Forums > Social Chat > chains and weight

AnonymousPLATINUM Member

Posted: 1st Mar 2001
I'm with you! I use a weight-tested, closed loop chain from the hardware and fairly chunky wicks that ends up adding a bit of weight. I dig it cuz it adds more variety of speeds you can achieve. Diana

Posted: 1st Mar 2001
I need mine to be heavy. then thay can build up momentem and they swing alot better. I don't use chians I use cables cause, i don't know why actually but they are alot nicer to use.peace outgarbo

be excellent to each other: safe:

Posted: 1st Mar 2001
dianna - how much is your chain rated for? the chains i use are rated at 75-100 pounds, which actually means the force that a dog that weighs 75-100 pounds can exert against a lead. think that's enough? so far, i haven't found any evidence of strain...

Posted: 1st Mar 2001
I've used 1/16" cable (rated for 500 lb loads) and ball-chain (rated for 130 lb loads). Ball-chain is heavier, although not as heavy as hardware-store link chain, much less dog-leash chain. I really like ball-chain because it untangles easily and has an inherent swivelling action. Cables untangle pretty easily, and have the advantage of aerodynamics (which I think is an important factor, since your wicks are moving at anywhere from 25 to 60 mph, depending on chain length and twirl speed), which makes them easier to twirl faster.I've got a little postal scale, and I'm also curious about weights, so I have some figures. I practice with wicks weighing anywhere from 4 oz to 12 oz each (I've got two sets of towel wicks, one big, one little, and I'll work with them wet or dry); my actual performance wicks probably weigh about 10 oz wet. There are some moves that I find much easier to do with the extra momentum, other moves where the extra weight is just extra work.

Laugh while you can, monkey-boy

Posted: 1st Mar 2001
My standard wicks are pretty heavy anyway. I use a little trick from my weapons instructor. He taught me to use a staff at least twice as hevy as my standard one. I used the heavy one for a time, and when I went back to my *regular* staff, it was alot easier. I had more control, more speed, and more power. It looked soo much more fluid. I did the exact same thing with my poi. I attatched a second head to each side, and practiced. It works great, and it even feels more *fluidy*.-PSM

One can only see what one observes, and one observes only things which are already in the mind.-Alphonse Bertillon

AnonymousPLATINUM Member

Posted: 2nd Mar 2001
A couple of things;1) Heavy is great, but some moves are quite hard to learn when you got heavy poi. like behind the back weave for eg. I CANT do it with my fire poi, they are too heavy. I can do it with my comets tho (lighter). I think once I develop the strength, I'll be able to do it with my fire poi, but not til then.2) Psychomonkey, I hear ya man. my instructor also taught me that trick (although it was for Boken).3) you get a better work out with heavy Poi, you can carry more wick and fuel which makes for better fire. As long as you dont sacrifice your finesse (and turn it into a matcho competition).Josh

Posted: 1st Mar 2001
I learned the same thing with Boken...then when I went to Shanai it whipped through the air. I weight everything down now...but then it is really hard for me to go to lighter stuff. For eg. Glowsticks are really hard for me and feel out of control since I am used to fire poi.I used the doggie choke chains only I use the shortest ones I can find...at 10". Makes my fire poi about 16" with handles and wicks. I used towels wicks with copper wire so they arent bad for weight, but I add washers on them to practice. I also work out with free weights to get the strength (I have *really* weak arms.).Heavy is good..more flexibility in speeds as Diana said. You can do slow but fast as well. I think that longer ones have a good flow but I still opt for short ones so I can do the "inside" moves.------------------Pele Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir...

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK

Posted: 2nd Mar 2001
that's the exact thing...i work out a lot, and have pretty cut arms.and i've been trained with that theory too - work with heavier stuff so when you use the lighter stuff it is more fluid and better all around, blah blah.but what i found when i actually did it was this total feeling of being out of control, and like the poi were flailing. i was totally shocked - that wasn't the reaction i was expecting at all!! i should definitely start weighing my stuff...cool idea, adam!

AnonymousPLATINUM Member

Posted: 2nd Mar 2001
ykaterina, you know I can't remember exactly. I know it's in the 70-100 lb range. My c-links are only 35 lbs, so that's the best strength of my setup. The only trouble I've had is after while sometimes c-links warp a bit in the heat and the stress and can be real hard to open again. Diana

Posted: 2nd Mar 2001
Are (is) Boken the same as Bo? I should know, but theats what you get for learning that sort of thing the way it's taught these days.-PSM

One can only see what one observes, and one observes only things which are already in the mind.-Alphonse Bertillon

Posted: 3rd Mar 2001
I love to use lighter poi! For some reason i feel much more in control and can do quicker moves and turns.My friend however has a lead core in her fire poi to add loads of extra weight, so when she uses her normally weighted set she is ultra quick and agile.

AnonymousPLATINUM Member

Posted: 5th Mar 2001
HeyBo - longer staffJo - shorter staffBoken - Wooden practice sword (which has evolved into a weapon system in its own right).Shianai (sp?) - swordlike thing made from bits of cut bamboo generally used in Kendo. (although in some martial arts (like *cough* mine *cough*) its occassionally used to torment students Josh

Posted: 5th Mar 2001
I started with metal core poi, but found as my timing improved,poi with just kevlar weighting could be twirled and switched faster (its all in the wrists i reckon).Also i got less black eyes and other bruises,but it was initially tricky to adjust.If you find one glowstick too light, try using two or three (dependant on how keen you are). Attach them up the chain, using different colours on the same chain, but keeping the two poi identical.This makes it heavier and is a great effect.Give it a whirl if you can pardon the pun. Love John.

Posted: 6th Mar 2001
Hello my little pretties. I need to know how people use glowsticks on cables. I have cables and this is what I use my glowsticks on but it is always way to light. Can you balance them out with weights or something.discusspeace out peoplegarbo

be excellent to each other: safe:

Posted: 6th Mar 2001
I use proton micro lights and they are feathers compared to glowsticks..To weight them down a bit more I use lead disks the size of the proton battery.. I then glue them with super glue to the battery cover (being sure not to cover the screw holes) This will add a good amount of wieght (nothing like a standard POI or a torch) but it will add weight, keep the protons small size, and weight the very end of your proton poi. ( I had tried using lead clips on the cable, it did not work at all) For clow sticks try using electical tape and put 2-3 together connecting them all with key rings.. Putting electrical tape in stripes gives your set a great effect that looks like multiple light sources, having three sticks to one POI can add a whole lot more color, and having three in general will add a good heavy weight on the end.still kinda new here.. but I hope this helps

Posted: 7th Mar 2001
Cheers man, very helpfull. peace outgarbo

be excellent to each other: safe:

Posted: 6th Mar 2001
I find that a 4 oz/100 g wick is about the lowest weight I can twirl comfortably, and I need at least 6 oz for some btb moves.I recently got some of those LED sticks mentioned under another heading here. They weigh about 2 oz. I tried using them with my regular practice wicks (made of bundled towels) for extra weight, but the two sorta interfered with each other. So I used some much smaller weights made out of 2 oz fishing sinkers (which are huge as sinkers go), wrapped in foam and duct tape (in case I bash myself). This setup works pretty well. Using those sinker-weights alone though is not advised--they can get going *really* fast, and when you hit yourself with them (even with the padding) it really hurts. The LED sticks slow things down enough so that it's not an issue.

Laugh while you can, monkey-boy

Posted: 13th Mar 2001
I love using heavy poi! My 'balls of beelzebub' as they've been done are made of 2m of thick wick in a concertina fold and are around 8 times as big as standard concertina poi. They burn for 10 minutes and weigh a ton. Great for slow moves and turns that need momentum and you should see the muscles I'm getting! I find that the poi turn me half the time. A jump when you change from one side of cross follow to the other will carry you round too The advantage you then have is huge amounts of speed and agility when you use something lighter and I find my moves have been made more accurate. Looks so good now with glowsticks in a club!

Posted: 14th Mar 2001
Glowstix feel more natural for me [i guess since i started with them]. I cut the tails off of my practice poi [sorry malcom] since they kept getting tangles, and storing them took too long. Without the tails, they have a lot less drag and make'm faster, hence more force applied to your arms [unleash the beast ]. Heavier poi i think are better to learn with since the inertia forces you to choose the smoothest path/transition, as opposed to photons or glowstix which can be twirled in virtually NE direction imaginable. And cable for glowstix? that's like flyfishing, the cable weighs more than the glowstix. I bought a good sized roll of mason twine [woven] at Lowe's for about $3, a year back for my Diablo, and i use the same stuff for glowsticks [NiCE, LiGHt, and sTRoNG]. ------------------"Happiness is not a destination, but a method for life"- Burton Hills

The reason communism doesn't work is because people like to own stuff

Posted: 15th Mar 2001
I've noticed a difference in performance more or less varying according to weight distribution -If the chain is heavy and the poi is light, it's a helluvalot different from when the chain is light and the poi is heavy.I'm not up on my physics( O_O just jump in anytime here OK ...) but surely the weight distribution along the poi *must* affect its overall performance ...I go for industrial strength designs (about 350 grams per poi soaked - you don't even want to know about my staff...) and often find myself at the mercy of the momentum that builds up, changing rotational planes is a bitch, but then a lot of weight is in the chains ...It's difficult to articulate exactly what goes on while spinning, especially is terms of physics. It's like one of those hideous word problems they give you in school:"A twirler can expend 5 kiloWatts in one hour and then pass out. If his/her poi weight 600 grams of which 300 grams is fuel, how many 7 minute trance tunes can he/she boogie to, spinning the poi a 3 G's, taking into account refueling, drippage, ambient temperature fluctuations, humidity and the burn rate of parafin at Standard Temperature and Pressure (STP) hereafter reffered to as Bish's Constant (B)..."each to his/her own I guess ...

Hasst du etwas zeit fuer mich?... Dan singe ich ein lied fuer dich ... -Bjork/Nena

Posted: 16th Mar 2001
HAHAHAHAAHAHAAHAHAAHAHA!!!*giggle*actually, though, i've found the same thing. i've got this set of practice chains that are just beef, and the poi on them are pretty small for the moment - most people wobble a lot when they swing them, cause the poi weight isn't enough to pull them taught if you don't swing like ya mean it. i have another set that's not wussy, but not so beefy, but the poi are much larger - they stay taught perfectly. they're my favourite - they're like the perfect balance. (hence, they're the ones i burn!)

Posted: 2nd Mar 2009
The weight of the monkey fist chain link poi says that the weight is 440g. Is this weight for the ball only, the ball and chain, or both balls ect. ect....????

PLease help

also i heard chain link is best for wraps. is this true?