Starting to learn more slack tricks and for my entire Carrier I’ve used kitty fat string…
What’s your opinion on the best string for keeping good tension for slack stuff.
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I find Sochi Fat/XL to be pretty great for slacks and whips. I’m probably not as well-versed as others, but it srikes the right balance between whips and softness. If you want the extreme, Markmont Night Moves or Dragon whips like a steel cable.
For reference, I’ve tried Kitty Fat, Alphaline (pretty good, too, but courser than Sochi), Project 44 (really soft, but harder to whip), Twisted String, YYSL Atomic and Bad Wolfe Nylon. All good, but again, the Sochi is just right.
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kitty fat already has some solid tension holding, but off the top of my head:
- A&A Formula V
- Zipline Executive Class Lite
- HKMT Arata
had some pretty good open slacks iirc. the first two are nylon blends, but the last is 100% poly.
personally, i would just replace the string when the tension holding becomes unbearable, but thats just my pickiness
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In general, looser wound holds tension better and doesn’t whip as quickly. Tighter wound strings whip quicker and need to be adjusted more frequently. It’s best to get used to always keeping tension neutral if you wanna play a slacky style.
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Polo uses kitty and has some of the most difficult slack tricks out there, so you don’t have to change strings if you don’t want to. His blend is basically just wound a bit tighter to help his whips and slacks - it’s not noticeable enough to me to justify the price difference unless I was a competitor.
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My favourites in the “cheap” zone are for sure the Zipline-Alphaline and the Sochi - Phoenix.
I think after 30 minutes of playing both reach their best and are very “safe” in term of holding tension staying soft on the hand.
I am not a nylon lover, I find it coarse very slippy and quite ugly to look at but for sure is the best in term of tension and whippiness, the Zipline - Accel are a pretty good mix but on the expensive side.
As @suspense said, I would stay with Kitty fat if you are used to them or just go with Phoenix or Alphaline, similar to the Kitty but just a bit more whippy and last longer.
What is weird about some strings brand is that the durability change by colour, I had some green and neon yellow kitty fat first class, the green one became tinner, it was coarser and lasted less, the yellow one perform much much better, not sure if it is about the coating or what but kitty fat I would go with the yellow fat
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After trying sochi-phoenix, Sochi pro string, project 44 and zipline alphaline this Xmas, I totally agree with you.
I think phoenix lasts a bit longer than the others though. Kitty ain’t bad either…
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Agree with the Phoenix having a little more lifespan, I use my strings until the very end (probably even after the very end) usually I change string every month on a yoyo that I use everyday for hours, I change the string only when it is completely exausted (it start to have a lot of torsion after a trapeze or it get knotted only throwing a breakway which is insane 
If I can be a bit controversial, I think strings perform the best after some hours of play when they totally lose the bounciness, colour and some of the softness, there is a spot where they start to perform amazingly and I use all string in that status to film the videos usually as it is the moment where a string for me is “reliable” to perform combos to film
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I have another way of checking.
I reset tension, then throw a trapeze and a random combo (speed combo, maybe a tech trick, whatever). I nthe end I finish with a jade whip. If the string is messed up, I replace it. (Meaning that no slack is formed).
If somehow the jade whip thing works but the string gives me string burns on the next trapeze, I replace it.
If I see the threads torn apart, I replace just in case.