PoryKon & PoryKon V is now at YoYoExpert!

After a very long wait to arrive for sale in the USA it is official! The PoryKon is here and wow does it live up to the hype!

PoryKon is a machined bearing counterweight developed by six-time Hong Kong national 3A champion Ng Wang Kit and eight-time 5A champion Denny Ko!

It all started in June 2018 when Denny (Ko Kwan Ho) was practicing for the Asia Pacific contest. He was finding issues with the standard counterweights getting caught on the string during technical tricks. Lowhand (Ng Wang Kit) suggested designing a new counterweight to solve his problem.

Two versions available!

The original ‘bearing’ version of PoryKon:

And their newer release the PoryKon V (slightly tweaked design with a bead instead of bearing):

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Very nice! Looking at this, I see I could definitely turn my own bearing counterweights. I have a ton of flat bearings that need to be used for something. Lol

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Yeah, I wish I had a 3D resin printer


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Can anyone outline the benefits of the three different Porykon setups shown in the video on the Porykon product page? Why would you use bead and bearing?

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the bearing is to keep your string tension under control. i’ve found sidewinders for string tension end poorly with 5a, and it hurts a lot.

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You should never use poisonous snakes in conjunction with any yoyo activities.

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what do you mean by this? :joy:

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Don’t mess with “sidewinders” while playing with yoyo’s!!!

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OOHHH a sidewinder is a snake lol i did not know this.

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I get that - it’s like the Ultraweight which I have. What I’m talking about is that the Porykon comes with both the “Bearing System” and also with beads. And if you watch the Porykon video it shows three ways of setting it up - one just with the “bearing system” (which is basically the bearing and the little piece that fits snug in the bearing with the hole to pass through), then one with a bead and the bearing without using the little piece that fits snug into the bearing, and then one with a bead and the full “bearing system” installed together.

I’m trying to find out what the advantages are to each method. Why would you use a bead instead of the piece meant to fit inside the bearing? Or why would you add a bead to the end if you are using the bearing system?

I’m just using mine with the bearing system - no bead. Just wondering why the three setups. Also why are two beads included is that just in case you lose one or are there differences between the two beads?

Editing to add I freaking love this thing - both the Porykon and Porykon V are superior counterweights in every way. So glad I picked them up!

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Im not sure what the bead is for.

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Maybe it’s a contact point to keep pressure on the bearing so it wants to unwind ( keep in mind I’m only speculating- I hadn’t got my hands on one)

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Someone was saying the trend of using bearings in counterweights was to work around the patent held on counterweights.

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I don’t think that’s true. Duncan licensed the yyt ultraweight. I could be wrong though.

Hey I got an answer!

Josh Rodriguez over on FB had a tip on how to remove a stuck bead and so I asked him why the reason for all those setups. Per Josh:

“So the Bead settings are to allow for your Porykon to be a Sliding Die - if you like to incorporate “astro” or “double dice” tricks, you can with the bead setting!
If you do not need a sliding die, I highly suggest the “original” setting on the bearing Porykon and the V is strictly meant for a bead, but nothing says you have to slide the die.”

He also provided a video example of how this might be used:

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Astrojax and double dice
oh yes!

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Other than shape, the Porykon is essentially identical to an Ultraweight. Is the Porykon’s shape really that much better than the Ultraweight’s?

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Just like with yoyos, hand feel has its place in the discussion and in this aspect the Porykon is significantly superior. It’s just way more comfortable coming back to the hand, especially if you’re just learning like me and ding yourself a bunch. It’s also a more natural shape to hold in your closed fist.

Outside of that, the two are really identical. And I saw on the Porykon fb page that they recently began to produce a dice-shaped counterweight. So it (as with many things yo) will come down to personal preference, but for me it gets a clear win.

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I can see myself feeling exactly the same way as you do about counterweight shape. As a beginner I’ve been using spheres rather than dice because they are much more comfortable in my hand.

And that makes me wonder why so many people use dice, especially considering that you can use just about anything as a counterweight (including rubber ducks and micro-sized yoyos). You don’t have to use cube-shaped objects.

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I can see that the Porykon and Porykon V are shaped slightly differently. Perhaps someone with both could let us know which you prefer, and why? Thanks!

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