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I feel so Siskel and Ebert....Anyway, I just received the LED poi kit that I won from the little contest thing that Malcolm had going. A week or so ago I received the set of fire poi that Adam Rice made and generously donated to the relay. Today was nice and I got to go outside and test them both out.First the LED poi kit from this site. Malcolm, inherently knowing my complete ignorance when applying to anything technical had already assembled the LED set for me, I just needed to add batteries (thank you so much Malcolm!!!) and a string. This is the first set of poi I have ever swung that will never be set on fire (I hope) so the experience was new and fun. They are much lighter than I am used to and since I put them on a short string they really fly. My friend came up behind me and I bopped him in the head accidentally with them. The LED's didn't break and neither did he. The fact that they are held together by rubber bands had me laughing, and I replaced the standard brown ones with colorful hair bands but no matter how hard I swung, the bands held all parts in place fantastically. The lights look nice in the dark but for spinning in daylight I think I will stick to fire and flags. I read through the instructions just in case I missed something and I followed them fine, which says a whole lot about the simplicity of them! Over all, it is a really cool set for those who don't want the concussion I understand is immenent from being thwaped with a beaming poi. One thing that is odd to me, which is a linguistic difference is the white safety wrapping called "bubble wrap" in the instructions, the stuff which encompasses the battery and light components, isn't what we concider to be bubble wrap here in the US, or at least my corner of the US. The clear plastic package wrap with the bubble air pockets all through it, the kind that lines the inside of mail packaging envelopes, is what we here call bubble wrap. I have never seen that white stuff before though it reminds me of the anti-skid mats that are put beneath area rugs on bare floors. I think that if the LED lights don't heat up enough to melt the plastic of the clear bubble wrap as we know it might also be interesting and I might try this, if it alright with you Malcolm (as I don't wish to bastardize your design), and send in my results. Oh, and they make a really neat sound when cutting through the air that is hard to describe but nice to hear.Also, I want to add, thanks for the pens (one of which has been added to the relay poi and book package), and I can't wait try the body paint as it looks like much fun and quite different from any of the other paints I have used! Since we use black lights/UV lights in some of our stagings it will be awesome. The experience of non-fire twirling but still having the light was really incredible for me and had me laughing giddily. As soon as the camera, me and the LED kit poi are in the same place at the same time I will send in some photo's.Thanks again and great job Malcolm.Okay to the fire poi that Adam Rice made for the relay. In the kit he included 10 inch and 14 inch balls chains, which I had never used before. Convertable finger/wrist nooses and interweave Kevlar wicks (also included is a book for commentary and such as well as some spare parts).My first comments are that I, personally, didn't care for the finger nooses. The weight of the spinning pulled them so tightly that I actually lost feeling in my fingertips. The conversion process is really cool and handy, but I felt I had little control with the wrist loops. I am prolly just stuck in my own thing though. Anyway, the handles are well constructed of thick, soft leather so there was no pain or rubbing at all from that. I had no fear of them coming apart or breaking and was impressed with their durability. The ball chains are huge! I have never seen a ballchain that big before. It snapped back on me when I tried to transition from fast to slow but didn't get tangled in the least bit. I did find when I was finished and detaching the wick that the ball chain was hotter than what my dog chains usually get but not enough to burn. Over all they had a smooth flow to them that was different from chain or cables, and was very nice. The interweave wicks he donated are two inches "square" by three inches high, which with the finger noose turned a 14" chain (with the split ring to attach handles and the screw clamp attaching the wick) into a 23 inch long poi, which is longer than I am accustomed to so that was interesting to me. The wick, because of the weave and height soaked up an amazing amount of fuel, spun off with great difficulty so we simply ended up blotting it on a towel and got heavier than I mam used to. It roared beautifully, spun slowly and had wonderful bright long lasting (about 6 min) flames, after a ten minute soak. I think the wicks are ideal for longer chains that use loads more momentum! Over all the construction is really well done and sturdy, and I enjoyed spinning them. I think on a short chain to get these wicks whipping you would have to have much more arm strength than I have (which I am a wimp in that area so it's easy). But slow and easy is very nice, especially without music, and these poi lend themselves to that wonderfully. My last thought is that the weave of the wicking was very nice...better than core wrapping contructions.I am bringing both sets to the East Coast Spin Party and from there, Adam's Set and the Relay package will move on to whomever is next on the participant list.Thanks so much to both Adam and Malcolm for their generousity and quality products. It's been a fun day for me!!! Kudos gentlemen ------------------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