To start with, I’m not an expert at looping but I’m pretty good one handed. I’m wanting to learn 2 hand play. I currently have a raider ex that just broke on me. I’m looking for a good replacement. I was never happy with the raider, but it’s what i learned on and have used over the years. I’ve been looking and I’ve seen the loop 720, match and the hornet all mentioned a bit. I’m looking for something super responsive, something that won’t sleep mid loop. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks in advance!
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Duncan Hornet, remove one of the metal washers, get a decent string like HKMT Arata or Sochi. It’ll only sleep when you want it to, ie. you’ll have to be very deliberate to make it do so. When looping you’ll have a huge window of throwing where it won’t sleep. But! You can make it sleep in a forward pass, for example, to do Around the World.
I have a bunch of responsive yoyos of varying price. For primarily looping, the Hornet beats them all. If you want something that just doesn’t sleep at all get a fixed axle and over twist the string to make it too tight to sleep.
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The Loop 720 is the easiest set up, maintenance, and most reliable looper I have. It’s not my fave but it’s the workhorse of my collection. I can’t recommend it enough. The stock setup with red spacers is great for learning. There is a ton of customization you can do but you don’t need to worry about any of that starting off.
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Also, welcome. Don’t let the name fool you, you can join us in this thread any day:
And here are some resources:
I especially recommend Shu Takada’s tutorials. They’ve been the most helpful for me in improving my form.
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If you are loop curious and can wait a few weeks my pay it forward has some hornets and match you could try for a few weeks then pass to the next person.
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Hornets, match or 720 are all good. Blitz balls are also good. If you don’t want to wait for the pay it forward I mentioned
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I see you have the match, hornet and the 720… which do you think is best? I ordered a pair of 720s but thinking maybe the hornets would be just as good or better?
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It’s hard to beat the Loops out of the box.
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720 worked the best out if the box, match are great but a tad more responsive, hornets are good just need to tweak a tad remove one shim and all good. 720 can be better by getting blue spacers to do blue and red but not necessary.
I like the shape and feel more of match and 720 but that’s preference. Overall any of them work just fine for looping.
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Thank you for the insight. Maybe i should have went with match…i want super responsive. I want all 3 lol but like you said they should all fit the bill. I will try out the 720, then maybe try the match or hornet next.
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By then the pay it forward I mentioned earlier should be up again and you could test the hornets and match and see what you think a try before you buy kind of deal
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The 720 with red spacers out of the box is plenty responsive. You will not be disappointed.
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The Match and 720 are very similar. Same body, different bearing and spacers. The bearing and spacers in the Match you may also hear referred to as the “sunrise” kit. They loop similarly and most of the difference is feeling. The Match claims a more consistent response, not necessarily more response.
Hornets are great. They are my favorite throw for hops and milk the cow (maybe punching bags too? I don’t know; I can’t really do them yet). They are more pieces and have been frustrating for me to maintain at times. If you want to remove both washers, you have to remove the axle first. If you want to remove both caps, you have to remove the axle first. If you want to remove the axle, I use a pair of vice grips.
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Super responsive in looping isn’t great honestly you want a happy balance so you can do a sidewinder or sleep easily and release tension otherwise your constantly fiddling. If you have a really straight solid throw match are awesome but they can be a bit excessively responsive in my experience if your sloppy or you have to use really slim string.
Loop 720 like I said works out of the box.
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I just had to mention the 5ive by Yoyorecreation. It was like $13.50 and I love that thing. Only problem is it’s heavier than the Hornet so it hurts a lot more if you happen to miss and whack yourself in the arm or the neck. 
It will definitely sleep more than a Hornet, so maybe not what you’re looking for, but something about it just makes you feel more badass when you do a bunch of loops and finish it off with a perfect sidewinder.
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I thought they all sold out also shipping on those was more than the yoyo to the US unless I was missing something. Are there more cause I want a pair of yoyo friends 5ive bad.
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Yeah, I didn’t even notice it sold out. That was only a pre-release though, so just keep watching for the big drop maybe. Just be sure you go to Yoyorecreation’s site, not yoyofriends. 
If you are looking to pick up and play with no effort 720s are the gold standard. If you want to tinker a well set up pair of raiders is hard to beat
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Attaining a well set up pair of Raiders seems incredibly difficult. In the US I basically need to buy a pre-modded pair off the BST or get parts from Japan (unless you know other sources; if you do please share!).
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Yeah i have gone the pre modded route, i dont know of a way to get parts outside of overseas ordering or just dumb luck that someone around here is sitting on some.
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