Its something more than a toy.

[kuyaChristian]

I was gonna pull some facts, but Vegabomb beat me to it. GG :]

[anonyo]

@stookie

@Studio42

@Hogheg

@stookie

Doesn’t seem very practical for hunting. If you’re in a tree, say 15 feet up, your string needs to be around 15 feet long just to reach anything directly under the tree. Let alone an animal that may be 10 or 15 ft. away from the tree’s base, where you’re talking a string closer to 25 feet.

The concept also isn’t any more advanced than just throwing a rock at an animal, so I don’t know why you’d go to the trouble to add a string and make it a yoyo. Just carry a few rocks. Also, if you could produce a functioning wooden or metal yoyo then you have the necessary skills to produce bows, arrows, and spears.

Close combat is about the only way I see it working as any sort of weapon, but I’d rather just have a heavy stick.

I reckon if you had a very oversized full-metal offstring throw you could use it as some sort of projectile…

If it weighed like 16 ounces or more and had a 30-foot rope on it, it would be much more practical as a war weapon or a hunting weapon. We shouldn’t assume the yoyo hasn’t undergone some massive transformations over the centuries. I mean, first came spears, then came darts, then came arrows, then came crossbows, then came rifles and bullets. Things evolve.

Even so, today’s modern metal yoyos can do a lot of damage, even on a relatively short string.

A yoyo that weighed more than a pound thrown overhand at 30 or 40mph on a 30 ft. rope seems like it just about rip your arm out of its socket when it hit at the end. And then what do you do on a return if it were even possible? a 1 or 2 lb weight shooting back at you hard enough to reel in a 30 ft. rope would be just as much a weapon for the opposition as for you. Actually, it’d be even more effective since you’re holding the end of the rope.

I personally don’t feel that return was an option they were concerned about. I think what they were more concerned about was simply getting it back for re-use without having to climb down to get it, coupled with not having to carry a lot of ammo.

I don’t think that having the item be able to come back became a consideration until it got a lot smaller, and even then it probably happened by an accidental discovery.

[stookie]

I wouldn’t consider a rock on a rope to be a yoyo, or really even a notable step along the yoyo evolution. A yoyo, imo, necessarily includes the concept of a return. That’s the second “yo”. If you haven’t got that then you’ve got nothing yoyo-ish.

It’s also hard to imagine the circumstances where a rock on a rope directly becomes a yoyo. For one, if you were going to throw a rock on a rope you wouldn’t wrap the rope around the rock. That slows it down and is a needless step. You’d just throw the rock and pull it back. Even if you did wrap it you’d still need to be able to produce rope, and have the rope set in an axle system for the concept to even sort of happen accidentally. That requires fabrication skill to the point that you’d be far, far beyond throwing rocks.

I’m not trying to “school” anybody, it just doesn’t seem plausible to me. The yoyo as a weapon is far less effective than even the most primitive hunting weapons. As soon as you could carve a point on a stick your yoyo was silly because of its limited range, cumbersome weight, slow reload speed, and less lethal effect. Even if someone came at you looping two brand new Raiders, as soon as one clunked you in the head and hurt a little, the weapon is useless until they can sit there and wind them both back up. They’d be dead 10 times over against my pointy stick.

[jrodriguez]

People have used rocks attached to rope as hunting devices. Whether that’s a yoyo or not … meh?

What I’m more interested in is who is going to win in the duel I see abrew - stookie with a pointy stick, or studio perched up in a tree with a big rock on a string? Most importantly though - is anyone willing to volunteer to record it and put it on youtube?

[stookie]

I just pictured the fight and lol’d. I walk up alone in a quiet forest. Studio drops a rock on a rope while perched in a tree, missing me and plunking against the ground. I then throw my stick up toward him, hitting a branch and landing 20 feet away. So ends the first prehistoric duel.

[ebilflindas]

@jrodriguez

What I’m more interested in is who is going to win in the duel I see abrew - stookie with a pointy stick, or studio perched up in a tree with a big rock on a string?

…and JRod sitting higher up in that tree, chucking coconuts down on both of them, egging them on! ;D

[TheYoYoist101 (M.DeV1)]

This little war I just read made my night!

[stookie]

Yoyo as weapon,
I still do not know for sure,
Thread hijack over.

[yoyo_creep]

That was… beautiful :’(

[Oxnard_Montalvo]

I’ve never bought into the “way of life” talk when it comes to yoyoing. It always put me off, and just seems silly. It always felt like a lame attempt to create a sub-culture like “gamers” or something. Sure there is a sub-culture of yoyoers but my problem is when people get all excited and start defining themselves as a yoyoer or “thrower” if you want. Same goes for the poetics that are thrown around every so often when it comes to the “toy not a toy” debate. Don’t get me wrong I’m all for poetics, but there is a point where it tips over into the cliche and it just sounds silly. Is a yoyo a toy? Of course. Is it something more than a toy? I think we need to ask ourselves what the heck kind of question that is, because the question itself is flawed

Really all we are doing is questioning what the definition of “toy” is. Can a toy bring someone out of a sad spell? Sure it can. Can it allow us to be creative? Yup yup yup. Can it allow us to escape? Of course it can. Can it be meaningful to us in some way? Yes! Actually, that’s the whole point of toys is to do all of those things. Mixing in flowery language and poetics and talk of the “corporate world” doesn’t make it anything more than a toy, and that’s fine.

Just a disclaimer, the “sad spell” wasn’t a jab at Studio42’s story. I’ve struggled with depression and the importance of finding hobbies cannot be emphasized enough.

[JeiCheetah (J̵̡̥̦̳̗͎̤̯̟͓̞͔͔̻́͛͐̒͋̔̈́͂̃͝ͅͅ E I H W Δ N̸̢̢̡͙͖̝̩̟͎̹̻͔̳͕̙̗̈̆̆͋̈́͛̀̑̒̂̀̈́̇̚͘͠ͅ)]

@Oxnard_Montalvo

Mixing in flowery language and poetics and talk of the “corporate world” doesn’t make it anything more than a toy, and that’s fine.

That is your opinion, and that is fine, I respect it, but I must disagree completely.

J

[Nivo]

damn J digging deep with these posts …

love it!!!

[JeiCheetah (J̵̡̥̦̳̗͎̤̯̟͓̞͔͔̻́͛͐̒͋̔̈́͂̃͝ͅͅ E I H W Δ N̸̢̢̡͙͖̝̩̟͎̹̻͔̳͕̙̗̈̆̆͋̈́͛̀̑̒̂̀̈́̇̚͘͠ͅ)]

@Nivo

darn J digging deep with these posts …

love it!!!

I am the deep foxy.

J

[blakswift88]

@Jayyo

The toy on the string, a simplistic design.
The juvenile object of the past, the past time, the object of manipulation for the simple minded.
It brings joy, they all say, not to be taken seriously, but of course for any toy, it is nothing more is it not?
Neither young nor old must grow attached they say, strictly for fun and nothing more.
But…
What if this simple toy, was meant to be more than a toy? Perhaps it serves a greater purpose.
A greater gift bestowed upon its owner which brings it out of the darkness of death and cold, and into the light of living, breathing, moving.
For what if this object was not an object at all, but an extension.
Would it be an extension of ourselves? Perhaps what once was set apart, was now, a part.
The expression of longing, guilt, regret, sadness, sorrow, all conveyed within the soul, reaching out through the synthetic material that binds this separate soul, which may not be separate at all…
Yet happiness, joy, through the comfort, maybe not was it an object to bring thus feelings to our being, but part of us, part of us that brings into the light, what was there all along.
The inner working of the soul, the synergy of forces combined, growing our very essence into a expression of who we are, not to transform, but to beckon what is and will always be.
Through natural movements, no longer are we bound? Bound by the chains of the corporate world that sends us into the robotic realm? The neverending death of dreams, shattered by this swallowing abyss. Yet we find the connection, the substance of nature, flowing through our spirit, becoming one with the spirit of this object of manipulation, we find ourselves, in what we had not known to be ourselves, for what is ourselves could not be seen by ourselves alone…

Is this but a mere toy? Are we not to take it seriously. For the object of our passion, our drive, our spirit, is beckoning out those of whom we are, and those of whom we are meant to be. Surely within the materials of metals and plastic, through the earthly fibers that weave the painting of our soul, is more than a toy.
For it is the extension of ourselves, the creation of life, and the heartbeat of that of which makes us as one.

J.

Spoken Word finds its way in all facets of life, yoyoing included. Thats a good piece man. Keep it up

[Ghost8982]

Wow. Jayyo that was absolute beautiful piece of work. I loved it. You know an artist would say that the brush is an extension of himself/ herself and thier creativity and art. Even though it’s still a brush, it is a tool that allows a persons dreams, nightmares, thoughts and feelings to come to fruition on paper, movies, and even writing. The yoyo for me maybe a toy but it is my tool to express my art and creativity to the world an therefore it is an extention of me. Good job.

[dcs937]

@Jayyo

The toy on the string, a simplistic design.
The juvenile object of the past, the past time, the object of manipulation for the simple minded.
It brings joy, they all say, not to be taken seriously, but of course for any toy, it is nothing more is it not?
Neither young nor old must grow attached they say, strictly for fun and nothing more.
But…
What if this simple toy, was meant to be more than a toy? Perhaps it serves a greater purpose.
A greater gift bestowed upon its owner which brings it out of the darkness of death and cold, and into the light of living, breathing, moving.
For what if this object was not an object at all, but an extension.
Would it be an extension of ourselves? Perhaps what once was set apart, was now, a part.
The expression of longing, guilt, regret, sadness, sorrow, all conveyed within the soul, reaching out through the synthetic material that binds this separate soul, which may not be separate at all…
Yet happiness, joy, through the comfort, maybe not was it an object to bring thus feelings to our being, but part of us, part of us that brings into the light, what was there all along.
The inner working of the soul, the synergy of forces combined, growing our very essence into a expression of who we are, not to transform, but to beckon what is and will always be.
Through natural movements, no longer are we bound? Bound by the chains of the corporate world that sends us into the robotic realm? The neverending death of dreams, shattered by this swallowing abyss. Yet we find the connection, the substance of nature, flowing through our spirit, becoming one with the spirit of this object of manipulation, we find ourselves, in what we had not known to be ourselves, for what is ourselves could not be seen by ourselves alone…

Is this but a mere toy? Are we not to take it seriously. For the object of our passion, our drive, our spirit, is beckoning out those of whom we are, and those of whom we are meant to be. Surely within the materials of metals and plastic, through the earthly fibers that weave the painting of our soul, is more than a toy.
For it is the extension of ourselves, the creation of life, and the heartbeat of that of which makes us as one.

J.

I feel like if 4chan or like some highschool jocks got a hold of this it would be the best day of their lives. They’d have a ball.

edit: you know how they can be so don’t take offense to that. Just joking.

[anonyo]

@stookie

Doesn’t seem very practical for hunting. If you’re in a tree, say 15 feet up, your string needs to be around 15 feet long just to reach anything directly under the tree. Let alone an animal that may be 10 or 15 ft. away from the tree’s base, where you’re talking a string closer to 25 feet.

The concept also isn’t any more advanced than just throwing a rock at an animal, so I don’t know why you’d go to the trouble to add a string and make it a yoyo. Just carry a few rocks. Also, if you could produce a functioning wooden or metal yoyo then you have the necessary skills to produce bows, arrows, and spears.

Close combat is about the only way I see it working as any sort of weapon, but I’d rather just have a heavy stick.

well, we never said they were GOOD weapons.