"Sand away!  I personally use 100-grit sandpaper, as it scuffs the HDPE enough to help with grippiness but doesn't make it too rough to hold."

"Aaron!  It's good to see you're making progress with your career!  I second the sentiments above and will add this: What are your interests outside Object Manipulation?  Do you read and have a favorite author, or love a…"

"Agreed, Kora-Lee. Super Hooper and Synergy seem to sell PolyPro hoops, but not coils (please correct me if I'm wrong about this). I have called around to various plastics manufacturers and suppliers and I believe the only way to get these…"

"I just made my first PolyPro fire hoop (for myself) and I sanded the tubing to see if I could avoid taping and adding the extra weight.  It didn't really work for me because of the weight of the spines, and I ended up putting a strip of…"

"http://www.nafaa.org/fire_ins.html   There are several organizations that will add you to their annual policy as a benefit of membership.  Membership fees range anywhere from $100-500, and are probably your best bet, as complete individual…"

"If you get a chance, read through these NAFAA Safety Guidelines before you talk to her. It's only two pages and it pretty much covers all the major safety issues for fire performances.  If you don't get a chance, read through them…"

"Aaron - first of all, you have already shown maturity in your dedication to becoming proficient before adding something like fire to your repertoire.  I saw your video on hooping.org and you possess a skill that is only achieved through…"

"If your cousin doesn't mind the shipping charges from the U.S., I would be happy to make her daughter a custom hoop for $100 or less, depending on how many LEDs she wants.  I sell a 10-LED, 32"-diameter, "kids" hoop at…"

"That would be awesome!  My schedule this year is a little less consistent, so I'll have some weekends off (and other ones that I'll be working like 40 hours in 3 days), but I would definitely pay a small fee to HoopJam on the…"

"Also, if I possibly can, I'm going to try to make one of the JamBrew nights.  They look like SO much fun!"

"All of us myriad NoVA hoopers have been trying to get ourselves together all summer, but alas, we all work different schedules! So here's what I know: - Hoopdance DC is great for all kinds of classes and meetups in the Arlington/Alexandria and…"

"Nikki - After doing quite a bit of research for my hoops, I get the sense that most "normal" electricians consider the LED hoop a frivolous pursuit.  However, you might be able to get a electrical engineering (EE) student from a…"

"I would encourage you to try to find out where they got it from and ask the original maker.  If it was a store or a festival, you could probably easily track down who made it.  Online makers will be harder since there are a lot of us, but…"

"I have glow tape (photoluminescent, not UV) and snap button connectors.  I'm not in Canada (Northern Virginia, USA), and I definitely encourage you to go with a local hoop-maker if you can, but if you can't find what you want closer…"

"After going back and reading the thread I realize that the way I presented the HDPE connectors was a little rude.  I apologize - I have a tendency to be blunt and it sometimes comes off as mean to people who don't know me.  Obviously…"