type TEN?!?!?!?!

so i was talking with j-deff yesterday, the pair of us glowing over The String's cosmic properties and commiserating over the difficulty associated with using it for 2-handed play. at one point, absolutely casually, jacob dropped a bomb on me. 'i didn't even realize my cone was type 10.'

... type 10?!?!

for the 2 months i've been playing it exclusively, i've operated under the assumption that the stuff was old 'industry-standard' type 8 (4x2) cotton. needless to say, i immediately cut off a small section and tore the stuff apart to count the strands: 5x2! type 10 indeed.

i've honestly never even heard of type 10 cotton. the only type 10 string i've played was some of the old 10x1 brazilian poly. but this explains a lot. it's pretty impossible to eyeball the physical distinction between the widths of 4x2 and 5x2, especially where it has the greatest impact (at the axle). however, the added width, heft, and rigidity of 2 strands of string bring along considerable surface area and friction. it's no wonder i've had a harder time hitting more complex tricks on wood with it, especially after the stuff breaks in. i thought i was going crazy.

it also explains the 2a situation. this stuff loops down like the dickens (the dickens, if you were unaware, do in fact loop down considerably). ordinarily, to bring loops up, you can widen your yo-yo's gap and/or shorten the string. i shimmed out the gaps on my 2a no jives to a degree that i thought bordered on the unreasonable, and STILL had to shorten the string to joseph harris-esque proportions to get it comfortable and consistent. knowing it's type 10 certainly does nothing to change the fact that it's decidedly thick for looping, but somehow it makes me feel more comfortable with it. i'm amused to realize that since switching to it this fall, i've been much more willing to go back to playing full-gap bearing yo-yo's (as opposed to slim, half-spec bearings). i wonder if the extra string width (which effectively reduces the gap by 2 strands) had anything to do with that.

anyway, i find it hilariously hypocritical that one can enter into a project like this with the intention of examining oneself and the way one approaches yo-yo... and yet not have the insight to examine the string itself so as to confirm its type. ah well.

THANKS FOR THE CATCH, J-DEFF.