An updated thread to discuss pros and cons of each (last one was from 2013). Which do you prefer?
Nylon
Polyester
Blend
0voters
I’ve just recently got to try nylon, and I almost really like it. The biggest thing holding me back is how much more frequently I get knots with it.
Pros:
• Moves effortlessly (feels alive)
• extremely comfortable on fingers
• durability (haven’t tested this much myself)
Cons:
• forms knots easier
• can be very stretchy, making it difficult to gage length and taking longer to break in
• slippery (on binds and inaccurate tricks*)
• initial cost
I’ve tried to recalibrate my playing to match (e.g. slowing down whips), but things like the Hiroyuki bind knot 9/10 times with nylon. *It also seems to pop off the walls of the yoyo on certain whip tricks if I’m not accurate. I notice it most when doing a basic GT. I’m not sure if this is due to how slick it is, or how much easier it moves (i.e. it’s bouncing off the wall of the yoyo if it doesn’t land directly on the bearing or deep inside the catch zone).
Does anyone else notice getting more knots with nylon?
A nylon/poly blend (in the ZipLine Executive Class Lite) seems to be the best of both worlds for me, but more testing is needed. It has the low-friction of nylon with the control (and fewer knots) of polyester. Gotta say, I do kind of wish it had the spring and effortlessness that 100% nylon had, though. As long as the durability is what everyone reports, it’ll be worth it over poly imo.
The only pure nylon I have tried has been old Kitty nylon in normal and 1.5 thickness and I absolutely hated it. I would have neutral tension and go to throw a suicide and the slack loop would draw a Chinese character lookin like . Some blends I’ve tried have been cool. Poly is all over the place in terms of play and feel like there’s a ton of different types of poly threads and dyes also really do have an effect. My favorite poly strings are tribodal poly but they’re a very specific feel lots of ppl might not like.
The absolute best strings I’ve ever tried were silk and I’m sad it’s so hard to find good silk strings. Silk doesn’t bend as easily as other materials so slacks stay open in a fantastic way. I think it’s worth noting that the yoyo player William Chow has a very very slack heavy style and makes his own silk strings.
In general, I think string is insanely complicated. You can have two strings made with the exact same thread and thread count but different tightnesses of the wind and they will play very differently. I tried a lot of strings and have one I like best now so I’m going to just stick with that.
What’s your go to string? Also I’ve been dying to try silk forever, I’ll probably have to learn how to make my own, there doesn’t seem to be anywhere to buy them
Markmont Cumulus Foam in thick for most of my yoyos. I like Slick 6 normal for fixies and I use just like bulk poly bc it is good enough for my other responsive yoyos and 5a yoyos (bc it gets dirty so quick and I don’t really do slacks in 5a). Oh and my Panorama likes a variety markmont strings but normal or thin thickness instead of thick.
The Markmont strings are very expensive but last way way way longer than bulk poly like months and months and play very consistently for all that time. Even longer if you wash them but I’m not always the best about washing them frequently enough.
I think if you want silk strings you would need to twist them yourself. My friend that made the other silk strings I tried also told me that I would have to get fancy Korean silk bc the stuff available here isn’t quite right. I’m not exactly sure what he meant but I trust him.
I’ve been looking at the Markmont strings, long lasting strings really appeal to me, and yeah I’ve heard similar things about the silk thread, I looked into it a little bit a while back
I should add that I can use bulk poly or whatever strings also like the difference isn’t that big or a deal breaker, I just prefer what I prefer. I just need to recalibrate my whip speed and how hard I whip for like iwasawa tower or other big laceration-y tricks.
Does that happen on all your yo-yos or with other strings? I’ve never had that happen before so I’m just brainstorming. Also what do you use to pick out knots?
Nylon string feels horrible to me, very thin, they lose tension quickly and usually look quite ugly and very coarse while playing, feels like them cutting your hands, on the good side slacks are fast as hell.
Poly I always feel it soft and bouncy a pleasure in the hand to play, not cutting at all and generally also better looking on camera or while doing tricks.
i find it to be the exact opposite. nylon feels so soft on my hands. i put on a kitty fat recently cuz i still have some from “the before times” and it honestly felt like sandpaper. I’ll be giving the rest of my kitty fat away
I love how whippy and secure feeling thick nylons can be, I hate the texture tho. It’s something I have to just put up with.
They’re just so whip maxxed that the texture is worth the sacrifice for me
Mazaltop woolly nylons have been in my wish list but is seems like he doesn’t even want to sell them to me.
Markmont formulas are for sure my favourite poly strings, so consistent and dependable. Faster whips than their peers is always enjoyable.
Long life on strings is a MUST for me. Strings that can stay looking clean after a long time are a dream.
Dave’s laboratory strings (they come stock with motion yo-yos) are a DREEEAM too.
Sometimes they feel eerily soft if I’ve just been playing the crunchier markmonts, but they’re so enjoyable to play with
Kitty nylon is terrible and feels nothing like a good nylon string. Try the new zipline!
Sounds like a bad string, lots of terrible nylon floating around out there.
I wasn’t a fan. Material was great, wind was bad. Super stretchy and got very thin when stretched. Quite a shame since we really need some good wooly nylon bulk strings.
Zip line nylons are probably the best you can find in production. Nothing has dethroned Airetic though (glad zip line is using their thread stock, but the wind still feels very ‘zipline’ish, but it might just be all in my head). I stock up anytime I find a new maker that I like since they usually don’t stick around long
May I ask which nylon you used? I’ve found it to be the opposite as well: nylon are super soft, slick, and bouncy; polyester is rougher and more fixed in length.
I’m basing this off of the following: Poly: YYE bulk, Kitty 1st Class (fat?), Sochi Fat, ZipLine Business Class, and a few others.
Nylon: Zipline Skyline 3, Zipline Exec. Lite (a blend, but definitely slicker/lower friction than 100% poly), & Stricklin thick/og (also technically a blend, but leans far more into nylon characteristics)
. Some blends I’ve tried have been cool. Poly is all over the place in terms of play and feel like there’s a ton of different types of poly threads and dyes also really do have an effect. My favorite poly strings are tribodal poly but they’re a very specific feel lots of ppl might not like.
