k2damfcSILVER Member
newbie
13 posts
Location: Columbia, MD, USA


Posted:
I'm new to this whole shabang. And I'm a little impatiant so I've made my own poi. The question I have is how much does the poi head actually weight? usually? Thanx.

I'm K To The Motha F*CKIN C Home Boy, K To The Motha F*CKIN C


Kombi guyBRONZE Member
HOP OM
225 posts
Location: HOP Central, New Zealand


Posted:
It will depend on many things such as construction, how much wick etc
To get an idea have a look in the HOP shop at the poi head section and you will notice that they all have the weights listed in the specifications.
For eg a set of Monkeyfist poi heads weigh 288grams...A little more with fuel added.....
Check it out to get an idea, as there are many different designs and weights.
Cheers
Chris.
juggle weavesmiley juggle weavesmiley juggle

pricklyleafSILVER Member
with added berries
1,365 posts
Location: Manchester, England (UK)


Posted:
But also bear in mind that the weights of fire poi will different to weights in practice poi. If you are a beginner you definately don't want to be using fire poi. Practice poi are often quite light- a tennis ball will do, but for tails you'll need something a bit heavier to get momentum. Its a lot down to personnal prefernce, there is no ideal weight, but it is possible to have poi that are too light or heavy (ie they don't have any momentum or you can barely lift them!). the good thing about making your own means you can try lots of different weights out until you find what you're comfortable with.



If you are new to poi however, I strongly recomend lighter and softer poi, as they hurt less when you hit yourself and are slower making new moves easier to learn.



Hope that helps!

Live like there is no tomorrow,
dance like nobody is watching
and hula hoop like wiggling will save the world.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson


onewheeldaveGOLD Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,252 posts
Location: sheffield, United Kingdom


Posted:
They're not necessarily fire poi (at least there's nothing in the question to suggest they are).

In the case of non-fire poi, people use a variety of weights- light heads go faster, heavy heads go slower.

For sock poi, tennis balls provide a good weight, as do ballons with a little water in them.

"You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it."

--MAJOR KORGO KORGAR,
"Last of The Lancers"
AFC 32


Educate your self in the Hazards of Fire Breathing STAY SAFE!


DuncGOLD Member
playing the days away
7,263 posts
Location: The Middle lands, United Kingdom


Posted:
It's all personal preference really, and it will depend on the length of your poi too. I'm quite tall and have quite long sock poi and I also prefer a substantial weight to make slow spinning more fluid so I use around 180grams in the poi heads which I think I'll be increasing by 10-20 grams or so in the week or two. I'm got some old tights off my girlfriend filled with lentils and tied off (makes very nice and very soft poi heads that don't really hurt either) and they're very easy to adjust so they are tuned right for me.

Also, it may seem obvious but maybe only after trial and error....if you're going to be adjusting the weights I'd recomend using scales to ensure you have identical weighted poi, there's nothing worse than getting them done and realising they're only similar and having to take them apart to re-adjust them. Yes I did that once, never again rolleyes



Just got to say....what are "practice poi" ?? confused Surely non-burning poi are just poi and burning ones are just fire poi and everytime you spin no matter what it's practice?! wink



Also have to disagree with pricklyleaf and agree with Dave. Light poi are definately faster and heavy are slower and more controllable. ie glowstrings go fast cuz they're light fire goes slower cuz they're heavier smile Also heavy doesn't have to hurt, it's HARD that hurts, if you have heavy soft poi heads (read above) they don't really hurt at all ubbrollsmile

Let's relight this forum ubblove


elastaaddict
645 posts
Location: wishing to be in Rio


Posted:
I agree with dunc - generally on everything biggrin hug but especially about speed-weight relationships.

weighting is crucial to my style and I use a similar trick to dunc - bags of rice for the poi head... and plasticine for handle weighting :hmm: but that enters a whole other range of discussion,... do a search wink

As for "practice" poi - I love spinning fire, but non-fire poi offer many more possibilities, so making them look purty is advisable - there are plenty of other types of poi you can use to perform with.... yes, even socks wink

Non-Https Image Link
ok,ok those are clubs covered in socks... but sock poi were used too! ubbangel

there's nothing quite as fulfilling as a tasty airwrap

if you're full of sh!t, at least you're fertile

"we are all flowers growing in God's garden... and that is why he spreads the sh!t around" - David Byrne


pricklyleafSILVER Member
with added berries
1,365 posts
Location: Manchester, England (UK)


Posted:
Yeh, I'm not convinced by the weight speed relationships either, specifically when using tails, more weight definately makes them go faster.

OK experiment time:

one HOP sock filled with standard tennis ball (light)
one filled with (bean? or whatever they put in them)Juggling ball in the other sock, spun at the same time, trying with both weights in my weaker a nd stronger hand alternatly, allowing for the stretch and...

yes, the lighter one is faster, i am very suprsied. You learn something new everyday!

At the end of the day, weight is very much down to personnal preference, and theres not just weight to consider, theres also design. eg tails slower etc but thats going off topic!

Nice point about the pratice poi name, I guess thats because in poi spinning, the ultimate goal is quite often fire (not mine i have to add) so practice poi are practicing before you use fire poi if that makes sense. I still love my tails though!

Live like there is no tomorrow,
dance like nobody is watching
and hula hoop like wiggling will save the world.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson


onewheeldaveGOLD Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,252 posts
Location: sheffield, United Kingdom


Posted:
I really dislike the term 'practice poi' as it-

1. reinforces the myth that the whole point of learning poi is to do fire

2. referring to them as 'practice poi' makes them sound as if they're not 'real poi'

The majority of spinning is done without fire, and most of it is done for spinnings sake ie, not as practice for fire.

IMO, good terms to use instead are 'poi' (for non-fire), and 'fire-poi'.

"You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it."

--MAJOR KORGO KORGAR,
"Last of The Lancers"
AFC 32


Educate your self in the Hazards of Fire Breathing STAY SAFE!


jinvincibleGOLD Member
king of the hedgehogs
125 posts
Location: Madtown, USA


Posted:
I agree with the dislike of the term "practice poi" - tho I find myself using it more often than I would like. I have two nearly-identical sets of monkeyfists (of similar construction), one with kevlar wicking, the other with cotton sash cord. They both have the same weight (about 120g) and feel (with the exception of drag caused by flame) when spun. I've been referring to them as "hot poi" and "cold poi".

Yellow and blue make green.


k2damfcSILVER Member
newbie
13 posts
Location: Columbia, MD, USA


Posted:
I actually have mine at 75 grams, I had it once at around 150 grams but I decided to slim it down. I guess I should probably bulk them up some more. I also used black beans, they seem to weight about .2 g a bean so it's pretty easy to count it off. I have a scale and use it, but figured that would be a nice tid bit of info. I also made mine from some painting pants. I just need to make a damn tail for it. I must say that it is a rush and addiction. I've been doin it day in and day out. when ever i have free time. What is the standard weight range of fire poi. I should probably put that much weight in my heads as for practice with that kinda weight. Thats my next step.

I'm K To The Motha F*CKIN C Home Boy, K To The Motha F*CKIN C


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


Posted:
I think Practice Poi is a decent term enough....
I use sock poi for the majority of my spinning, but I only rarely use sock poi for showing off, and even then, usually only to show other spinners a thing or two. Using sock poi in most conditions feels very unprofessional -.- unless you've got like a black light or something similar going on...
I use LED or tails or flags for the bulk of my audienced spins. Those are what I consider my performance poi.
I don't use my LED or Tails or Flags as often because I'm afraid that with the amount of spinning I'd do, I'm bound to make a mistake or break them (or something else). So socks are not only fairly soft (depending on what you put in them) but easy to replace.

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="" />


mcnappyPLATINUM Member
stranger
4 posts
Location: USA


Posted:

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


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