So with the Duncan Freehand having numerous models available today, I am curious which one people feel is the best to use with counterweights, particularly if one is just starting to learn 5A.
Like, why would one elect to play a Freehand or Freehand One over a Freehand NextGen or Freehand AL (or vice versa)?
The normal Freehand AL would probably be your best choice. It’s wider, has lower walls, and has a bigger bearing. All things that’ll just make it easier to land your tricks and give you a yoyo that spins for longer.
Personally my favorite of the bunch is the plastic Freehand One. The spin times aren’t great (compared to a metal large bearing yoyo), you have to put in effort to get it to not snag, and it’s really narrow. That being said it feels great to play, and all of those drawbacks feel more like a fun challenge than a problem.
If performance is what you’re after the Freehand line isn’t what you’re going to be looking at to begin with. There’s better options for much cheaper if performance is what you care about. The Freehand line is there for if you want that true oldschool 5A experience, if that’s something that sounds fun to you.
I will put the small bearing aluminum Freehand One in the running. Biased because I haven’t tried the plastic version and suck at 5A, but this thing is just amazing.
I can’t speak for 5A, but I love all the metal Freehands! The AL is definitely the best performance out of the three, the 1AL is probably more chill, definitely more comfy, and the 1ALSB is surprisingly a good mix of the two somehow, like a 1AL but zippier, though a smaller gap and a bit less stable. All are fun!
My most favorite yoyo though (in general, even beyond Duncan throws) has to be the new plastic Freehand One, I have 4 of them already, haha! The good thing about that one is the ability to set them up however you see fit, all the way from totally unresponsive to snappy 0A response perfect for stalls. And the way they come out of the box is so bafflingly cool to me. Just so versatile!!
How do you set up your FH1 for 0A? I find the red stickers too slow to respond for 0A and the white stickers kill any spin faster than I would like.
I just put in the white pads. I tend to more stall-based stuff so spin time isn’t really an issue for me. You could probably grease the bearing too, it may help with the response with just the red pads.
I wonder if a greased centering bearing would keep the string off the pads for longer sleep but with a snappy response? No idea.
I just put a bunch of thick lube in the bearing. It can still pull off combos with ease and the response is snappy enough to do stall tricks with. It’s magical.
Since a lot of these comments aren’t really about 5A, which was the point of the thread, I just figured I’d elaborate a little more.
As somebody already comfortable with 5A but not particularly great at it, the small bearing freehands are really fun to play with. They’re such a challenge, the high wall and super narrow gap makes them very hard to keep on plane and not have it respond if you get sloppy. Because of how you hold the yoyo in 5A you’re in for even more painful accidental snags/responses on the yoyo though. It’s honestly a struggle to do much on them at all in 5A. They’re much easier to use for 1A. Freehands are like a full 10mm more narrow than some of the most popular 5A options, with an even smaller effective trapeze width.
Some people might say this will make you a better and more consistent player, but in my opinion it just creates a lot of frustration and will make it very hard to learn anything on. I don’t think there’s much merit in calling them an effective practice tool. You’d be better off with a better yoyo and just truly putting in the practice time on that for consistency.
If you’re brand new to 5A you’re probably just in for a frustrating and painful experience if you try to play on a slim, highwall organic. Especially a small bearing one that doesn’t spin as long and responds and snags easily. I think it goes to show how much better these yoyos are for casual 1A now than they are for 5A, despite the “freehand” name. I’d still recommend the regular Freehand AL as being the best option, but still if you’re really wanting a yoyo for 5A and aren’t super attached to Freehands you should look into things that are heavily rimweighted, very low walled, and in the 48-50+ mm width range. You’ll find a lot of options that meet that criteria at less than the price of a Freehand AL.
I have lots of yoyos that fall into the modern performance 1A category to use for learning/practicing 5A. I just keep seeing people talk about the Freehands as though they are pure magic for 5A (or even 1A for that matter), and I figured I must be missing something, because I don’t quite “get it”. I’m always willing to accept that maybe it’s just me and that I’m clueless about these things (I’m no 5A expert), so I thought I’d ask.
I haven’t really seen anybody praise their 5A capabilities ever, it’s always just people explaining that despite the freehand name they’re actually not that great for 5A any more. People pretty much just praise them as a super fun 1A yoyo, which makes sense because even back in the day they were heavily used as an amazing 1A performer.
It’s a nostalgia thing mostly, I’d guess. I wasn’t around from that era, but getting the feeling of what used to be the best performance a yoyo could offer is pretty fun. The idea that you could roll up to a contest in 2001-2002 with one of these to do your freestyle on is a fun feeling.
There used to be a general consensus that organic small bearing yoyos were better for 5A. I do not know what this was based on but you’d see small bearing versions being described as 5A versions, like the Steve Brown 888 was small bearing if I’m not mistaken.
Oh dang I completely forgot about those 888s, weren’t the small bearing ones also modified in shape to have higher wall as well? 5A preferences have shifted so much lol.
Yes I believe you are right. Some 888s were but I’m looking at pictures of the Steve Brown one and it doesn’t look particularly high walled.
Unsurprisingly there is not a wealth of pictures on google of this yoyo, but I found this
My vote is if you’re just starting 5A get a recess first base. It’s a great yo-yo you can beat the crap out of.
While the Freehand AL (first version) is the oldest version of all the aluminum, it’s by far the best performing 5A yoyo for me. The gap is the best for learning since it’s not going to surprise you when you tangle up midway.
If we are talking about fun and challanging approach, I really like the FH1AL - Small Bearing. Add concave bearing it’s the best small bearing metal yo-yo you’ll ever have. 
Freehand One plastic - While it’s good, I wouldn’t recommend it to start learning 5A. 20 years ago, yes… but now you have a lot of options, I would go for any Aluminum Freehands.
I’ve been meaning to buy a plastic freehand one recently but I’m not really sure what’s the best play style for the freehand one ?? I’m not sure if the plastic freehand was supposed to be played with responsive or unresponsive and is it supposed to be played with 1a or 5a ?? Also Is it possible to make it fully unresponsive ?? If anyone has played with an unresponsive plastic freehand please let me know I would love to hear about how it plays like 
You could just clean out the bearing since it comes a little lubed from the factory which makes it responsive. A bit better option is to stick a size A centering bearing to make it more consistently unresponsive. Still has a pretty good feel and fun to play with, but the gap width is rather narrow still so you do sacrifice a bit of performance.
I dont have the full collection of Freehands, but here is my experience:
Freehand One plastic - Really nice for semi-responsive 1A since it offers decent spintimes for the medium with a good enough response. Beats most semi-responsive metals because they just want to spin and not grab. For 5A, it’s kind of challenging, but pretty fun to throw basic tricks with smooth
Freehand Al - Like @bjardin said, this is a pretty stellar 5A performer, but for past gen designs. I prefer wider, more stable yoyos when trying to execute my 5A combos, but the Freehand Al has a good feel.
Freehand (plastic) - Ill need to revisit it since I removed the caps from mine, but its not bad or great.
Freehand NextGen - I feel similarly as I do with the Freehand with this one. Its OK.
Freehand One Ti - I haven’t tried it for 5A, but it’s an incredibly great 1A organic. Feels like a more refined and bigger RSO Gravity.
That is the beauty of the new plastic freehand. It’s the same concept as a first base to me.
Responsive out of the box.
Semi-responsive - clean bearing
Unresponsive - Concave + Silicone recess
Wider gap - add shims under spacers
Add in weight rings, caps, or capless, and there’s surely a setup option for most people to enjoy.
The new plastic FH1 is pretty great unresponsive with the limited trick-set I have. I just threw a fresh centering bearing in mine and it’s perfectly unresponsive (I have regular-thin string in my freehands). I will say I much prefer the FH1AL for unresponsive freehand goodness! I tend to play my new plastic FH1’s as-is out of the box (perhaps lube the bearing more for snappy 0A response), but I do have at least one set up unresponsive just cause.
