Currently my favorites would be Spintastics Slick-6 for nostalgia, Something Type-2 for string tricks (1A, 3A, 5A), and Spintastics Slick-8 for 4A. My string choice varies depending on the yo-yo for 2A. I have a box of samples to go through so maybe one of those will become my new favorite.
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I just got some String Theory to try out. No kidding, itās like trying to play with twisted dental floss. But I will do my best to hold out until itās broken in, because Iāve heard good things. Maybe Iāve just gotten too used to plush wooly nylon strings like Bad Wolfe Co and Zipline.
As far as bulk strings go, I really like Sochiās T String. Zipline x Sochi Alphaline is nice too, but Iāve yet to really wear one out to get an idea of its lifespan.
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Sounds roughhhhhh
Totally agree that @BadWolfeCo is at least a MUST try! Iāve been using them for months now. They actually come with our new release as well!
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I checked them out. Iām just not too interested in their colors. Seems like a great company though
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I will post here to recommend bad Wolfe co another time, itās that good. Their slicc booster packs never disappoint. The dude just chooses colors for you and sometimes you get old stock, new colors, blends, solids, whatever and itās fun to see what Iām gonna get. I can always find a color that goes well with all my throws. I donāt think Iāll order strings from anywhere else for the foreseeable future
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Markmont formulas are my favorites. Dragon, draken, blue eyed dragon, night moves, copernicus, cumulus foam, cirrus foam depending on the yoyo.
My go to bulk has been knot bad from YYF, but I want to try something different. For my next bulk string purchase Iām going to have to decide between Ziplineās alpha, Twisted Stringz and Anonymous. Iāve been playing through 10 packs of these and trying to decide which Iād like best as a burner string. Right now Iām leaning towards alpha.
My two strings of Ka-pow from YYSL have been really good, and seem to have good endurance. Iāve got a couple hours play on both, and they still feel good and arenāt fraying much. Iāll buy more whenever it drops, if it becomes available in larger quantities it might become my bulk string of choice. Its on the thicker side so I need to try it with more yoyos to see if the thickness is problematic with narrower gaps.
Normally I prefer coarser feeling string, which is a big part of why I like the Markmonts. I also have some BBB string theory and that stuff is crazy coarse and stiff. Iāve still trying to break some in, but it doesnāt happen quickly. Itās difficult to manage when new.
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yeah, itās frustrating when you want a string to just work right out the package and I really do understand what you are going through, it took me a while to finally get 1 string out of the 6 iād gone through in my 10 pack to finally understand.
what was saddening was that I wasted so many strings in the beginning because I didnāt understand what it really meant for it to break in, by man, those last few lasted such a long time, and were always so nice to use.
Donāt give up! you can do it!
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Agreed, and the quality of yysl isnāt exactly on the boutique level(at least compared to ziplines). They are definitively better than bulk strings like kitty or Sochi, but not exactly boutique level. I think their pricing on the strings also indicates that.
Sochi T string is the best bulk Iāve played. I didnāt like any bulk I played before this. Iām 6ā2", and a lot of strings arenāt long enough for me to reach the bottom of my sternum, which is a very common string length for 1A. Thatās why I canāt use YYSL even though itās nice string. Zipline is good but I canāt justify the cost for poly, it doesnāt last much longer than bulk. Anyone know some good pure nylon these days? Also I miss Toxic Strings.
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What criteria must be met to be considered boutique?
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Bad Wolfe Co is probably the go-to nowadays for pure nylon since Airetic closed up shop. And Zipline Skylines only contain poly core threads, which really only affects bounciness. The exterior is entirely wooly nylon, and Iāve found that they last quite a long time.
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YYSL has always been very consistent in terms of quality construction
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Some of the Markmont strings are really close to the old toxics strings. His dragons and drakens are basically spot on the old toxics. The cumulus/ cirrus are pretty close as well, but they break in a little softer
For me, itās the feel on the hands, and how long-lasting it is. YYSL strings ( I have only tried the plutonium) are good, give a different and nicer feel than most bulk strings, but not that much nicer for the price tag, and they donāt last that much longer. I have tried quite a bit of zipline strings, and some of their boutique strings are very very different from bulk strings, and they last a lot longer, especially their nylon ones. A lot of people say zipline strings donāt last longer than boutique strings because ziplines have many models. A decent amount of their polyester strings(like performance edition) donāt last that much longer than bulk strings just like YYSL. However, some of their polyesters strings (like business class) and most of their nylon strings last a long time. A skyline 3 (nylon) from zipline could easily last 5-10 times (on the safe side) longer than a bulk polyester string, and u can wash it in the laundry machine to get an even longer life span.
Also I have to include the customer service part. Each zipline order comes with 1 extra string for you to try out, and a very colorful thank you card with beautiful messages and pictures made by hand. I also wanted skyline 3 in white color, which was not available on their site before this month. And they made a new batch of skyline 3 in white this run despite I am just a new customer.
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Sorry for the confusion, I think what I meant to say is that YYSL just doesnāt exactly give that boutique string feel, and they fall somewhere in between bulk and other boutique strings in that category. I mean even bulk strings have very good consistency of qualities. Actually, there are some people complaining on the forum about YYSLās consistencies, I remebered someone was talking about their Venom purchased from yoyoexpert felt a little different from the previous batches (correct me if I am wrong).
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I am very particular about consistency as thatās one of the things that separated YYSL from others early on. From materials to tension and even the trim and knot, everything is the same batch to batch string to string. Thatās why I named the company YoYoStringLab, because the focus was making ālab gradeā string that performs well and would attract top level players.
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When I think of boutique, I think of strings that are not made in a factory and generally cost greater than or equal to around $0.30-$0.40 per string.
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Every yoyo string from yysl I have tried feels exactly the same string to string. Iām happy I can finally get through more than a day on a single string 
. Had one string on my yoyo for 2 days now and it feels great
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I buy more YYSL than anything for a very different reason. They put the string in a tube with a label that tells what type it is. This may seem minor to some, but to me it is major. I HATE ordering a bunch of boutique string and it is not labeled, and that happens way too often. How hard is it to put labels on the zip bag or whatever they use for packaging that tells what you got. For a while I started labeling the string packs myself, then I just stopped ordering string from companies that do no label.
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