Sniffy Conversation Series

Hey everybody.

I found out it could be as long as 2 months before my separated shoulder (bad moped accident, details in previous post below) heals to the point where I can use my right arm enough to throw and review yoyos. I don't want sniffy to be asleep for that long so I've come up with ideas for content that doesn't require throwing.

I floated some ideas to the hive via twitter and the yye forum, and the idea everyone seems to like, and also my favorite, is to do a series of audio conversations with players and manufacturers. I'm calling it the "Sniffyo Conversation Series" (I know, I too am impressed with my ability to create such a poetic name).

This series will be in the form of a conversation, rather than an informational interview, and will be more of a casual discussion about anything, not just questions and answers about yoyos. I think it will be pretty fun for both the listers and participants. Once it gets going I will also be a podcast.

So far confirmed guests are (in order of when they confirmed to participate, show schedule will be announced once I have it all set up:

Andre Boulay
Paul Dang
Zammy
Jake from Gsquared
The Mans of MonkeyfingerR
Evan Evans from Toxic
Markmont

There will be many others.

If you have any suggestions, hit me up on twitter. The conversation about the series is happening there as well as a post on the yye forum.

I also plan to do some other things, one is to collaborate with my friend Frantisek Bina who runs a very cool Czech yoyo blog here. English translation is available in the sidebar of his blog.

This stuff will all have to start after the 8th of February. On top of everything else I now need to find a new place to live by then, I'm having a very difficult time finding something I qualify for. But, lets stay positive. No need throwing more negativity into a negative situation and making it a double negative....wait.

Ok. I can honestly say this is the most exciting positive thing to happen in a very long time. Something I really needed.

 

Sniffy Has Accident

Hi guys. If you're regular visitors to sniffy there's a pretty good chance you're wondering why there hasn't been a review in a while. I did have a quick discussion about it on yye and have mentioned some things on twitter, but not yet on the blog.

I mentioned in a previous video that I'm dealing with an extremely serious family crisis. This has made focusing on the most basic things difficult, the time and energy I put into yoyo related fun has been completely absorbed.

Also, around a month ago I was in a pretty serious moped accident. A guy decided it would be ok to pass me in a tight traffic circle and I wound up sliding down the street, and the rare Italian moped I was restoring was wrecked. Among the injuries was a separated shoulder. It's pretty bad but will eventually heal. For now though, I'm unable to lift my right arm laterally and hold it up for more than a few seconds at a time. This means even throwing a simple breakaway is difficult.

Being I can't throw, it's difficult for me to put in the dense play of each yoyo I review in order to bring you the granular and detailed reviews you're used to me providing. Eventually I'll be back up and running, being part of your community has been an extremely important and positive thing in my life.

In the meantime I've been occupying myself getting back into photography. I thought I'd post some here for you to check out.

In this series I used a facial recognition lens in Hipstamatic that draws a sharp focus on the face and blurs the area around it. Rather than using it for facial portraits, I decided to see how it would react to the complexity of tree branches on a blank sky when it was starting to snow (this facial recognition lens focuses on the most complex object, usually the face). The results were pretty interesting. As you can see the more complex branches are in sharp focus and the blur radiates smoothly outward. I shot this with a high contrast digital black and white 'film' that lends a drop shadowed black edge.

The combination of the shadow edge, stark branches and blur almost makes it look like a glass plate. Or at least that's my interpretation.

All photos in the series below are taken with an iPhone 4s using Hipstamatic, the Tinto 1848 portrait lens with facial recognition, Claunch 72 Monochrome film, and the Laser Lemon Gel yellow flash.

As always you can still follow sniffy on twitter @sniffyo I've been using twitter to communicate with everyone about what's going on in my life.

I'll keep you updated on my situation and condition and hopefully soon I can get back to throwing and reviews.

I want to thank you guys for all the really nice messages I've received via twitter and on the yye forum. They've really meant a lot to me.

 

Ok. Here's the series. All shot one handed.

 

 

 

CLYW New Avalanche Unboxing

Hi everybody.
I received a new Avalanche in the box from CLYW a couple of weeks ago and have had a chance to unbox it for you. I've been dealing with a pretty serious family crisis so my schedule for everything, including yoyo stuff, has been delayed.

I'll be reviewing the Avalanche over the next few weeks and will post my review notes below the video.

 

 


Here are the specs:
Diameter: 55.05 mm / 2.16 inches
Width: 42.90 mm / 1.68 inches
Gap Width: 4.05 mm / .16 inches
Weight: 65.9 grams
Bearing: Center Trac
Response: CLYW Snow Tires

 

 

 

Here's my unboxing video:

 

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CLYW Puffin Yoyo Review Video

Hi Everybody.

I finished my review of the Palli Puffin from Caribou Lodge.

I really enjoyed this one. I found it hoppy, highly grindable and stable on even an angled throw. It's also nice and compact which for someone like me with small hands definitely aids in chopsticks play.

Here are my review notes while playing the Puffin:

• First a quick note: a few weeks ago I was in a pretty bad moped accident, landed on my throwing arm shoulder and messed up the wrist of my other hand, so my review cycle is a bit slower and longer than usual. I estimate at this pace there will be around 3 weeks until I complete my review notes and post my review video.
• When I opened the box I was immediately hit by the absolute beauty of the puffin. The ano of this unit is a gorgeous metallic orange splashing over black. When spinning the ano gives off a shimmering and shiny copper brown.
• The glossy qualities of the finish doesn't interrupt the perfect grinding blast however. The blast on the puffin is super smooth without being slick, I've found even with something the size of the Puffin with its even weight distribution there is still enough slip to be able to hold a grind and go back into the routine without needing an immediate regen.
• In terms of grinding, I noted in the unbox the Puffin has the stabilizing ring pretty close to the rim, there's also no irg, so while there's ample space for catch zone grinds, the Puffin isn't suitable for cup type grinds. This is a bit of a trade-off being the Puffin's stabilizing ring makes it play really well at angles and it particularly plays well to palm type grinds.
• The Puffin comes stock with a center-trac bearing. Lately I have been playing flat bearings in everything mainly because I prefer the binding and suicide qualities a flat bearing gives.That said, the snow tire response, which is extremely grippy, combined with the small shelf raising the response slightly over the string zone surface allows the Puffin to bind nicely, and grip the string for suicides even with the curved bearing. I did also play the puffin for a while with a flat stock clyw bearing, but honestly I didn't find it needed a flat bearing to offer snappy binds and suicides.
• The Puffin is very substantial for its small size. At 66g it's fairly heavy, however the even weight distribution coupled with the compact shape negates any clumsiness that might translate in another throw of the same weight. I found the Puffin to hop nicely and move through combos at a nice clip.
• Of course this wouldn't be a sniffy review if I didn't go on and on, and on and on, and on about string. When I first started growing the Puffin, after a few throws with the stock string, I popped in a Toxic Dragon format. It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the Dragon. I did find myself however wanting to play a string with more bounce in the Puffin and popped a StringLab Type-X in.The Type-X has a nice bit of bounce to it without being overly elastic. In something as stable and poppy as the Puffin I find the Type-X to offer this bounce without a trade off with control. The only thing I find lacking in this type of string is it doesn't hold an open suicide loop in a light wind. But I'm having too much fun with the Puffin pop to worry about the bounce trade off.
• The Puffin is of course very smooth, no vibe at all. I figure I'd mention that even though at this point we'd expect no less from clyw.
• The Puffin is also a pretty forgiving throw. Even though it's not rim heavy and is relatively small, the combination of the stability provided by the inner ring and the bump that houses the response makes it a throw that can right itself very easily, guiding the string into the center-trac without resistance. The bump that holds the response makes it so the string has a space with no friction of direct contact with the inside (closest to the bearing edge) of the catch zone.
• Another specific quality to the Puffin is how it not only holds its angle for palm grinds, but also how stable it is in horizontal play. Looking at the Puffin shape you'd think it's not suitable for horizontal, it's very different from the common horizontal player; the catch zone is convex, it doesn't have the classic horizontal wide slanted rim to hub angle. However that stabilizing ring again makes it so stable at whatever angle it's thrown I've found even at my marginal horizontal throwing skill I can make it through a combo without hitting myself in the face or it falling back to a vertical angle.
• I mentioned above how I initially didn't think the Puffin is a good candidate for cup grinds because of the lack of irg combined with the cup being divided at 2/3 to the rim by the stabilizing ring. While this is true for any pure type of cup rim grinds, I have also found that being the Puffin is so stable at an angle, that catching and holding a cup grind below the stabilizing rim isn't so tough.
• The Puffin is also well suited for chopsticks play. I mentioned above how it pops nicely, it's also got a good size and stability profile for even someone with small hands like myself to move in and out of chopsticks combos without much effort.

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