I really like the feel of Airetics, but lately I’ve been noticing full nylon seems to snag more than poly, while also being less forgiving in general.
I know the GP has their opinion, but does anyone know what the general consensus among the top players is? It seems to be Kitty.
Any info @ColinBecko ?
Im a big fan of airetic in general after trying it for the first time back in june, but id say kitty for competition just because its been around forever and its been very consistent. Obviously players sponsored my string companies will rep that company as well.
Nylon snags less because it’s slicker so idk what’s up with yours. If a yoyo is snagging for me one of the first, easiest, and most effective things I think of is switch to nylon
Due to the whippier nature though I get how it can be less forgiving in a sense like you said since your motions have to be more subtle and precise sometimes. I think it can be better for competition but takes more time to get used to which people dont care about.
Kitty is the most popular because it was the budget standard first and people don’t care enough about what string they use to care about switching.
Kitty just got yet another price bump though and Sochi came out so we might see some more variety.
Expensive boutique string will never be the standard though imo
I could definitely see top competitors gravitating towards being sponsored by a boutique company, but with the popularity comes the demand, and I imagine most boutique manufacturers wouldn’t be able to keep up with demand.
It is kind of strange how top competitors often use string deemed inferior by the yoyo community. I mean Kitty is good while it lasts, but there are many better strings out there.
As for nylon vs poly in competition, it could be because nylon is more slippery, so you are slightly more prone to mistakes when not perfectly executing a trick? Idk, I feel like im more consistent with poly, but im not that good, so whatever my opinion is worth…
Boutique bulk is not a thing. YYSL is the closest
Soooo I’m just waiting for @MattB to make a nylon string so I can buy a 100 pack
Ive seen a few videos where Zipline sends quite a lot of string to their YT sponsors. Not competitors I know, but I am sure that boutique companies would easily be able to supply an ‘8 hour a day’ yoyoer with enough string.
Are we talking about pure nylon? Or nylon/poly blends?
I’ve tried a couple different brands of nylon/poly blend and, unfortunately for me, I’ve been spoiled by Chad’s Performance Blend. He doesn’t make them on a regular basis and my tiny supply is almost exhausted.
Ziplines skylines are the only good blend on the market rn. There used to be more but they’re all out of business.
Kitty’s and OD’s blends ain’t it Chief
I can only speak for my experience, where this hasn’t been the case. It’s most noticeable during laceration combos, that might be because of the increased whippiness.
I’ve yet to use a really solid blend, (other than Chads, which is definitely stellar) so I’m mostly talking about pure nylon or poly.
Which have you tried? Do you get more snagging using Chads too? Because that’s the type of blend and nylon I’m talking about.
Like I said, kitty, OD, etc. blends/nylon ain’t it
Zipline skyline and airetic are good and I’m not sure why you get more snagging, that definitely should not be the case
It’s been a while since I’ve used Chads. The only other blend I have experience with kitty blend which I was very meh on.
I use standard Airetics, which I find snag more for than than fat vines. Most of the snagging is apparent when I’m transitioning through different laceration/gt combos. Its not as common for me with MFD fat vines, which is the poly I’ve been accustom to.
Rail combos are more or less the same the for me with either.
You could try the slims.
I have some ordered, I’m interested to see if it makes any difference 
An awesome player took Nats, then Worlds with YoYoStringLab Plutonium (admittedly a string he helped develop and was sponsored for). He was of course happy with the string, but had a separate project in the works, so needed to remove the signature relationship. Regardless, he continues to use it and needed additional for a recent Worlds in which he took second by a minimal fraction. He could have used anything, but wanted Plutonium. In any case, there has been additional demand of course, but it’s still premium string, so it has been manageable to keep up with those that appreciate and feel the difference.
I think people are right that competitive players don’t always consider string beyond what they are used to. Fortunately, some do.
Regarding a YYSL nylon blend, I see it as a possibility. I know people are interested. It’s just putting in the time to do it right.
I like this new Sochi proto nylon string. Prior, I used 1.5 Kitty. I would focus on what you like best, though.
I have bulk poly around for emergencies, but usually lace up straight homemade nylon. It is always less snaggy and more forgiving. My nylon is always pretty narrow though, and always wooly. I think nylon gets a bad name for snagginess and roughness because when sellers use it they don’t use the good stuff. I will always prefer 100% nylon that I make over any string I have ever received from a seller of any size.
I have no idea who you’re talking about here 
I find Nylon (even the blends) ultimately too aggravating because it generates tension/torsion at 10x the rate of poly – it likes to coil up tighter than an Alabama blacksnake. But I am a super terrible player, in no way competitve.
I think if you’re competing you’re probably invested in the hobby enough to switch to fresh string constantly. IMO fresh poly of non-boutique brands is some of the best string to use. It feels great and holds tension really well, it just loses those qualities very, very quickly. So any of the benefits (better tension for slack and whip elements) of nylon or boutique poly are either lost or not desirable (specifically how slick some of them can be, I personally feel less confident in my movements with less coarse string) when you don’t have an issue with constantly changing string.
Again those are my opinions and I’m way past the point where I competed so I could be completely off base.
I agree with this. I still need to see a high level competitor who uses fancy nylon stuff.
One if my fears with that kind of thing is finding one and getting really used to it and then they go out of business for whatever reason.
Those airetechs feel amazing but they are also very different from other strings. What if you get used to it and then you gotta switch back?