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Ahhh the firestaff - in my opinion the perfect fire implement. You can throw it, spin it incredibly fast, toss it between performers, and even drop-kick it. It is perfect for coreograhing fight sequences and impressive enough on its own to work as a solo act. Unlike the ubiquitous poi, the firestaff is a rigid object which can be thrown and caught with some precision. As there is no flex, a skilled user is aware of exactly where all parts are at all times, which is a real advantage when the ends are on fire. Also, it is rather difficult to get your staff tangled up in a performance. Still, for some reason unknown to me, a relativly small precentage of firedancers use fire staff, as opposed to poi. Fewer still have advanced skills. Some thoughts about Equipment I have quite a number of firestaffs. My favorites are a four foot and a five foot staff made of titanium alloy in the form of thin walled tubing with tennis racket grips and kevlar wick. The light weight of the titanium makes possible exteremely high speed spinning and fast directions changes. Here are pictures of my titanium staffs: My older staffs are made of aluminum and have wood cores. The long aluminum firestaff consists of: a five foot, 1/2 inch aluminum pipe with an oak core, double kevlar wicks on either end [a total of about 40 feet of wick], and tennis racket grips. My short aluminum firestaff is four feet long and has a 3/4 inch aluminum shaft with an oak core. This staff aslo has double wide wicks and tennis racket grips. Here is a picture of my short aluminum staff: I find that the heavier aluminum staffs are better for contact juggling and blindfoldd spinning as they have more inertia and are thus more predictible. I prefer the titanium staffs for high speed spinning and tricky tricks. Got questions? check out the F.A.Q. which has some discussion of equiptment construction.

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