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I freely acknowledge that I have little experience of this stuff, so I thought I'd ask you guys.

The son of a friend of mine recently got into magic and has bought an ITR. He asked me to look at it as it isn't particularly difficult to see against some backgrounds. I had an ITR years ago, but the thread was so fine and fragile that it was very difficult to use. The thread in this unit is very strong and is a monofibre, but is also thicker than the truly invisible stuff. Is this practice grade, something else, or just something cheap?

It sounds like Kevlar that's loaded in the reel. Its quite popular nowadays. Its thicker than the stuff you would have had before and is quite strong. Its not as invisible as the other stuff but still fairly invisible under the right conditions. I wouldn't use it really close-up though for most effects.

Kevlar will dramatically reduce breakage during practice (and performance) but the downside is, as you noticed, its not as invisible.

You could try replacing the thread with something else.

Do you know the maker of the reel ?

Jim

jim ferguson wrote:It sounds like Kevlar that's loaded in the reel. Its quite popular nowadays. Its thicker than the stuff you would have had before and is quite strong. Its not as invisible as the other stuff but still fairly invisible under the right conditions. I wouldn't use it really close-up though for most effects.

Kevlar will dramatically reduce breakage during practice (and performance) but the downside is, as you noticed, its not as invisible.

You could try replacing the thread with something else.

Do you know the maker of the reel ?

Jim

Cheers mate,

The packet is apparently in Chinese. I think you're right about it being Kevlar actually. It was difficult to break and he pulls the wax out very quickly. I think I'll advise him to stand a few feet away "so that everyone can get a good view" when he uses it.

You do have to be careful of lighting with the kevlar thread, I've been caught out a couple of times when I wasn't paying enough attention to it. I've always tried to make sure that I've got my back to any lighting so that I can cast my shadow over the thread. Or as you said, ask people to stand back slightly.

Lady of Mystery wrote:You do have to be careful of lighting with the kevlar thread, I've been caught out a couple of times when I wasn't paying enough attention to it. I've always tried to make sure that I've got my back to any lighting so that I can cast my shadow over the thread. Or as you said, ask people to stand back slightly.

A pattern in the clothing that breaks up the straight lines of the thread is good too.

Wearing a pattern is your best bet. You can also take a brown magic marker and colour the thread every few inches creating a pattern in the thread. I don't like this method, but I know some people swear by it...and at it.