The Life of Cards

[flashcards]

I'm brand new to cardistry so I'm pretty rough on cards. I know I'm using too much pressure on springs and pressure fans because the cards get bent. I'm sure I'll develop a lighter touch in time but for now I'm really beating them up. So, given that the cards are getting a workout, what would you estimate would be the practical lifetime of a new deck of cards for cardistry? How do you know when a deck is done? What do you do with a dead deck? I'm keeping all my good decks for that day when I am smoother and am just using cheap decks for practice now. Any advice would be most appreciated.

[MagikFingerz]

Hard to estimate a deck's life span, and I'm not the right person to do it either since I take extremely good care of my cards (to this day I've only really wrecked one deck, which was partly due to excessive applications of fanning powder). You'll have to decide for yourself when the deck is unusable, everyone probably has their own personal limit. As for what to do with dead decks, most people probably just throw them away but I'm sure with some googling you can find stuff similar to this.

Tips on how to extend their life span: Always wash your hands before use. Always turn the deck over often when doing high-pressure moves like springs. Do a cut every now and then if you practice moves where the deck is continually held in one hand, to avoid that bottom card from getting too much heat/moisture.

[Mirror]

I can't add much to what MagicFingerz said. I handle my decks similarly to him and I have not yet managed to wreck a single deck.

[flashcards]

Thanks for the advice, MagikFingerz. I like to take care of my stuff too, so I've already been doing the things you suggested. I also got several Porper clips and I keep my working decks in one when not in use. I also try to spread the practice over several decks to save wear and tear. And, of course, I'm keeping the coolest decks sealed until I have more skill and develop a lighter touch.

Mirror, thanks. That puts my mind at ease.

[volantangel]

haha define wreck.. there are decks that ive used that are really soft after prolonged usage but i can probably still fan it with fanning powder reapplied.

Then there are the decks i pull out for playing games, those get wrecked badly. That being said, the MPC impressions deck has held up brilliantly over so many games i reckon it must have gone through 30 different peoples hands and its still going strong. cant imagine that with a regular bike.

[scedcard2]

Hi , old decks are good for cuts like The cobra cut ( Devo ) hold onto them !!!

[scedcard2]

AS cardestry , you will blow through many decks , use cheaper decks to practice , concentrate on no tightness on the hands , speed will come with practice, break down the flourish into segments , with hours of practice , it will come ,