after I finished spinning fire at this party :
"OMG ur soo hot!" biggrin

I love being a fire spinner


Matthew_NeSILVER Member
Northeast USA Firespinner
122 posts
Location: Connecticut, USA


Posted:
You crazy fool you.. I've witnessed them before... they're the "cat's pajamas" if i do say so myself wink.. actually I think I have a picture around here somewhere if I can find it.. *wanders off*



ok, it's in my gallery.. xlogicx61286 if you didn't know
EDITED_BY: heXus (1077037300)

Chironback after 5 years...
35 posts
Location: UK


Posted:
Monkey fists are great! takes a while to build up the extra muscles to do fast stuff but the best bit is doing a night of stuff with monkeys then swapping back to some light short chains....

.... its like spinning but faster!

or maybee its all the chemicals. confused..

Wizard of LED poi !



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