Making Your Own Poi Description: Poi consist of a small section of aluminium piping, covered in kevlar, suspended on the end of a short chain. The kevlar is dipped in flammable liquid and set alight. Poi are designed to be swung around the body in various planes and can get quite fast due to the minimal effort required to swing it. This reason, added with the slackness of the chain once the poi loses it's momentum makes the poi one of the most dangerous pieces of fire equipment. Tips for Poi: While learning poi, you are going to hit yourself ... so it is probably best to start practising with tennis balls on the end of a string or even in the end of a long sock to prevent any serious injury. Only light up once fairly confident you wont hit yourself. You'll Need: These materials will make a set of 2 pois 4 x 25mm Keyrings 4 x 38mm Keyrings Important: It is very important to use only high quality, hardware grade keyrings. We use nickel plated stainless steel rings. Under no circumstances should cheaper keyrings be used. You should test the strength of your keyrings before using them in your fire equipment. Remember, your equipment is only as strong as the weakest component. 4 x Strong Fishing swivels (25kg - 56lb strength is good) 2 x 35cm chains 2 x 8cm Aluminium piping (20mm diam x 1.6mm thick) 2 x 5.5cm wooden dowel (16mm diam) 4 x 25mm button head screws 2 x Kevlar Strips (5cm wide x 33cm long x 3mm thick) 2 x Leather Strips (2cm x 15cm) Some strong glue Some paper masking tape Some heat proof, non-flammable sealant. - We use Selleys Auto Fix Knead It Instructions: These steps are for a single poi and so should be repeated: Step 1 Set up the main chain as follows: large keyring - swivel - small keyring - chain - small keyring - swivel - large keyring. Step 2 Drill holes through one side of the aluminium piping 2.5cm and 5 cm from the end (end "A"). These holes should be big enough for the screws to easily fit through. Make lines level with the holes at each end of the piping so that you can find them again later. Step 3 Put some glue inside the piping, then slide the dowel inside the piping until it is 5mm sunken in on end "A", leaving it 20mm sunken in on end "B". Allow the glue to dry. Step 4 Tape one end of the kevlar strip to the piping with the paper tape, so that the end of the kevlar strip will just cover the drilled holes. The side of the kevlar strip should start about 10mm down from end "A". Wrap the kevlar strip tightly around the piping. Tape the other end of the kevlar down when done. Step 5 Using the lines marked earlier, mark dots on the kevlar where the holes in the aluminium should be. Make sure that the kevlar end will be held in place by the screws, if not, adjust the length of the kevlar strip. Note: Less kevlar will give a smaller flame which can be better for beginners. Step 6 Carefully drill through the kevlar using a reasonably fine drill bit. Do this slowly to avoid the kevlar catching on the drill bit. If the kevlar does catch, pull the drill out and try again (this will get easier with practise). When you feell the drill bit fit into the hole and touch the wood, stop drilling. Step 7 Screw the button head screws into the holes in the kevlar by hand. Make these as tight as you can. The screw should have passed through about 1.5cm from each end of the kevlar. This will hold the kevlar tight in place. Step 8 Remove the tape on the outside of the kevlar. Don't worry about the tape on the inside ... it will burn off. Step 9 Seal end "A" entirely with the sealant. Seal end "B" with the sealant, but leave about 15mm gap between where the sealant finishes, and the end of the piping. Step 10 Drill a hole through both sides of the aluminium about 1cm in from end "B". Thread the large keyring from one end of the chain assembly through this hole. If the keyring can't move freely, remove the keyring and make the hole slightly bigger. Step 11 Tie a leather strip in a loop through the other large keyring, this will serve as a heat insulative, comfortable handle. That should be it