Outside Equipment

Purchasing Aerial Silks (click to expand)

There are a few things you need to consider when purchasing aerial silks; type of fabric, stretch factor, manufacturer, quality, length, and hardware.

Fabric and Stretch: If you’ve been taking classes at Brass Butterflies you’ve been using silks that are a low stretch, nylon and/or polyester blend (40 Denier Tricot). Fabric type and stretch are somewhat intertwined topics as the type of fabric (defined by material and weave) will inevitably impact the amount of stretch in the fabric. There are other types of fabric used for aerial silks including (but not limited to) interlock, different blends of nylon and polyester, and even crushed velvet. Each fabric type has a use case, but for most recreational students a low stretch polyester or nylon tricot is going to be the preferred option.

Manufacturer and Quality: We are only allowing equipment purchased from reputable circus and aerial manufacturers to be used in the studio. This means that if you purchase your aerial equipment off of etsy or from an unknown (to us) seller, you will likely not be able to use it at Brass Butterflies. Why? The established circus and aerial manufacturers are established - they’ve been in the business a long time and they have the experience to know how to manufacture this type of equipment to a high standard of safety and they back their equipment up with their name. Most importantly, all of their equipment is batch tested for safety, and comes with ratings that indicate either the minimum breaking strength (MBS) or safe Working Load Limit (WLL). When a human life is literally hanging on a piece of equipment, this is vital information and there can be no compromise.

Our recommended supplier for aerial silks in Canada is JuggleGear.com. Another possible Canadian supplier is Circus Concepts, but avoid their medium or high stretch silks products unless you are in the Masters level or higher.

Length: We recommend 16 yards of fabric for rigging at the current Brass Butterflies location. This allows for our 18' ceiling height plus a 6 foot tail.

Anchor: In addition to purchasing your aerial silks, you will also need to purchase hardware with which to attach your silks to the studio's rigging system. An aerial anchor (sometimes called a Rescue 8 or Terminal 8) or a fabric bell (your choice) is what is required. You will be responsible for attaching your aerial silks to your hardware. You can watch Maya walk you through the process of attaching to a Rescue 8 style anchor here.

Purchasing an Aerial Hoop (click to expand)

There are a few things you need to consider when purchasing an aerial hoop; type, size, material and composition, coating or finish, rope or spanset, manufacturer and quality control.

Type: Aerial hoops are suspended using special ropes/leads or spansets. The attachment points are usually called tabs. We start out teaching our students on double tab hoops (two attachment points spaced apart at the top of the hoop, going up in a triangle to connect to a single rigging point above) through the Intro, Beginner and most of the Intermediate levels of our Aerial Hoop curriculum. This is an intentional choice because a double tab hoop provides stability that gives students the ability to focus more on grip and their body’s movement without having to worry so much about where the hoop is moving. Eventually we get students working on single tab or tabless hoops, which provide extra challenge for stability but open up different possibilities and pathways for working above the hoop.

We recommend choosing a hoop type based on your current level combined with your preference, Intro to Intermediate (Double Tab), Intermediate+ (Double Tab, Single Tab, or Tabless). Tabless hoops are preferred by many higher level students when they are working above the hoop, but it is important to be aware that they are more likely to show wear/stress on their weld point over time than a single tab hoop because the tab actually reinforces the strength of the weld point (when done correctly).

Size: Hoops are generally measured by their inside diameter and you want your hoop to be properly sized for your body. Next time you are in the studio for hoop class, you can ask your instructor what size hoop you are using and what size they would recommend for you, but you can also figure this out for yourself at home. Your ideal hoop size is going to be a few inches more than your seated height. You can measure this yourself by sitting on a chair and measuring from the seat of the chair to the top of your head and adding 2-4 inches - make sure you are sitting up straight! If you are still growing, keep that in mind when making a hoop purchase.

Material and Composition: Hoops can be manufactured out of steel or aluminum and they can be solid or hollow in their core. We highly recommend avoiding hollow aluminum hoops as we’ve seen those hoops deform over time. Solid steel hoops are heavier which can be great for spinning but can hurt if you get hit with the hoop. The hoops used at Brass Butterflies are hollow steel.

Coating/Finish: You should also consider whether you want your hoop to have a protective coating (a powder coat) or not. Since reopening, the hoops at Brass Butterflies all have a powder coat paint finish, which is a spray paint coating that protects the hoop from rust and provides a grippy surface. It is the same process used when painting cars. If you do not plan on taping your hoop you should seriously consider getting a powder coated hoop. Even if you do plan on taping your hoop, having a powder coating underneath means your hoop will be less likely to rust and it will make cleaning your hoop much easier between tapings.

Ropes or Span sets: Your hoop needs to have a rope (or ropes depending on whether it is a single/tabless or double tab hoop) or spanset(s) to connect it to the rigging point. Ropes (typically cotton sheathe with a steel cable core) were what we used for our tabbed hoops before, but with the onset of COVID-19 span sets became a more easily cleaned and sanitized alternative to consider. Ropes (soft pourous material) cannot be reliably sanitized but span sets can be wiped down with alcohol based sanitizing spray without damaging them. Even though you will be the only one using your apparatus, it will still be exposed to an environment shared with others so having equipment that is easy to sanitize is an important consideration. Both ropes and span sets will work for single and double tab hoops, but a span set is the only choice for a tabless hoop. Depending on your hoop set-up you may need to purchase carabiners or shackles to connect your rope(s) or span set(s) to your hoop.

Manufacturer/Quality: Brass Butteflies management has chosen to only allow equipment purchased from reputable circus and aerial manufacturers to be used in our studio. This means that if you purchase your aerial equipment off of etsy or from an unknown (to us) seller, you will likely not be able to use it at Brass Butterflies. Why? Established circus and aerial manufacturers have been in the business long enough that they have the experience to know how to manufacture this type of equipment to a high standard of safety and they back their equipment up with testing to industry standards and documentation. Their name and reputation depend on this and they typically stand behind and suppor these high standards of safety.

A hoop is a circular piece of metal that has been intentionally formed and welded together. The quality of the weld point is key to the safety and integrity of the hoop. A certified welder with experience manufacturing equipment specifically for the use case of aerials, is required to manufacture a safe hoop. Most importantly, aerial equipment needs to be batch tested for safety, and come with ratings that indicate either the Minimum Breaking Strength (MBS) or safe Working Load Limit (WLL). When a human life is literally hanging on a piece of equipment, this is vital information and there can be no compromise.

We recommend purchasing from either Juggle Gear or Circus Concepts as they are both Canadian suppliers. You will be responsible for attaching your rope(s)/span set(s) to your hoop.

Purchasing an Aerial Hammock (click to expand)

There are a few things you need to consider when purchasing an aerial hammock; type of fabric and stretch, manufacturer and quality, length, and hardware.

Fabric and Stretch: If you’ve been taking classes at Brass Butterflies you’ve been using silks that are a low stretch, nylon and/or polyester blend (40 Denier Tricot). Fabric type and stretch are somewhat intertwined topics as the type of fabric (defined by material and weave) will inevitably impact the amount of stretch in the fabric. There are other types of fabric used for aerial fabrics including (but not limited to) interlock, different blends of nylon and polyester, and even crushed velvet. Each fabric type has a use case, but for most recreational students a low stretch polyester or nylon tricot is going to be the preferred option.

Manufacturer/Quality: We are only allowing equipment purchased from reputable circus and aerial manufacturers to be used in the studio. This means that if you purchase your aerial equipment off of etsy or from an unknown (to us) seller, you will likely not be able to use it at Brass Butterflies. Why? The established circus and aerial manufacturers are established - they’ve been in the business a long time and they have the experience to know how to manufacture this type of equipment to a high standard of safety and they back their equipment up with their name. Most importantly, all of their equipment is batch tested for safety, and comes with ratings that indicate either the minimum breaking strength (MBS) or safe Working Load Limit (WLL). When a human life is literally hanging on a piece of equipment, this is vital information and there can be no compromise.

This is extra important when buying an aerial hammock as there is a separate market for “yoga hammocks” which look like aerial hammocks but are not rated for aerial use. To the uneducated buyer, it can be hard to tell these products apart so it is very important to buy from trusted circus or aerial suppliers.

Our recommended supplier for aerial hammocks in Canada is JuggleGear.com

Length: We have hammocks in varying lengths at Brass Butterflies, you should look for a hammock that is 6.5-8 yards in length. Any less than that and you won’t have enough space in your hammock to do much and it will hang very high off the ground. If it’s too long it will hang very low to the ground (although you could make it smaller by tying very long tails). Consider your own height, if you are shorter than average, a shorter hammock will work better for you.

Anchor: In addition to purchasing your aerial hammock, you will also need to purchase hardware to rig your hammock. If you purchase your hammock from Juggle Gear it includes two D-rings which is all you need. Other options include O-rings or rigging your hammock ends to an aerial anchor (sometimes called a Rescue 8, Terminal 8, Rescue Eight).