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Hey all vets if contact staff. I am new to the art form. Previously experienced to some "twirling" I suppose. So I get the Kevlar thing (hooray for modified 1,4-phenylene-diamine, to think that my hair dye has Kevlar precursor)
Suggestions/Links/Directions/Opinions for making/purchasing/synthesizing/ a staff?
All would be greatly appreciated, as I am sure this is the second most popular thread on this tribe right?
Thoughts as to what would be most helpful for a global picture of making a staff:
To keep in mind, I am a 5'5'' female (1.65m) med build.
Such as staff:
Weight?
Diameter?
Material?
Flexibility?
Wick fixtures?
Please include all patent no. so that I can look it up at www.uspto.gov/ (no not really)
Thanks to all and kind regards.
Suggestions/Links/Directions/Opinions for making/purchasing/synthesizing/ a staff?
All would be greatly appreciated, as I am sure this is the second most popular thread on this tribe right?
Thoughts as to what would be most helpful for a global picture of making a staff:
To keep in mind, I am a 5'5'' female (1.65m) med build.
Such as staff:
Weight?
Diameter?
Material?
Flexibility?
Wick fixtures?
Please include all patent no. so that I can look it up at www.uspto.gov/ (no not really)
Thanks to all and kind regards.
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Re: new to contact staff
Wed, May 13, 2009 - 4:33 PMLightweight body (aluminum), largest diameter (1" +), longest length you can handle (about 5'6" for you), and the biggest wicks you can get (4").
You want as much weight as possible on the tips of the staff. This will help keep it spinning once you get it going, and it will smooth out your planes gyroscopically. -
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Re: new to contact staff
Wed, May 13, 2009 - 5:18 PMI think before you choose a staff, you may want to play around with different lengths. I've met people new to contact staff that are partial to smaller ones (as in a foot shorter than their own height). The first one you make for yourself may not be the one you end up keeping, as you'll find that certain moves are best executed/feel better with a shorter, heavier, staff, with a smaller diameter. Play around first. There's no one perfect staff for contact. But, definitely be sure to use grip tape! Normally found at a sporting goods store, tennis grip works well. : ) Good luck! -
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Re: new to contact staff
Thu, May 14, 2009 - 10:25 AMYeah, if you're wanting to do more leg contact, a very thin, super endweighted staff is preferable. If you want to do horizontal contact, it can be as long as you want, and the heavier the better. The ends don't need to be super weighted for that. If you're more interested in vertical contact, such as angels, jesus's, and conveyer belts, then around your height is good, lightweight middle, and endweighted. Grip tape is recommended but not necessary, I like to practice without it as it makes it really easy when I use my gripped fire staff.
Aileen is totally right though, play around with different staves and you'll find one that works for the moves you do. Then, when you hit a wall or plateau and can't seem to pick up anything new, pick up someone else's staff or try a different weight or size, and you'll be surprised at what happens. -
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Re: new to contact staff
Thu, May 14, 2009 - 11:39 AMThanks to all.
I suppose I out to go play around....and around....and around.....until I have to pick it up or kick it when I drop it, a lot. -
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Re: new to contact staff
Thu, May 14, 2009 - 11:42 AMOh and der, weighed ends for practice?
Dowls and lots of grip tape? -
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Re: new to contact staff
Thu, May 14, 2009 - 2:55 PMBike tires add alot of weight if you wrap them around a bunch... personally I just use a rattan or eucalyptus stick with no end weighting.... -
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Re: new to contact staff
Thu, May 14, 2009 - 7:13 PMbike tires are great, you can probably find a local recycles (it seems like every city has a used bike parts store called recycles... humans love puns :oD) and ask them for old bike innertubes..... if you don't want it to be obnoxiously bulky on the ends for adding weight drill about 6 inchs of metal or wood into the ends.....
most creators use tennis or bike grip to create good gripping... but you should leave about an inch around the center untouched to give your body a point of reference for where the center is...
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Re: new to contact staff
Thu, May 14, 2009 - 4:17 PMSince everyone else posted information about making your own staff, I figured that I'd list a few places to buy one if you wanted to go that route instead.
Trick Concepts - I hear lots of good things about them
www.trickconcepts.com/Fire-St...C11.aspx
Fire Mecca (flamma aeterna) - good solid staffs
www.firemecca.com/c-23-staff.aspx
Copperhead Fire - Chad makes very nice equipment, everything is by custom order at this point
tribes.tribe.net/copperheadfire
Fire Toys - someone else linked to these, they seem neat
www.firetoys.co.uk/juggling...affs.html -
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Re: new to contact staff
Thu, May 14, 2009 - 7:07 PMi make custom staves tailored to suit you, your needs, and skill level..... no webpage yet :oO ....
trick concept staves (as far as i've seen) nice weight, contact well can be a bit slow and bulky (which may be good for a beginner)
fire mecca. . i've seen a couple of their staves and how they've changed over the years... the more recent wasn't as bulky as the tricks but it seems like they ran an extra rod through it to give it total weight which made it slow (much like the trick concepts)
copperhead. haven't seen chads stuff recently. but he's a good fellow very active in the community, and you can probably get him to custom something for you... he was experimenting with fiberglass instead of kevlar for awhile..... may want to hit him up with a private email....
i know nothing about fire toys??
the staves i build tend to be a little faster... which leads to quick multi chest folls as well as spinning and tosses.... good for performance... good for contact.... all of the above make great stuff from what i've seen as well..... i'm experimenting with a new grip idea i've only seen once before and the person who made it up quit spinning fire and is now a monk in india lol
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Re: new to contact staff
Thu, May 14, 2009 - 7:10 PMfor you.... 4.8 to 5 feet... aluminum.... 7/8 diameter for slower..... go down as small as you want for quicker.... the heavier your end weights (think alot of kevlar on your ends, think metal drilled in behind the wick, think wood drilled behind the wick .... which works as a great heat sink too)
so the hollow aluminum middle makes for lightness, and the heavy ends pull it around making contact easier......
yeah we hear this alot! but everyone here who was serious at one point in time has asked it.... and as new knowledge is gained and new places that sell pop up (and old places that sell build new things) the answers constantly shift and change.
peace out
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Re: new to contact staff
Thu, May 14, 2009 - 7:18 PMoh tedward makes and sells staves as well on bearclaw... he knows his shit.... what he said up top seems to be a slow bulky staff.... if you want to do clean vertical contact i wouldn't go over 5 feet..... bigger is better for horizontal though... unless you want to do quick looking sweet ass shit :oD
ok i'm done here time to start another thread and ramble on..
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