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Permalink Reply by Mari Merrily Spins Cunningham on April 11, 2012 at 6:44pm

I used the 1/2" and its fairly close to a polypro untaped. You have to sand it down or it can be slippery.

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Permalink Reply by Gillian Tunney on April 11, 2012 at 6:48pm

i think polypro is very similar to the 1/2" 125psi, a little lighter, a lot less floppy. As long as you don't drastically downsize the hoop diameter, you will probably like it.  I started with a bigger polypro and just cut it down a few inches at a time. i just add a new piece of connector tubing.

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StudentPermalink Reply by Tilly Whirls on April 11, 2012 at 6:54pm

Love my polypro. I still love my 1/2" 125psi black tubing too, though. 

The difference? Polypro is lighter, more responsive and faster, but also has this amazing floatyness to it if you hoop slowly with it. Also it's stiffer making it a lot easier to do breaks and reversals with than 1/2" 125 black poly. I didn't think I was going to care much about polypro, but I enjoy mine quite a bit, even though my skinny black hoop is still my go-to hoop.

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Permalink Reply by bornonthewrongplanet on April 11, 2012 at 6:55pm

A polypro is going to be a lot lighter than 125 psi (it feels like youre hooping with air at first!) but if you're looking for something NEW definitely try it out... go to hoopsupplies.com and just buy tubing and a connector and it should not be 30$.. you could probably get enough for 2 with $40. I hold mine together with a strip of gaffer on the inside and they don't come apart ever (I hoop decently hard with a lot of breaks).

That being said, polypro isn't for everyone and it will feel a lot different and at least take a little bit of getting used to. I have a lot of friends that hoop (just not as much as I do) who pick up my polypro hoop and say "wtf is this bullshit". I pretty much use a polypro all the time, but when i'm learning new tricks I definitely still pick up my heavier standard tubing hoop too. If you don't feel like you need a change to something a lot lighter and quicker, than I don't see a need for you to switch! Polypro is becoming somewhat of a fad where people feel like they need to use it because all the pros are using it and it will make them better or something haha. This is not the case, most of us are just looking for something fast, light, and responsive and if that's what your looking for then go ahead and try it !! I definitely wouldnt buy a pre-made one because you can get two for the price of one if you make it yourself and it takes a whole 2 minutes to make.

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StudentPermalink Reply by Tilly Whirls on April 11, 2012 at 7:23pm

"Polypro is becoming somewhat of a fad where people feel like they need to use it because all the pros are using it and it will make them better or something haha. This is not the case"

Love that. :) Polypro hasn't made me a better hooper by any means, but it does change my hooping style. I'm a lot more flowy with my 1/2" black hoop and I pick up my polypro when I want to move quickly and do breaks. I don't really attempt to do quick breaks and reversals with my 1/2" hoops. I might do a little, but when I really want to do them I go for my polypro. 

1/2" hoop style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff1J_p15TUY
polypro hoop style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAUeJnIiUEs

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Permalink Reply by Nicole Castillo on April 11, 2012 at 7:07pm

oh wow, very helpful ;) I appreciate it ♥ my 1/2" is great and all, but it can't really handle too much of my breaks and reversals without flopping around so i'm definitely going to make a polypro! Thank you, all ♥

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ModPermalink Reply by Martika* of MartikasMysticDesign on April 11, 2012 at 7:10pm

You can also get hdpe, it's cheaper than polypro, weighs the same, but is a more flexible tubing meaning the response time is slower than polypro. Hdpe is a great practice tubing because it's lightweight, and more responsive than the pvc 125 psi tubing your use to but not too responsive as polypro. I consider hdpe to be the step between pvc/pex tubing and polypro. When it comes to sizes 3/4 OD hdpe or polypro is the same of 1/2 OD pvc/pex tubing. Hdpe also makes good on-body multi-hooping hoops.

Also a heads up i'm doing a 15% discount on pre-orders of colored hdpe... I'm currently the only seller on etsy that offers colored hdpe.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/97310895/15-pre-order-discount-colored-... 

*blank hdpe
http://www.etsy.com/listing/64779866/blank-hdpe-hula-hoop 

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Permalink Reply by Jade Lilian White on April 12, 2012 at 12:31am

You can buy polypro, do not buy it from a seller unless you lazy and cannot connect plastic together with a smaller pipe fitting. waste of money if you ask me. i bought a bunch of 5/8" polypro by accident (meant to get 1/2") anyway, made some minis. connected with a smaller tube. taped them up. If you are smart then tape them yourself. Way better. yeah.

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