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Recently I have been trying to evaluate two tri-string loops made out of homemade cord made from 100% bamboo yarn (Classic Elite Bam Boo -- which may have been discontinued). A few weeks ago, I used the three-strand loop in a shootout with a few other loops and found it to compare very favorably to them all. It might not have had the greatest capacity of all the loops that I have tested -- but I was able to consistently make 30 to 40 foot tubes from a 32-inch top-string loop (bottom string 64-inches or so) with enough juice left to make another 10 to 15 foot tube. Those shootouts weren't very definitive because the conditions were far from ideal (very windy and low humidity). But, that three-strand loop just felt good and seemed very friendly and responsive. If I needed to quickly close of a tube that was no problem. I was curious to see if a four-strand loop would enable longer tubes.

My tests haven't been conclusive, but it seems like the extra capacity slightly increases the maximum size but at the expense of being a bit less responsive. Possibly, the added inertia of the extra weight makes it trickier to maneuver.

Both of these loops are quite a bit lighter than other loops that I have tried of equivalent capacity -- with the exception of the single strand jute loop that I have been playing with. But it is friendlier than the jute. Here are a few videos taken under very different conditions.

Feb. 24 tests. The conditions were nice although the humidity was low. Temperature about 52F. Humidity between just under 40% (in spite of the recent rain). The air seemed very clean due to the recent rain and bubbles lasted longer than I would have expected. The solution used was 11 parts water to 1 part detergent (a 2:1 mix of Dawn Pro and Dawn Non-Ultra), with 30 grams of J-Lube solution [1 gram J-Lube per oz. (weight) of tap water] per gallon of water and 40 grams of HEC solution (a 1% solution of Dow Cellosize QP100MH), 1/2 part glycerine. Something to notice is the tendency of long tubes in this session to divide into spheres that are roughly the diameter of the tube (which are about the size of the top-string). This may be a property brought by the HEC when used in small quantities -- larger quantities of HEC behave like HPMC in which the tubes seem to try to pull themselves into one sphere. Look for a 30 foot tube to break up into 5 spheres about 2 minutes into the video.

Note that the solution uses what many consider quite a bit of glycerine (one half as much by weight as the detergent).

All videos below can be viewed in HD. Click on the full-screen link and then choose 720p resolution to see these at full-resolution

3-Strand Bamboo Test

thumb|left|300px|32-inch top-string loop made of 3-strand homemade cord

 

4-Strand Bamboo Test

thumb|left|300px|32-inch top-string tri-string loop made from 4 strands of bamboo yarn

 

Feb. 22, 2011. Here are these two loops a few days previously under much less hospitable conditions. There was minimal humidity and the winds ranged from 10 to 20 miles per hour. The solution was similar to the solution used on Feb. 24 except that there was 4 times as much HEC solution. The tubes are less likely to split into spheres. Either the tubes try to pull themselves together or tend to break. The wind does break the bubbles apart but somewhat differently than the solution seen in the videos above.

3-Strand Loop

thumb|300px|left

 

4-Strand Loop

thumb|300px|left|View in HD if possible

 
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