Forums > Technical Discussion > Moving on to Fire

Posted: 14th Dec 2002
this question has been asked and answered *loads* of times, do a search for more results.

My 2 cents are: you're ready when you feel comfortable doing so whilst completely sobar (not that you should play with fire in any otehr state). I've seen cocky people use fire after a couple of hours of practice and people after a few days of practice. Both times the people were really endangering themselves and one set fire to their top and the other the grass.

You should be able to do 15 minutes of practice with the fire poi unlit without hitting yourself, and do this repeatedly. If you find yourself hitting yourself on certain moves, don't do them with fire. I've used fire probably about 20 times now and have hit my body once. On that occassion I was unfortunately showing it to my parents for the first time, but it just bounced straight off and just left a bit of soot.

If you hit yourself and it bounces off you will be fine, provided that you are wearing the correct clothing. It won't hurt from a burning sensation, but obviously leave a bruise if its going fast enough, just as an unlit firepoi would.

I'd advise you practise wrapping the poi round you and unwrapping quickly. Irrelevent of whether you choose to use wraps intentionally or not, if they happen by accident you need to know how to unwrap them before you burn yourself/set fire to your clothes.

Provided you look after your wicks they should last a year. I've had some pure flame 2.5inch poi from this site for about 5 months and appart from a bit of fraying at the edges they are fine.

Posted: 15th Dec 2002
Almost every time a newbie asks a question on this forum someone will reply telling them to do a search. Why don't you just answer the question?
Not all of us have been around forever or remember every topic ever discussed.

What's wrong with just having a new thread. Then maybe some of the newbies will be able to contribute to discussions, rather than just read old threads...

Might even get some fresh ideas that way...

.... just a thought

So much fire, so little body hair...

Posted: 15th Dec 2002
did you read my post? I answered the question!

Posted: 16th Dec 2002
flid, my post was not a personal dig at you or your post. It's just a trend I notice on this board.

So much fire, so little body hair...

Posted: 16th Dec 2002
Moving on to Fire, Fire and Alcohol Do Not Mix!
Exuse My sillyness.

[ 17. December 2002, 13:50: Message edited by: FireSpirit ]

FIRE IS ALIVE!
IT LIVES AND BREATHS!
IT CONSUMES, AND DISTROYS!
BUT WE CONTROL IT,
AND DANCE WITH FIRE!!

Posted: 16th Dec 2002
Zoltar - there are a couple of reasons people are asked to have a look at other threads.

Firstly, if the same questions are asked all the time then the board gets clogged. Kind of like your bowels when you eat too much cheese.

Also there are people who are no longer around the boards, but their experiences are still worth the read. We don't want their knowledge going to waste. People are always welcome, and encouraged, to add to these threads. This way people can read/re-read old posts and get the benefit of the new posts too.

When I recommend the search (rarely) I like to do a search myself first and post links to older threads that have addressed the questions before to help new HoPpers out.

I understand that sometimes it can sound a bit cold though. (Anyone remember the points? *shudder*)

Courage is the man who can stop after only one peanut

Posted: 26th Dec 2002
eey Astroboy....hope I'm not to late since it's past christmas...but anyway

Light them up....there is no reason to wait til you are so good that you wont get hit...and you have to get used to the fire....make it your friend...it's no fun if you let the fire control
your movements....I sometimes mess up when I do fire but I've messed up so many times before that I know what to do and gain controll again.....
But always think safety ofcourse...

I'll make a new safety post later...don't have time now.....

I like Fire.. :)

Posted: 26th Dec 2002
Hmmmm so alcohol and spliffelero's don't mix
with firepoi's ???

Ooops

I like Fire.. :)

Posted: 25th Dec 2002
[jackalero] in my experience alcohol doesnt mix well but spliffeleros do. again, in my experience.

From the makers of soylent green.

Posted: 26th Dec 2002
Sorry for the drunken post. I had to edit it the next day, apoled at myself !

Hey, If you can't do a move continuisly for more than 10 to 15 times, Don't Do It With FIRE!

Also know, If you Play with Fire, You Will get Burnt! Just Learn from your experiance, and try not to do it again.

And most of all! If you don't have a Respect for the Flam, It will not respect You.
Practice, Practice, Practice!
After all is said and done, Bring Love into what you are doing, Then you can Dance with the Flames. This takes Time, Patiance, and Lots of Practice.

Good Luck,

~Fire Spirit

FIRE IS ALIVE!
IT LIVES AND BREATHS!
IT CONSUMES, AND DISTROYS!
BUT WE CONTROL IT,
AND DANCE WITH FIRE!!

Posted: 30th Dec 2002
It's December 30th and They still haven't arrived so no one is too late to warn me : ) But I'm not going to be lighting up yet, I want the fire poi so I can start practice with them. I htink I'm going to wait till all the snow melts here before I light them up So when I do i'll be sure to let all you guys know. I'm really excited to get my staff tho, I've been using a broomstick : )

Posted: 31st Dec 2002
When does the snow melt in Halifax?!
I would give it a month or so of solid practice.
Just my Oppinion?

FIRE IS ALIVE!
IT LIVES AND BREATHS!
IT CONSUMES, AND DISTROYS!
BUT WE CONTROL IT,
AND DANCE WITH FIRE!!

Posted: 31st Dec 2002
the snow melts roughly one week before it gets too hot to do anything ( umm about mid august)

well that what it seems like every year

thats right i look like an albino ape that has had a bad day.. go ahead say something stupid... i dare ya !

Posted: 31st Dec 2002
O-,-Well I guess you have plenty of time then.
Happy Spinning

FIRE IS ALIVE!
IT LIVES AND BREATHS!
IT CONSUMES, AND DISTROYS!
BUT WE CONTROL IT,
AND DANCE WITH FIRE!!

Posted: 31st Dec 2002
hen astroboy
try this before you light up.
dip one wick and light it and just bang it against your arm, you'll notice that it doesn't burn the skin,it just removes hair.
the bits that will burn you at some point are any metal parts at the head of the poi (swivels, d links etc.) but that shouldn't bother you too much cause I know as soon as you've lit them you'll be hooked.
when you do finally light them and you've finished you're spinn make sure they have stopped smouldering or put them back in parrafin.
Your wicks will last ages if you look after them.
sending happy green thoughts for X-mas
Sypher

ask yourself this??.......... When was the last time you dug a hole you could be proud of???
answers on a post card

Posted: 1st Jan 2003
The Fire scares on my arms and legs will have to diagree. (Left behind from FS early spinning days) Also the smell of burnt hair is offly unattractive!

~FS

FIRE IS ALIVE!
IT LIVES AND BREATHS!
IT CONSUMES, AND DISTROYS!
BUT WE CONTROL IT,
AND DANCE WITH FIRE!!

Posted: 2nd Jan 2003
The snow is all melted by april not mid august haha. Btw guys I did a performance with my electro poi for my school recently and it was fucking awsome!!! People were just constantly clapping and I couldn't even hear my music : )!!

Posted: 7th Apr 2003
well, resurrecting this cos i am in the same position as the original poster

thinking about getting my fire poi soon so i can practise with them lots and get used to them i want to be good enough with them to use them in front of opeople at a bonfire in august, so will burn at least once prior to that

just wondering what fire poi people would recommend getting?

clarabel

Live well, Laugh often, Love much

Posted: 7th Apr 2003
from this site 2.5inch pure flame for begginners. They are a nice weight and although these days i prefer the obscenely large flame of my cathedral poi, I still use the pure flame for practice.

Posted: 7th Apr 2003
the ones with the cable or the ball chain?

i was already leaning to the ball chain ;-)

clarabel

Live well, Laugh often, Love much

Posted: 7th Apr 2003
cable

Posted: 7th Apr 2003
Well...
I've got cable and have only ever owned cable fire poi, but I've played with quite a few different sorts.
I think cable's nice for various reasons, there's little weight to it meaning that all the weight of your poi is at the end (Where it should be IMO). Also, you can't see the cable as easily as ball chain which looks slightly nicer (a tiny difference but heck, it's true). It also doesn't tangle as messily as ball-chain can.

The downsides however are that is does kink (although personally I don't think this makes much difference at all whilst spinning) and another minor point is they're slightly more annoying to carry around as you can't squash them up tight or you'll kink the cable... Ball chain is much better for wrapping around you hands if you want to shorten them mid-spin and is easier to replace if you want to get permanently longer/shorter poi.

This is only my opinion though.

(Did I use too many brackets?)

Burner of Toast
Spinner of poi
Slacker of enormous magnitude

Posted: 7th Apr 2003
Ball chain is much better for wrapping around you hands if you want to shorten them mid-spin and is easier to replace if you want to get permanently longer/shorter poi.

yeah, cable for buzzsaw moves isn't ideal. I'm thinking of adding a metal sheeth over the first couple of inches of my cable poi, so I can hold it not the cable for buzzsaw.

I've got chains, ballchain, cable and string poi. Chain is my favourite looks wise, cable is best to use thou as it is the lightest by far

Posted: 10th Apr 2003
I personally don't own my own set of poi, but I have spun other people's poi. I've spun cable and ball chain poi, put together by various people. My favorite is a ball chain set built by Adam Rice from Austin Tx Fire-Gear.com<----click me!!

He makes the really nice elk hide finger loops, way nicer than the stuff in the shop here at HOP IMO(though the hop stuff is fine too, not trying to dog on them). And you can just email him and he'll build you a set of fire poi with your choice of 3 different sized cathedral style wicks at the exact overall length that you want. I think it's like 57 bucks plus shipping or something. I dunno the details are on the site.

"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!!"
-Brian Griffin from "Family Guy" (the dog)

Posted: 11th Apr 2003
I have chain, ballchain and string poi. The chain was my original and learnt from scratch with it, so I have a natural incling towards it but from experience they are not as easy to untangle when they do tangle which can be quite interesting on fire at times. Ball chains are a lot bigger and do not seem to tangle as easily, the balls (on the chain) just seem to slide over each other. Although appearance they are a lot bigger than the chain and stand out more. (Well feel that way anyway)I have heard that the wire poi are best for not tangling but you are restricted by shortening or lenthening the poi during spin which I tend to do quite a bit. And packing it away to use another day.

As for the string poi, I do not light

Well in my opinion anyway.

I am the guy running around with his hair on fire!!

Posted: 11th Apr 2003
i should also add at this point that for airwraps/hyperloops having swivels really sucks. The poi wrap together one or 2 times, then turn on in the swivels and carry on till stationary. Without swivels they wrap up then unwrap by themselves. Without this unwrapping motion they stay locked together and it all goes a bit ugly pulling them appart.