By Kathleen Ellis
Guest Contributor

Easter weekend 2003: I took a set of poi constructed by my ex boyfriend on a camping trip. After unpacking I realized I couldn't find them, so I decided to buy a new pair. I knew about Tedward, the proprietor of Bear Claw Manufacturing (http://www.bearclawmfg.com) through his efforts with the North American Fire Arts Association (http://www.nafaa.org) and the Burning Man fire conclave list. On April 27 I ordered a pair of "large hybrid wick poi"..cost including shipping, $57. May 6, my order shipped and a few days later it arrived.

Initially I was intrigued by the design. The shoddy kevlar wick handles were somewhat disappointing but it's fairly easy for me to make my own handles so I ignored that. The wick design was definitely interesting; basically an elongated cube of kevlar sewn together with some kind of stuffing inside. The hardware was great, better than any other pair of poi I'd ever seen before; the ball chain has great look and feel, the connectors were all quite solid. The Bear Claw site described this hybrid wick design as longer- and brighter-burning than other designs. I couldn't wait to try them out.

Between the arrival of my new poi and a pool party at my mother's house, I burned them about five times. (Yeah only five..what can I say, it was a busy summer!) At that party on July 26, I realized it would have to be the last time I ever spun them; I'd been noticing little sparks flying out when I spun, and upon closer examination that night I realized the seams had ripped and the stuffing was coming out. I attempted to contact Tedward the following day through the "mail" page on his web site to ask him what to do.

There was a notice on bearclawmfg.com that no new orders would be taken before Burning Man. I sent him a message anyway, fully expecting correspondence to be similarly treated until afterwards. I placed an order for new wicks with homeofpoi.com (based in New Zealand) that day, terrified that I'd be going to Burning Man without a set of poi. Fortunately, they arrived just in time. I never heard back from Tedward, but I brought the broken wicks with me to Burning Man thinking I might show them to Tedward personally so he'd know there was something amiss with his design if I could find him, but I never got around to it. I did find another group of L.A. fire dancers, though, whom I talked to about my equipment. They all knew the story already, had heard it before or had experienced it themselves. I was not encouraged.

Months passed with no word back. Then on Tuesday, October 28, 2003 I recieved an e-mail from Bear Claw advertising a sale. I decided to attempt to take the issue up again, so I responded with this message:

--
Hi Ted,

Quite a while ago I tried to contact you about the poi I ordered back in
April. By June the wicks had completely fallen apart and I had to order a
new set from new zealand to have a set for Burning Man.

I am sad about this; they were great while they lasted but definitely not
worth $90. I am unable to recommend your products to the many other fire
spinners I work with. Is there anything that can be done?

Thanks,

-K
--

I realize I got the price wrong in my original mailing. They were $57, not $90. I also got the amount of time wrong, it wasn't actually until the end of July that they had completely fallen apart.

His response:

--
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 21:07:05 -0800
From: Tedward Durden (tedward@burningman.com)
To: Kathleen Ellis (k@thleen.org)
Subject: Re: Secret Bearclaw Sale

Hunh, that's odd, and you didn't hear back from us?
I just checked though my records and all I have from you is the original
order and your reply to my size inquiry.

What kind of fuel were you using?
--

Now, when this first happened, I cynically suspected I'd get some kind of nit picking runaround, but I had faith in what I thought was Bear Claw's reputation and in Tedward's interest in maintaining it.

--
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 10:09:57 -0500 (EST)
From: Kathleen Ellis (k@thleen.org)
To: Tedward Durden (tedward@burningman.com)
Subject: Re: Secret Bearclaw Sale

Tedward, I use a few different fuels, usually lamp oil, kerosene, white
gas or a combination of those. When I wrote to you it was through the
"mail" link on your web site. It was about a month before burning man so I
figured you were too busy to deal with it.
--

His response:

--
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 10:11:41 -0800
From: Bearclaw Manufacturing (ted@bearclawmfg.com)
To: Kathleen Ellis (k@thleen.org)
Subject: Re: Secret Bearclaw Sale

Hmmm, I can't find the letter, I wonder if we had a little problem with
mail at the time....

If you ordered hybrids, though, your mixed fuels are definitely the issue.
The hybrid wicks can only use pure white without taking some damage.  Lamp
and Kero seem to attack the base materials used in their construction, and
only the kevlar web belts seem to survive.  That's why we introduced the
cathedral-folded wicks, for people who preferred longer burning fuels, or
weren't sure what fuel they'd be using.

If you ordered elsewhere, I guess we can't help you, though we tend to
offer to split the costs on a replacement set of cathedral folded wicks in
cases like yours.
--

Ah, so since I had the gall to patronize one of his competitors (the fact that it was 3 weeks before I had to leave for Burning Man and he wasn't taking orders at the time doesn't matter) rules me out for any kind of consideration, let alone recompense.

--
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 14:03:53 -0500 (EST)
From: Kathleen Ellis (k@thleen.org)
To: Bearclaw Manufacturing (ted@bearclawmfg.com)
Subject: Re: Secret Bearclaw Sale

Ay yay yay, had I known this I never would have ordered them. I don't mind
using white gas alone, but it's rare that I do; it's not very practical
for my uses.

(Sorry I had to take my business elsewhere, but..) I really couldn't wait
any longer and going to Burning Man without a set of fire poi was out of
the question. Thank you for letting me know, I hope you're doing more to
inform your current and future customers about the issues with these
hybrid wicks. I know I surely will.
--

--
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 11:29:33 -0800
From: Bearclaw Manufacturing (ted@bearclawmfg.com)
To: Kathleen Ellis (k@thleen.org)
Subject: Re: Secret Bearclaw Sale

The preferred fuel is clearly posted on the site several times, and the
Thank You note included with your poi was specific too.

On the other hand, looking at the poi sales page again leads me to realize
that my original intent on this subject did not come through.  I'll attend
to it.
--

I guess not. I don't have the Thank You note anymore, so it's possible that I missed something there. Having it explicitly spelled out in the Thank You note would make a difference, if only after I'd made my purchase. However, the text of http://bearclawmfg.com/b_poi.html at present reads:

Bearclaw's fire poi include our special hybrid wicks. Though deceptively small, they produce large flames and long burning times. These lightweight wicks produce almost twice the burn time of Kevlar alone by weight, allowing performers to spin longer or harder without tiring. Yet the wicks themselves last for more then 100 naphtha burns. For security, the materials used in these chains are the very best we can find. The high-carbon, stainless steel, ball chains cannot be found in most hardware stores, nor can the connectors made of the same material. The quick links are designed for chains of considerably larger torque than necessary for these poi, as are the bolts. The grips are made of Kevlar to provide the same strength as steel, yet provide responsive weight transfer to the user. The result, a set of chains rated at approximately 4 times the strength needed to perform the most extreme stunts with the wicks fully loaded.

Small hybrid wicks (pumpkins) are ideal for extremely short chains. Made of the same materials as their big brothers, many short-string glowstick spinners prefer these.

Don't need the high end burn? We make cathedral folded, pure kevlar wicks as well. Over 8 feet of kevlar go into each pair for a hefty wick with the closest burn to the hybrids available. So, when do you go pure kevlar? When you don't exactly know which fules you might be using, when you might be burning several times in a row or in a night, if you don't need to spin more than 5 minutes, or you simply must have the most durable poi avaialable.

OK..the first paragraph says they should last for more than 100 Naphtha burns. I suppose this plus the note at the bottom is supposed to be a warning that using any other fuel means your hybrid wicks will fail within five burns. Silly me. The "order" page says nothing about it.

I guess I can say my purchase wasn't a total loss. The hardware goes very well with the wonderful tube core wicks I bought from homeofpoi.com. However at this point the handles are now badly frayed and until I get a pair of real, quality handles I won't be able to use them my set at all.

Suffice it to say I am unhappy with my purchase and I consider Tedward's flippant attitude to be discouraging, especially in light of all the work he's apparently done to promote and build his business within the context of an active community. I didn't expect a refund or an apology but I never thought the reaction would be like this, either. I'd like to particularly note that this reaction stands out in stark contrast to nearly every interaction I've had with other fire professionals I've ever worked with, be they equipment designers, manufacturers, or performers.

Recommended sellers:

Home of Poi - probably the best site on the internet for
information, equipment, and community
Renegade Juggling - supplier of raw materials for making
your own equipment
Fire Gear - Adam Rice's site, a pillar of the fire
community and an all-around good guy, his equipment is recommended by
Dustin Smith
Mystik Toyz - Their Zuni poi swings are great for beginners,
kids, practice or daytime!

#3473

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