Material Options

The aluminum i use is 7075 alloy, which is much stronger than the more common and easily available 6061/3 alloys, but is still more prone to bending than carbon fiber. Even invisible bends will cause the staff to wobble when it is rolling on your body. Aluminum is slightly heavier than carbon fiber, but this is offset in total weight on fire staffs, because aluminum must be added as a sheath on the ends to protect the glue in the carbon from the heat of the flames. This does make the weight distribution on carbon fire staffs more ideal, as there is less weight in the center and more on the ends. This remains true on short fire staffs, but if you are mostly wanting to spin and toss, and not interested in body rolls, it may not be worth the price difference. The thicker the tube, the stronger and more resistant to bending it is. The shorter it is, the more resistant to bending.

wizardgrip is a spongy natural rubber yoga mat. It has a nice amount of cushion, but is firm enough that you wont lose the stick in softness. Its downside is its longevity and complexity to replace. It lasts 4 months-2 years, depending on use and storage (wizardgrip is allergic to being left in the sun) Because i glue it on, replacing it requires some staff shaving and sanding. i do regrips for 25-50 plus shipping, depending on staff size, or i sell rolls of grip, and can talk you thru the process if you want to do it yourself. wizardgrip comes in black, purple, navy, and olive

exGrip is a soft, thermoplastic elastomer tape that feels like a very grippy velvet. It’s quite thin, so you really feel the stick. It lasts about the same as wizard, but is more simple to replace. The tape usually peels off cleanly, but may require the use of a solvent (i use isopropyl) to get all of the residue off. exGrip comes in black.

goat grip is a firm synthetic rubber. It has a thickness between the other two, is heavy, just a little less grippy, can be abrasive at first, but has the benefit of lasting for years and years. goat grip comes in black and is 10-20$ more expensive per stick

Flowers are the fringy bits on the ends of the staffs. When the staff rolls, the flowers open up, and the moment of inertia increases (the roll slows). This is the same effect as a dragon staff, but to much less of an extent. On long staffs, i put flowers on by default. On fire staffs, there is a silicone band that can be rolled over the flowers so that they remain closed. On the non fire staffs, i place them so that they come over the balls and do not include the silicone band, but i can mod this by request. I like them as far to the ends as possible, so that as much of the staff as possible is grippy, playable space. On short staffs, i leave their inclusion up to you, since there are more variable use frameworks.