I'm just saying someone around who has some experience with fire.

Besides, lighting yourself on fire isn't that big of a deal if you react correctly and are not wearing synthetics.

If you're going to spin fire, you're going to get burned. Plain and simple. Really, if you focus your mind away from the fire aspect and more towards the prop manipulation and body movement aspect, you'll realize that fire isn't really all that necessary. Enjoying spinning for spinning sake can heighten the enjoyment of the times that you do light up and lessen the chance of injury.

Fire is limiting, and can actually be fairly boring at times. If you can make the object look good without the fire, then adding fire to the mix makes it that much more amazing. Sorry, don't mean to be preachy, I just figure it'd be a shame if you limit yourself by being too fire-centric.

Firstly, fire is mostly manageable. If you take the proper precautions and use less injury prone tools then you'll probably not experience much more than burnt hair. Next, I must say I've got much worse burns with staff than any other prop I've used. Mostly due to the fact that I use aluminum tubing and do contact staff. I have a nice 2"ish diameter burn scar under my arm, a somewhat long burn scar on my neck (same location burnt on two separate incidents.. sigh) and various other miscellaneous scars (I say scars, but they are only discolorations at this point).

That being said, while they are usually superficial 2nd degree burns, they are manageable without issue with care and attention. Always carry a burn kit with you if you plan to light up. If you get a decent burn, quit spinning. The ambient heat can cause the damage to get worse. The really bad burns come from fuel spillage/transfers or ignition of poor choice of clothing.

As far as tools, since you are talking about staff, the best way to limit exposure is to use a wooden staff (wrap the wicking around aluminum tape or a metal sheath) and bury the screws deep or fold kevlar over them and sew it down. If you use a metal staff, be sure to cap the ends with dowel to a) give the wicking screws something solid to bite into, b) give more of a heat sink and c) prevent the fire and hot air from travelling through the tubing, causing it to heat up much hotter and quicker. My own setup is an aluminum staff with dowels inserted into the ends and the kevlar wrapped over the screws and sewed down. Then I use white glue (elmer's type) slathered on the threads to help protect them from degrading too quickly. I occasionally have to resew it.

Be sure to wear mostly (if not purely) organic clothing and test it before lighting up if possible. Generally there is a 3 second flame test where you hold a flame to the garment for 3 seconds to see what it does, it should not melt or ignite. Also, about the first 1/5th (ish) of the burn time is the most dangerous for fuel transfer (depending on how you treat fuel spinoff). Be especially cautious of any impacts the wicks have with your body, as the fuel may transfer to the impact point and ignite it. It's easy enough to put it out if you're paying attention and can reach the area. From about mid back to your neck is the highest danger point, since you can't see if your lit and it's hard to reach to put it out.

Bah, I'm rambling.. I hope that helps a bit. Feel free to ask if you have any questions. Make sure to check out the "Fire Arts FAQ" and "Fire Arts Education and Equipment tribes" for more info, and my profile contains tutorial links and a decent listing of tribes for fire arts.

Peace,
- Sui