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In the old days, the only diabolo sticks available were wooden dowels with a hole drilled at one end.
Nowadays you have the choice between wooden, plastic, aluminum, carbon and fiberglass sticks in all lengths and weights.
So, how do you choose good diabolo sticks?
The best diabolo sticks are short around 12” (30 cms), made of aluminum or carbon with a comfortable grip. But to make the perfect choice for you, there is more to consider.
Length and diametre
Short sticks measure around 12” (or 30cm) and long sticks are about 16” (or 41cm).
Long sticks can make tricks like knots and grind easier and give you more power when accelerating, but they are quite cumbersome to use and will put more stress on the wrists. They tend to bend or break much faster.
Short sticks give you more control and are easier to handle, they will also make it easier to perform stick release tricks and they are easier to travel with.
The diametre of the stick affects grind tricks. It will be easier and you will grind longer with a small diametre. Sticks with a small diameter will be less durable.
If you want to be on stage or film your tricks, the bigger diameter is easier to see.
Weight
The weight of your sticks will affect the speed of your stick release tricks.
The speed of a flying stick depends on the weight of the stick compared to the weight of the diabolo. You may find that having light sticks may make your stick release tricks almost too fast to catch.
The sticks I’m currently using weigh 95 grams which is in my opinion what you should aim for.
Type of material
There are 4 main material, good sticks are made of: wood, aluminum, carbon and fiberglass. Plastic sticks are bad PERIOD!
Wooden Sticks
They are the cheapest, with a big diametre. You can make them yourself with a dowel of wood that you saw to size and then you drill a 2mm hole a quarter of an inch (6mm) away from the end of the stick.
Plain wooden sticks are usually uncomfortable to handle and will cause blisters with heavy use.
One way to improve your wooden sticks is by wrapping some tennis grip to make a handle.
You can also buy a pair of devil stick handsticks, they come with a silicon grip that you can cut to the length you want and then you drill the holes at the end of the sticks.
Aluminum Sticks
Aluminum sticks are affordable, you can find a pair for $10. For example here on Amazon.
They have a small diameter with foam handles and are the heaviest ones. They can bend but it’s unlikely you’ll be able to break them.
Aluminum sticks are a great choice for beginners: pretty cheap and durable, the small diametre helps to learn grinds and the heavy weight will slow down the stick release tricks.
The only drawback is the string can snap where it’s attached. An quick and easy fix is to sand the holes to make them smoother and put a bit of tape on the string before the knot.
Carbon Sticks
These are my personal favorites. You can find them with a small or big diametre.
They are more flexible than the stiff aluminum sticks but they break. They are also the most expensive, so if you tend to break your sticks easily stay away from them.
Here is my recommendation for sturdy carbon sticks.
Fiberglass Sticks
They are very similar to carbon sticks. They are more flexible and less durable. I wouldn’t recommend them, but some diabolo players love the feel of the fiberglass sticks, so it’s worth mentionning.
String tying system
The simple hole through the stick is commonly found in wooden sticks. This simple system is not the best because the string can wrap around the sticks especially during tricks like magic knots or the infinite suicide (which makes them less magic and less infinite).
Through the tip and out the side is an aluminum stick characteristic. It’s a massive improvement on the previous system as the string doesn’t get caught around the stick and you don’t lose string as in the next system.
The hole all the way along the stick is a popular system usually found in carbon and fiberglass sticks. Although some aluminum sticks use it. The main drawback is the loss of string (about 24” or 60cm) every time you change the string. This system provides more elasticity or bounce to the string which can be good or bad depending on your taste.
The screw tip is a failed attempt at fixing the problem of loss of string with the carbon sticks, the problem is the tips break or bend really easily and you have to change your sticks. So I would stay away from this type of string tying.
Brands
Any big diabolo brand will make decent sticks (Henry’s, Sundia, Taibolo, …)
But the brands I prefer are Sundia for aluminum sticks (here on Amazon) and DEOS for carbon sticks (here on Amazon).
