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Safety Information PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Sunday, 20 November 2005
Safety is all important if your going to play with fire. This safety information is specifically for Fire Staff users, but some could easily be applyed to poi. And some of it deals with contact moves specifically.


See www.homeofpoi.com for more articles that deal with fire safety, why you shouldn't Fire Breath and a super useful video explaining fire safety for you and your safety helper. It also has catalogues of different types of fuels.

FIRE SAFETY.


Don't try fire until you are ready.


And then wait a week and practise specifically for fire. Think about how close the wicks will come to your body, weather you still feel confident enough to do your 'hard' moves. Work out which moves you think you can safetly do with fire. Remember how many times you hit yourself when learning? Well you can't hit yourself on fire. Usually thinking about not hitting yourself is enough to make you hit yourself. You have to get over this before you spin fire. (Well you don't but it will help you to not hit yourself.)

Remember, it's not just the wicks that are going to burn you, it's also the metal that the wicks are on that will burn you. And the metal will burn you worst than the wicks. The wicks you can grip for tops 3 seconds, you can't even touch the metal. (At least maybe 8 inch's of the metal from the wick, is going to burn you on contact.) So think about this if you happen to catch the staff that way in practise. You REALLY can't when it's on fire. (If you want to grip things for the next 2 months.)

Contact moves are even more fun. Trying one on fire for the first time, you'll be like, shit, I'm NOT holding this massive metal thing that's on fire and headed toward my FACE! ARGH! Plus it'll be a different weight from when it's not on fire, fun huh? I usually take a couple of burns to 'get' a contact move with fire. The first one to burn the wicks down to a small flame, before trying the contact move. Then trying over and over again. The second burn to try it with big flames and try slotting into my normal flow.
Don't use White Gas for fucks sake.

Or petrol, or colemans fuel, or anything flammable in fact.

Find some nice paraffin or even better, a fuel that burns with a low temp and has a high flashpoint, but has less nasty fumes than paraffin / kerosene. Low temperatures are good, cos then the fire won't burn you so quick.

Go to a big gathering of experienced people who are safety concious and have a regular fire meet where you can burn for the first time. They can give you advice face to face, (which your more likely to listen to) and watch your back. (And if your in america, they'll probably be VERY safety concious. Here in britain we're like: Wet towel? Fire blanket? Extinguisher? Why? I'm not going to burn myself?)

Wipe off the excess fuel before lighting. I don't do this, but y'know maybe it will work for you. (The excess fuel that's run down to the handle usually lights and attempts to burn your hands and grip, especially on 1.4m and under staffs. So you can't hold them still so well, you have to move em a bit to keep the flames from your hands.)

Wear natural fibre clothes. 100% cotton / wool / denim / leather etc. Anything not made from crude oil is good. (Polyester mixes = BAD!) Natural fibres are flame retardent. (They will burn eventually, when very hot and covered in fuel, but they won't like it.)

Trying contact moves for the first time:


Oh joy you've practised and practised with your staff and now comes the time to light it up. You dip it, wipe off the excess fuel running down to the handle and then you realise: Bloody hell, it's a different weight!

Yes that's right, absorbing all that fuel has added weight to the wicks. What fun, all your hard earned practise with one weight of staff is now not applicable, as you have a whole new weighting system to deal with! WOOOOOOO! Fun fun fun. This is why contact is hard.

It's important to learn when to just quit a move before it goes out of control. You don't really need how to use random body parts to throw the staff away from you, because that comes naturally. Don't feel you absolutely must cleanly make a contact move on fire, not if you want skin. Seriously, a lot of moves you might mess up slightly in practise and salvage them by grabbing near the wick. No can do on fire, the metal near the wick will burn you on the slightest touch. I don't know if the metal gets very much hotter than the wick, I just think it can conduct heat to your hand better. And even a glancing slight touch will burn you. Think! Before you grab.

Poi might get tangled around you, Fire Staffs won't, you can throw them away, or knock them away from your body.
 
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