lmao how did this thread turn into a flex zone?? 
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I can do Brent stole on poly, just nowhere near as consistently. I am, however, determined to master the same tricks I have learned with my performance blend- with poly. It’s been growing on me lately
thanks my dude
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I find that when I’m trying to learn a whip or hook trick, I use nylon or a blend as sort of “training wheels”. It definitely makes the whip easier for me to perform. Once I have it down with that, I make myself re-learn it with poly. I find that I don’t use full nylon as much and stick primarily to blends or just poly now. I find that slack tricks are a little more consistent with poly. Overall I still prefer a good blend, but I don’t have any right now, so poly it is 
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You’re like the 3rd person on these forums that have said they didn’t expect me to be a nylon user.
I don’t remember who the other two were but I don’t even know why, I always talk about my love for V’s, bimetals, competition yoyos and just… ACTUALLY good yoyos so I would think people would assume that I use nylon or some other high performance string 
.
I will say though that I don’t exclusively use nylon or even buy them in bulk due to price. While I have bought premium poly(just YYSL) in bulk before, I don’t mind using standard poly and have mainly used YYE poly’s as my bulk string that I use on most of my yoyos. I usually only have nylon strung up on my favorite yoyo.
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I think it comes down to what you’re used to. If you used your own custom string excusively for years and years cough then you’re gonna be really used to that! Changing it would be pretty traumatic!
Probably best thing is to intentionally vary your string so you don’t get attached to one particular kind and you can be flexible as the situation demands.
So many great strings out there… why not… variety is the spice of life, or something like that
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I thought you used poly because that’s what a lot of competitors use, and since you love competition yoyos… Anyway, how can you use standard poly when there’re much better options out there? You buy nylon, so why not premium poly?
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Interesting! I never thought of it that way. But I guess it does kind of make sense though now that I think about it.
I will say that I do think nylon is the superior material and makes the best string, and I will defend that, but I don’t think it’s necessary at all, and I actually don’t mind the feel of standard polys. I personally don’t care what string is on a yoyo. Most high level competitors are the same way. Many use kitty not necessarily because they think it’s the best string, it’s because the string to them doesn’t really matter. Kitty is cheap, it’s what they’ve always used, so it’s whatever. Even those that use boutique polys use them because they’re just used to the poly feel from years of play and don’t care enough to veer off and use nylon that feels and plays so differently.
As for premium polys, I do have them. I always have at least a few fresh YYSLs, Ziplines, etc. lying around but I don’t buy them in bulk because they’re too costly and like I said before I don’t care enough about the string to buy boutique strings in bulk for all my 15+ yoyos. I use YYE polys because they’re the cheapest and they’re soft. I don’t think they’re much worse than buddha or kitty anyway tbh. I will say Vines are definitely a step up from buddha and kitty in terms of cheap bulk strings go though.
I’m also VERY curious about Sochi so I gotta get my hands on some of those.
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I understand that feeling of homogeneity of poly strings. Sometimes it’s really hard for me to differentiate a slightly better poly string from a standard string. At his point, I’m really torn between contiuning to buy Ziplines or Markmont strings (I have a feeling I’ll like them) and cheap good bulk string. I must say thought opening up a package of new Ziplines has got to be one of the best feelings ever; they really come packaged with care, which I really appreciate. I’m just not sure if premium strings are really worth $1/string compared to others.
Also Sochi?? I had no idea that they’re strings were so cheap! They sponsor some top notch players as well, so I might just have to pick some up.
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Sochi’s definitely the new hotness, they got a lot of hype around them.
As for differentiating strings, I put strings into 3 primary categorys. Standard poly, trilobal, and nylon. Nylon can also be split into soft nylon(which is pretty much what all boutique nylons are nowadays), and stiff nylon, like Kitty Nylon. Trilobal are the stiff and slick polys that last forever. Dragons for example. Standard polys are the strings that everyone’s accustomed to. You have the bulk standard polys like Kitty and the boutique standard polys like YYSL or Zipline. The boutique standard polys will play a little better and last a little longer, but it’s not super substantial.
My opinion on Ziplines are that they are a great standard poly string, but not worth the price. If you buy them, you should buy them to support the owners and the company, not for the value. While they are some of the best standard polys you’ll ever buy, the longevity to price ratio is just not there. I’d much rather go for YYSL for boutique standard polys. About double the value of Ziplines and performance is pretty much there.
I think trilobal and nylon are much better value as they generally perform much better than standard polys and also last FAR longer. I love Dragons, I love Cumulus Foam, I love Airetics and all the other niche nylons that have been in the market in years past. If I was to switch to a boutique string for my bulk string, I would definitely go for MarkMont or Airetic over Ziplines and probably YYSL.
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From your experience, do all standard polys last about the same? Or do a more premium standard last much longer than say Kitty?
Definitely would not say much longer. If kitty lasts an hour for you, boutique standard polys can last you a few hours.
Nylon and trilobal are a whole different ballgame though.
If you play a lot and boutique standard polys last you a day or two, nylon will last you a week or two. Trilobal will last you close to a month.
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So what you’re saying is that, from a pure price-to-performance perspective, there’s no point in buying premium standard poly. Either buy a cheap but good bulk poly (like Vines or maybe Sochi) or go with a trilobal blend.
Yeah if you’re looking at value you’re definitely looking at bulk poly or nylon/trilobal.
Nylon and trilobal are very different in feel and performance though which is why many would opt for boutique polys. If you don’t enjoy nylon or trilobal then using boutique polys as a bulk string is a fine way to go. But like I saidbefore, if you do go that route, I would highly recommend YYSL over anything else.
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So I know how nylon plays (inconsistent and overly whippy with wacky string torsion), but how does trilobal play?
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I think I’ll need some help from @smileypants707 here. Are there different types of trilobal threads? Some that last shorter than others? If I’m correct Dragons and Draken are 100% trilobal and Cumulus Foam, Rebby, and Amy are blends of trilobal and standard poly. I’m assuming just from the feel and the way it’s fraying. I think at least Rebby and Amy are blends.
From my previous experience(and also if I’m correct about the MarkMont formulas), if you don’t like nylon, you definitely won’t like pure trilobal strings, though you may enjoy blends like Rebby and Amy(if they are blends). Nylon is like the medium between standard polys and Trilobal. So trilobal is the real extreme. Even whippier and stiffer than nylon, and string tension is pretty bad in my experience. Trilobal is a little too whippy even for me, which is why I prefer Cumulus over Dragons, it’s a little more mellow.
If you don’t like nylon you probably won’t like Dragons or Draken but you’ll probably like Rebby and Amy and maybe Cumulus Foam.
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Nooooooooooo 
All I want is a consistent poly string that’ll last me more than a couple of days, is that too hard to ask? Huge thanks for the info though!
the slickness and stiffness of nylon and trilobal is what makes them whippy and long lasting. So asking for a plush soft feeling string like standard poly that lasts as long as nylon or trilobal… Yeah I don’t think that’s a thing a blend is probably your best bet
Trilobal does have a different feel though so I’d recommend getting a MarkMont sampler pack just to try
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@andy569 sure, I’ll take the floor here.
Trilobal is an embroidery polyester. It has a tri-lobed shape, which refracts light better than serger thread. Think about hats that have embroidered logos or art on them, they almost glisten. Trilobal is Gutterman’s line of embroidery thread.
I personally don’t like it when used exclusively in a string. It is very coarse, and stupid whippy. Like, even more whippy than nylon. It feels plasticky and unnatural.
That being said, something magical happens when it is mixed with textured nylon… it gives the nylon a backbone - a little more body - tames it a bit. And the nylon offers its silky softness, making the trilobal feel less coarse and plasticky. It’s the best of both worlds.
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Ok after taking a few more throws I think Rebby actually doesn’t have any trilobal at all which probably explains the quicker fraying. It kind of has that feel though so I had the assumption that maybe it was like 25% trilobal but I don’t think that’s the case(but I thiiiiink that’s Amy?). Pretty certain Cumulus is a blend though. And QUITE a blend it is.
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sorry if this is unrelated but for me i would never care what string i use, and to be honest i think its all about skill not product, because its all down to you how you do your tricks.
when i buy string i dont check what material i just need the string because i ran out.
in my opinion i think its all down to skill