how to make a hoop: canadian style
When I first got hooked on hoop dance earlier this summer, I got equally hooked on making hoops - or rather, learning how to make hoops. If you are like me, you probably started your search by googling “how to make a hoop” and getting directed to the awesome instructions on jasonunbound. You probably noted that most other google results referred back to the first one, and they all seemed to repeat the same mantra: “160psi 3/4 inch or 1 inch irrigation tubing“.
And if you’re like me, and you’re Canadian, you started your search for 160psi 3/4 inch or 1 inch irrigation tubing, and you discovered that what you were looking for was, in fact, a mythical unicorn in knee socks. In Canadian Home Depots, asking the guy in the orange pinnie for 160psi 3/4 inch or 1 inch irrigation tubing will probably yield this answer: “It doesn’t come in that size.”
So here’s my take on things after refusing to give up on the hunt for the elusive magical irrigation tubing that would meet my needs. I could give you all of the trial and error that went on in between then and now, but I’m just going to stick with what I can personally say works just fine, I am very happy with, and it seems to be a good weight and speed.
My dear Canuck hoop-lovers, here’s the lowdown: 100psi 3/4 inch “green line” tubing is what finally worked for me. It fits the 3/4 inch grey couplings that you’ve undoubtedly already learned about the very first time you read jasonunbound’s instructions. It’s the right rigidity - some of the lighter psis that were suggested to me were way too floppy - I hated how they felt and how they went oval when the hoop started picking up speed. You’d think this one would do the same, being 100 *gasp* instead of the beefier 160, but there must be a difference in weight and rigidity of the white line, green line, etc. I am using 100psi 3/4 inch “white line” for my daughter’s hooping birthday party happening this Saturday, but it’s a lot bouncier, and I think it will be pretty good for the girls. It better be, because I am NOT making another 10 hoops in less than 48 hours.
I can buy the 100psi 3/4 inch green line at Home Depot here in my city. It’s about 40 bucks a roll, and I made maybe 8? new hoops with it. It might even be more - I didn’t count. I’ve been using these new hoops for class, and I’m completely comfortable with them. I hope somebody stumbles across this and finds it useful.
December 16th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Hey there,
I’m in isolated Thunder Bay, Ontario and I am also hooked on the hooping. I teach a weekly hoop dance class for Lakehead University’s Campus Recreation program and I have been doing the odd hoop performance here and there.
I dealt with the exact same issue. I initially bought the 100PSI 3/4″ tubing. It works fine, but once I tried a friends 160PSI I wanted in. So, we went to a plumbing store (in our case a place called Craig’s Plumbing Centre) and ordered the stuff. 100′ costs about $100! If you’re keen, I would suggest buying some just so you can try. It’s very responsive but I would not recommend such hard stuff for kids tender hips.
Here’s another tidbit of info…
PEX! In Canada it’s also sold at Home Depot. It comes in smaller coils and it’s my favorite hoop material. It’s white in colour, very stiff, light and super responsive. I highly recommend this stuff for hoopers that want to do fast tricks or many off the body tricks. It’s comes in smaller diameters and it’s a pain to connect. From what I understand they classify this stuff by it’s outside diameter, compared to PVC tubing that uses inside diameters. As a result, 3/4 PEX tubing is smaller than 3/4`PVC. So finding a coupling that works is a nightmare. In the section of Home Depot where you will find this tubing you will also find small brass couplings and these do not work. The reason being is that they fit loosely but normally if you were using this PEX tubing for what it was intended, you would secure the brass coupling in place with a sincher on the ‘outside of the tubing. Obvisouly this does not work because we are hula hooping with the stuff and the sincher would get in the way. Also, the grey couplings that you would normally use for your PVC tubing don`t work, 3/4″ is too big, 1/2″ is too small. The folks that work the plumbing department will be stumped, please just forget about these people. They will drive you crazy. Perhaps you might be lucky enough to find someone who can suggest something but I was not.
What I did was make a coupling out of wooden dowling. I bought some that was too big, sanded it down and jammed it in. Then I secured it in place with an industrial stapler.
Once you hoop with PEX, you will wonder how you ever went without it. Give it a try.
Cheer and happy hooping!
Kelly
December 17th, 2008 at 5:52 am
Hey guys I wanted to thank you so much for all the info you have given. I live in a small town in Nova Scotia and I have really been finding it hard to find the stuff to make my hoops.I have made a couple with 100psi 3/4 inch and I have found them to be very light, where I am a beginner. Thanks again and keep Hooping .
Laura
December 18th, 2008 at 3:17 am
Thanks!! Wow, amazing how the most amazing articles are stumbled upon @ 2 AM!
Also very stoked to meet some more Canadian hooopers, WOO HOO!!
December 18th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Hey folks,
It’s not uncommon that I travel around this beautifl country. I am always open to meeting new hoopers.
Please look me up if you are ever in my neck of the woods.
December 26th, 2008 at 7:10 am
I used PEX tubing like Kelly to make my first hoop. I also had trouble finding a connector to attach the ends together. I ended up using a metal connector with threads on each end. I screwed one end of the connector into one end of the tubing using pliers. Then, I hollowed out the other end of the tube a bit so I could push the connector into it.
The only problem I had with this is that the hoop didn’t come out perfectly round. It feels fine while hooping with it, but when you look at it, it is a little flat where the connector is. I have made 2 other hoops using the same method since my first one and one of them is perfectly round and the other one isn’t. The only difference I can think of is that with the one that turned out round the connector wasn’t pushed completely into the tube. There was a little bit of the connector left showing and it was just taped over.
They still turned out well though, I’m just a bit picky. I’ve had people ask how I made them because they wanted to make one like it.
December 27th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Hi everyone! I’m from NY, but I live in Paris now. I have been there for 3 months now and the search for tubing has been totally useless… all the tubings i’ve discovered have problems. Way too flexible, too hard to bend, ok flexibility but extremely small diameter, and (and this is probably the worst) tubing that seems usable but it only comes in 2 meter segments (for toilets, i think).
So i was thinking about ordering it maybe from another nearby country, but I have no idea how to translate the idea of PSI…
Can anyone help me???? Thanks.
January 12th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
I believe the first hoop I made was out of PEX with the brass coupling. No wonder it never wanted to stay attached!! It works, its just you need the tape to hold it together. I am so happy to know this, I am having a hoop making party on the 23rd and I will defiantly ask for the 100 psi 3/4″ green line.
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:39 am
Emily,
Here is some info I learned. Since most of Europe uses metric measurements, P.S.I. (pounds/square inch) will more than likely be a useless term in Paris.
Try looking for the term “bar”. 100PSI converts to about 6.9bar. 160PSI = 11bar.
Hope that helps.
March 31st, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Does anyone have suggestions for Canadian tape suppliers? I keep searching and can’t find any of the cool stuff aside from Identi-tape, and since they only ship UPS, I know how that adds up with their brokerage fees on top of shipping fees. Ugh.
Ideas? I’m in Calgary, and have access to a lot of stores, but I don’t even know where to start.
Thanks!
April 3rd, 2009 at 8:31 am
[…] experiment to find other materials or clever ways to obtain those materials to make my own hoops. The original post is here, but I wanted to add a couple of tidbits of info, so I figured a new post would be the way to do […]
May 1st, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Hey guys,
I’ve read every post on how to make hula hoops and I was very exoted to make one! I live in a very small town and the only store that has the 160PSI 3/4 inch black poly pipe was Home Hardware and they wanted 100$ for 100 feet of it.
I wanted to get it but as a beginner I didn’t really want to put out 100$ to make 8 hoops that I may or may not knock someone out with, so I went to Canadian Tire and just as I was about to give up, I found the white 3/4 inch PEX pipe!
It’s great, I got a 25 foot coil so I will be able to make two hoops and it was only 15$! I got the gray plastic double-male connectors that was shown in JasonUnbound’s tutorial. Since the 3/4inch PEX tube is smaller than the 3/4inch connectors so I got the 1/2inch connectors and put some duct tape around each end of the connector so that it was an extremely tight fit.
It was hell to get them in, but that means that the hoop wont easily break apart. Remember, you dont have to heat up the PEX pipe, to get the connectors in you just have to grab it with pliers and force it in. After that just put a layer of duct tape where the two ends connect so you dont get pinched and so your hoop doesn’t pop apart.
Now I have a perfect white hoop that I’m exited to decorate with coloured electric tape. The only thing to remember with the PEX pipe is to cut off the first foot of the tube because it’s flat and it will give you an oval instead of a circle, after that it’s happy hooping! I hope this helps my fellow canadians that can’t find the black or the ‘green-line’ tube.
September 2nd, 2009 at 9:22 am
I AM trying to find Kelly Von Hoop!!
Will you be teaching any classes in Thunder BAy ??
Please email me or post here and i will check back. Thanks!
October 31st, 2009 at 11:35 am
I was introduced to hooping a month ago at a health fair at the hospital where I work. I was amazed I could still hoop since I hadn’t done it in 30 years (I’m 40 now). I’ve been on a quest for the last month for materials to make my own…I guess you can say I’ve been “jumping through hoops” for information on making one! I’ve resolved to buying one from the guy who did the demonstration, and as a matter of fact I’m waiting for his call right now to pick them up.
Thanks for all the information in these posts. Love you Canadians! (my mom is originally from Nova Scotia).
***Mary from Massachusetts***