I need string that can hold tension really well. It doesn’t have to be any specific material (though I don’t want cotton), colour, longevity or anything, just something that can whip and slack from day one until it breaks/ wears out.
Toxic Dragon strings are great for that and they last forever.
Yuki
I just use kitty string or yye expert string. They hold tension better than your average highlights.
What makes toxic dragons so unique and good?
To each their own… they are “unique”, though. Very soft and slick (you will need a special knot to keep this on your finger!) as well as being on the heavy side. The weight helps it whip through the air with ease.
In my experience they are NOT good at holding tension. You are fairly constantly adjusting. They are likely wound a bit tighter than many other types of strings in order to help achieve their density. And tightly wound strings don’t hold tension all that well.
All in all, I don’t like them. Nothing against Toxic; they make a variety of strings for different tastes, and in their lineup I have no problem recommending the Snakes or BG1s. The Dragons just aren’t for me. I don’t play nearly fast enough for them to help me out… on the contrary, I find I have to fight them a bit. The Snakes and BG1s are dense enough to whip cleanly, but allow for larger more elegant loops at slower speeds. I feel they hold tension much better (The BG1s in particular are intentionally wrapped a bit looser).
The downside is that they wear out far more quickly than Dragons. Dragons and Toxic “normal” are probably the longest-lasting strings I’ve ever tried.
In the middle ground are good ol’ Kitty (and Fat Kitty). They work just fine. They last a decent amount of time. They don’t cost much. You’re not really going to “need” any better string than Kitty or bulk poly. Time and practice will undoubtedly contribute to better slack/whip play than a different string will.
I tend to agree with what GregP said.
I used to buy a lot of premium string because I enjoy the variety and novelty of the different string feels, but in the end, my go to string is just Kitty Normals. They’re so cheap that I never feel bad about throwing them out, unlike premium string which I tend to want to play until they’re completely beat.
Secondly, some of the premium strings tend to be extremely fast. Dragons are like this… they’re good for certain slack tricks where there is not much penalty for whipping fast. For example, lacerations, brent stole, etc. can be done at max speed. The slack whips around and remains relatively taught for the duration of the trick. Other tricks, however, benefit from a much slower string. The premium example of this in my mind are Paul Han lacerations. In this case, having a very fast string (at least for me) is very detrimental as it means I have to move my hands much faster to keep up. I definitely find this trick easier when playing with a more ‘normal speed’ string.
I also find that dragons and some of the other ‘slicker’ blends do not hold tension as well as normal polys.
I totally agree about the Dragon string. It whips extremely well, probably too well for most uses. Like playing with chain, really.
But it’s absolutely HORRIBLE at holding tension. HORRIBLE