Forums > Technical Discussion > poi decisions personal opinions please

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skylernewbie
22 posts

Posted:
Right well I am new and have masterd a few basic tricks but I now want some fire poi and im confused with the differant types an which will be best.
sky
ubblove

vanizeSILVER Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,899 posts
Location: Austin, Texas, USA


Posted:
well, for all the arguements pro and con, frankly there isn't a HUGE difference between wicks.



I personally make my own, but frankly for the price, convenience, and overall useability, the basic cathedral wicks from the HoP shop are hard to improve much on and a great option for your first set of wicks.



as far as overall setup including handles, chain, etc,... well, I won't get into my "ballchain is god" sermon, as I'm sure you'll see it somewhere eventually anyway. And besides, one poi setup is not so terribly different from another and it takes a lot of experience before preferences will mean much to you.

-v-

Wiederstand ist Zwecklos!


nearly_all_goneSILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
1,626 posts
Location: Southampton, United Kingdom


Posted:
Yeah, totally agree with what Vaize said above, as a relative beginner myself I bought the 2.5 inch tube core wicks from the HoP shop, made my own handles with swivels and just bought dog choke chains. It worked out a little cheaper and I know I can trust them.. all the people who spin around here use these, although I'm not sure if that's just because we're copying each other! They're what I'd reccomend though, simply because they're the only ones I've had experience of beginning fire with!

Anything they sell in the HoP shop will probably be fine though.. I'd say avoid cables/wires as opposed to chains, as they kink easily. Personally I wouldn't go for the 2inch wicks, but the 2.5 simply because they give a slightly longer and bigger burn, but I think that's a matter of personal taste.

What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other's eyes for an instant.
Thoreau


-=Sidhe=-member
22 posts
Location: Glasgow, Scotland


Posted:
Oval link chain cos you won't need to worry about changing it so much and as far as I can tell, doesn't harm performance compared to ball chain. I can't tell the difference, anyway.

2.5" tube core wicks for a beginner cos they're lighter and less scary. Unless you're a big strapping bloke with no fear of big burny fire, in which case go for the cathedral wicks. Cathedrals do tend to unnerve some beginners.

UCOFSILVER Member
15,417 posts
Location: South Wales


Posted:
"oval" eek

angry

wink

*ballchain*

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


Posted:
Ball chain > Oval link when you get a bit more advanced IMO. Tangles and buzzsaws are much easier with it.

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

-Me


IzteSILVER Member
member
28 posts
Location: Russia, France, Dauville


Posted:
you know, in Russia we don't have any kevlar and all this stuff that is sold here. So we have to make poi using other materials,
for example - the best and the less expensive variant is glass wool, you know that is used to heat the roof, and for building purposes. So, you take glass wool and wrap it into the glass fibre cloth of just metal gauze (i don't know how it's really called in english). And tha most surprizing thing is that... it works!
Ah! I've forgotten, inside of it you should put a metal hair-roller and hook a ring for the keys to it. Good luck!

Intergalactic Parade


_Clare_BRONZE Member
Still wiggling
5,967 posts
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK)


Posted:
eek

Black Muffin, that sounds insane!!

Is the glass wool stuff safe to use? hug

Getting to the other side smile


IzteSILVER Member
member
28 posts
Location: Russia, France, Dauville


Posted:
absolutely safe!!!!! I swear! smile Of course you can't use it as it is, because it's quite friable, that's why you need to wrap it into (as I've already mantioned) metal netting/gauze. This construction is very suitable for stuff also!

Intergalactic Parade


_Clare_BRONZE Member
Still wiggling
5,967 posts
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK)


Posted:
Wow.
It's amazing the different tools people will use around the world.

A friend of mine in Cambodia has built his own LED staff using a coloured light and a spiral-twisted piece of plastic inside a plastic tube (ahem... slightly simplified explanation biggrin)

It seems to work quite well going by the pics
x

Getting to the other side smile


IzteSILVER Member
member
28 posts
Location: Russia, France, Dauville


Posted:
Yes!!! It's really great!.. And I've also made Fire Fans by myself... smile

Intergalactic Parade


_Clare_BRONZE Member
Still wiggling
5,967 posts
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK)


Posted:
Nice! I bought two really light rake-heads from the hardware store which I am going to magically transform into fire fans... as soon as I stop being lazy ubblol

Getting to the other side smile


IzteSILVER Member
member
28 posts
Location: Russia, France, Dauville


Posted:
rake-heads? Whats that? My first fans I did of old broken umbrellas. It's really the best, as they are extremlely light!
EDITED_BY: =Black Muffin= (1102269620)

Intergalactic Parade


_Clare_BRONZE Member
Still wiggling
5,967 posts
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK)


Posted:
oh, that'd be good too.

Rake heads are the things people use to rake up the leaves in their garden. (put on the end of a handle)

Getting to the other side smile


SprocketGOLD Member
Member
140 posts
Location: middle of the outback, Australia


Posted:
I just tried my first set of cathedral poi with ballchain. They are so much better than my self made ones: longer burning, great control and lovely reflextions on the ballchain... I just love them.

But someone tell me the difference between ball and oval link chain please.

hm, pinecones, my favourits!


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


Posted:
TUBE CORE SUCKS!!! ITS HORRIBLE!!! dont use it for poi...
-end rant

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!


vanizeSILVER Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,899 posts
Location: Austin, Texas, USA


Posted:
Written by: -=Sidhe=-


Oval link chain cos you won't need to worry about changing it so much and as far as I can tell, doesn't harm performance compared to ball chain. I can't tell the difference, anyway.





when you really screw up an arm wrap (for example), then you will really see where the performance difference between link chain and ballchain comes in.

with link chain you'll have to struggle to get out if it is a tight and/or complicated miswrap. with ballchain, all you do is pull and it slides right off right away.

the fact that there is more metal in link chain also mean that the burns you recieve from the chain will be significantly more severe - more metal = more heat capacity. Ball chain cools very rapidly and I have never been burned by contact with ballchain - I have seen some nasty burns from link chain though.

performance-wise, well all I can say is once you really get familiar with your chain (shortening your grip on it, doing wraps, etc) as opposed to just using it to fling wicks around, you will see there is a world of difference.

Not all the best poi spinners use ballchain, but a hell of a lot of them do.

-v-

Wiederstand ist Zwecklos!


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


Posted:
you can get burnt by any chain...keep that in mind
and ballchain has this nasty habit of cutting the skin

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!


peles_paynimSILVER Member
member
80 posts
Location: the fascist states of amerika, USA


Posted:
TUBE CORE SUCKS!!! ITS HORRIBLE!!! dont use it for poi...
-end rant

why?...i've used them for awhile and i like them?

real eyes
realize
real lies


ImmortalAngelSILVER Member
Scientist!
578 posts
Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada


Posted:
Written by: darkpoet


TUBE CORE SUCKS!!! ITS HORRIBLE!!! dont use it for poi...
-end rant




I agree.
They just have an overall feeling of not goodness about them when I spin with them.

Educate your self in the Hazards of Fire Breathing <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> STAY SAFE! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hug.gif" alt="" />


SprocketGOLD Member
Member
140 posts
Location: middle of the outback, Australia


Posted:
I used tube core for a while and I liked them. it was more the metal chain I had attached that was hard to wrap etc.

Cheers for the explanation about ball and oval link chain.

And, vanize, maybe you wanna catch up? I'll most hopefully and probably be in Germany in July and visit some friends in Berlin...

hm, pinecones, my favourits!


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


Posted:
besides they look crappy, they dont burn for very long, and the metal burns the hell out of you...ya know...3 reasons for ya right there..
tube core=teh antipoi

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!



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