Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Skully Hyperloop Hoops on April 14, 2010 at 7:30am

It would depend on the type of flexible spines you use. I have a Spinsterz hoop with the rubbery bit at the base that gives flex but doesn't wobble. The rubber also acts as an insulation from the metal part of the spines and the hoop so when you grab the hoop a bit too close to the spines you are less likely to get burned if the metal spines have got hot.

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Permalink Reply by Tara V. Hoops on April 14, 2010 at 7:41am

Stiff wicks bend if you hit them on the floor - then screwing them in, taking them out - all screwed. I will never use stiff wicks again. Hope that helps. flexi wicks are all different too.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Crews on April 14, 2010 at 1:20pm

just have to make a shout because we're having a firehoop sale at hoopdrum.com . Flexible spines, quality you can trust. There are some peeps with HD firehoops and I believe they all dig them. gimme a shout or check out our pre-made firehoops at hoopdrum.com - some are down to $100 - they're all weighed & described.
cheers!
Scott

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Permalink Reply by Mrs. Skittles of Sparkle & Burn* on April 14, 2010 at 1:59pm

I really don't like my stiff wicks at all... they get bent ALL the time, plus removing them for travel is a pain in the ass.

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Permalink Reply by Laura "Baila" on April 14, 2010 at 7:43pm

hmm... no one is a fan of the stiff spines. Where does one get the wire for more bendy ones. I kind of like the idea of fastening a rubber base for burn protection (I have definitely burned my fingers on mine) and adding a little bit of rigidity.

Thank you everyone for your input!

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Permalink Reply by Jane "Electric Blue" on April 17, 2010 at 1:37am

That is about it in my book.

I make my own hoops with stiff wicks and i love them, I don't think i could cope with the slack of flexible wicks. It takes all of the zip out of my fast tricks and hooping style.

There is one down side of stiff wicks they do have a limited life span of sorts. I do a lot of performing so i really can't risk any damage to the spines causing one to break in a performance so i have resigned my self to making a new one each season.

But considering how much cheaper they are to make my self (I live in Australia so shipping is a pain) and how much cheaper it is to get a hoop just the way i want it is not really that bad. Also i figure that i would probably give a commercial one a pretty good work through in one season any way. I also don't have to stress to much about it getting stolen at festivals or broken in transit because i know i can quite easily make a new one.

So essentially i think if you are careful with how you use and store it and you have good commonsense about when to retire it stiff spines are great.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Crews on April 17, 2010 at 9:05am

I have to agree with Jane about the feeling of stiff wicks - they're great for tricky stuff, reverses, etc because they don't have any springy feeling. I've thought about offering stiff-spine models BUT the new cable we're using on all of our custom firehoops & quick wicks is super rigid. Its also super light & 100% stainless steel. Julia and I did a little fire performance for the Carrboro Fire Dept. last night and some of them tried her 33" PolyPro firehoops - (beat the shit out of them) - I was amazed. we test our products but I've never seen abuse like that. We sell firehoops that are capable of lasting a lifetime or two. The quick wicks are equally tough and even more "green" because if something happens to your tubing (kink or melt) - you can just throw them on a new hoop. furthermore, shipping them anywhere is easy & cheap since its not a hoop.

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Permalink Reply by Jane "Electric Blue" on April 17, 2010 at 5:26pm

The problem i mostly have with wearing out fire hoops is in no way the tubing it is the actually wicks. The Kevlar just wares out it is a combination of having to often work on concrete, heavy use in shows and getting wet or condensation at festivals.

How are is the wick even attached to the quick wick? Is it attached in a way that one would easily be able to replace it?

Also how much long term testing has the quick wick gone through? Seeing as it has not been around long could i hope for it to be performance safe after a year of hard use? or would it be less?

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Permalink Reply by Scott Crews on April 17, 2010 at 7:54pm

yes, the wicks are replaceable - but the wicks on our firehoops and quick wicks can last many many years - Julia has actually never had to replace any of her wicks (of course with design innovations she seems to get new firehoops every year - but does have a set of wicks that are 7 year old) I'm sure you know how the lifespan of wick depends on how much use it gets - and it sounds like you do a lot of burning! As far as testing goes - they've been tested and so far we haven't had any problems with them. They're really really tough - I believe the tubing would get damaged before a quick wick would. All the metal parts have been designed to outlive us. oh yeah, about how the wicks are attached - the wicks are wound very tightly around the spine, sandwiched in between two nuts locked into place and then secured with stainless steel wire. hoopdrum firehoops have been made like this for a couple years now. there is a little bit more info about them at hoopdrum.com - like the weight, dimensions, warranty and other stuff. I'd love to see you're design. cheers =)

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Permalink Reply by Jane "Electric Blue" on April 17, 2010 at 8:11pm

Cool the Kevlar does sound fairly replaceable.

I use a similar technique but i usually wire the wick on the inside and then twice on the outside so that i only need to use a washer and locking nut on the end. I also leave one and a bit turns of Kevlar, do the wire and then stitch the last turn down so that there are no bare metal parts on the bulk of the wick i feel that this may also reduce a bit of the heat stress on the wire and the Kevlar around the hot wire.

I also stitch through the wick top and bottom because i tend to use a lot of Kevlar and have found that it stops any possible outwards slipping of the layers of kevlar.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Crews on April 18, 2010 at 9:41am

that sounds like some fine quality. nice. and no doubt, the chinese yo-yo effect is nice to avoid. Do you use a kevlar/nomex blend wick? what size do you like?
cheers!
S

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Permalink Reply by Willow on April 17, 2010 at 9:21am

I actually like my stiff spines it's what I have always used. My wicks are on 12" all thread and the only issue is the few times I have bashed it against the ground. I have heard from a lot of people that the flexible ones are the way to go so I did buy a set from Hoop Drum. I have yet to try them out given that I am Due in 13 days and the baby doesn't like hooping anymore lol. I will post later and let you know my comparison lol. Good luck in your search for the perfect wick :)

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