From: miguel@aclcb.purdue.edu (PHILLIP_SANMIGUEL)
Newsgroups: rec.juggling
Subject: New SoftClub Review
Date: 10 Apr 92 00:48:40 GMT
Reply-To: miguel@aclcb.purdue.edu
Organization: Purdue University AIDS Center


  The Purdue Juggling Club purchased 9 Reflection Softclubs a couple of 
weeks ago.  They cost $13.50 each (up $1.50 from the old Softclub design).
[Softclubs, by the way, are one of two foam clubs on the market today.  
Reflection Company makes them.  Jugglebug makes "Foamy Joes."]
  Obviously, the Softclubs were to be combat clubs.  There are significant 
differences between old Softclubs and new.  I am cautiously optimistic 
about the changes.  At this point in time I would rate them as a superior 
combat club.
  They spin much better than the old clubs.  So much better that I can now
recommend them as an all purpose club.  Oh, they don't juggle like
Renegades -- but they don't cost as much either.  And they are easy on the
hands.  The handles are thinner -- this combined with the improved spin
makes them a better combat club.  As they are as soft, or softer, than the
old softclubs they make for relatively safe combat. 
  Durability is largely an unknown as we've only had them two weeks or so.
Initially I was very concerned about this because of a surprising aspect of
their design.  Their dowels are thinner, much thinner than those of the old
softclubs.  Recently a knob cracked slightly and I was able to pry the
fissure open a little.  The dowels look to be around a quarter of an inch
in diameter.  I imagined they would be snapping like twigs after a few
brutal rounds of combat.   
  But they did not.  
  None have snapped after, oh, I'd estimate: 100 rounds of combat.  The
only damage is the crack mentioned above, which seems to have no effect on
the club's performance. 
  Why this is I can only conjecture.  But, the clubs actually bend slightly 
-- just like you'd expect a foot (or so) of quarter inch dowel to.  So 
rather than snapping, or cracking, they flex.  They also vibrate.  To me 
this is unimportant but Ed Carstens mentioned a month or so back that the 
new softclubs were harder to catch.  That "they bounced out of your hands." 
They may take some getting used to, but everyone in our club who has tried 
them likes them better than the old clubs.  
  Oh, the surface is slightly different than that of the old clubs.  But 
they still attract the dirt and will quickly take a grey cast to their 
color unless you wash them "with soap and water" as the manufacturer 
suggests.  I've yet to find anyone who cleans their clubs after every 
use -- but that's the recommendation.  

  So my overall review is a very positive one.  As long as those thin 
dowels hold out during the next year, I will continue to recommend them 
as the combat club of choice.
  I should note that Foamy Joes, which I've called a disposable club 
because the foam begins falling off either end almost as soon as you 
pick them up, have changed as well.  Jek Kelly showed me a new Foamy
Joe at Ann Arbor.  I didn't examine it closely, but near as I could tell 
the only difference was that the ends were dipped in a (black?) rubbery 
material.  So I think they would be much more durable now.  Less soft 
though(and of the two, Foamy Joes were always the "harder clubs" with 
the dowels running too close to the ends.) 


  A few definitions for those who've read this far and can't figure what
the hell I'm talking about.  Combat ("Gladiators" in the UK) is a juggling
game where opponents attempt to knock clubs out of each other's patterns while
maintaining their own cascade.  This game can be played one on one, but
most often involves an open melee.  The last person juggling wins.  Once 
banned at the yearly International Jugglers Association (IJA) conventions the 
advent of foam clubs lead to its return and introduction into the games of 
the IJA.
  Foam clubs are a dowel (probably wood) around which foam has been cast 
into a juggling club shape.  Reflection clubs are a good deal more complex 
in construction.  Original models were balanced by washers in the knob and 
had a clunky, almost "unnaturaly" spin to them.  Foamy Joes spun better but 
rapidly fell apart.  


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