Campfire by Caribou Lodge YoYo Works

Reviewed by Chris Rhoads

Campfire 1

Introduction

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the term “Pocket YoYo”? For me, the first things that come to mind are compromise and lackluster performance. The first pocket yo-yo I ever used that broke from this mold was the One Drop M1. It had all the performance of the older One Drop siblings while retaining its pocket friendly physique. Recently the M1 was discontinued and I went on the hunt for a worthy successor to my favorite pocket yo-yo. I read up and tried many pocket yo-yos. Some were good performers but extremely hard to find and or expensive. Others skimped on features to keep the price down and lost performance in doing so. Enter the Campfire by Caribou Lodge YoYo Works. The Campfire has specs similar to the M1 but is quite a bit lighter. This is a new market for Chris Mikulin and Caribou Lodge. Not only is this an undersized yo-yo from a stable of full sized beasts, it is also a low cost yo-yo from a company known for their premium priced products. When asked why he decided to compete in this field Mikulin had this to say:

“I wanted to reach out to CLYW fans who can’t afford $115-150 yoyos.  I was also receiving a lot of requests from people, team members and stores to make a smaller pocket sized yoyo.  Plus I felt that we could design a small yoyo that could go with you anywhere and that looked/played amazing … and was an improvement upon what was currently available.  So far my Campfire goes with me everywhere, so I think we did okay.”

So now the questions are, is this the pocket yo-yo we have been looking for? Have there been compromises made to the design that are detrimental to play? And does it hold the same Caribou Lodge charm that its bigger brothers have?

Specs

  • Diameter: 48.3mm
  • Width 35.2mm
  • Gap: 4.0MM
  • Weight: 62.5 grams
  • Bearing: C-Sized
  • Response: Flowable Silicone

Campfire 2

Construction

The Campfire is definitely a small yo-yo. To put it in perspective, it is 1.7mm smaller than an M1 in diameter but 0.2mm wider in width. At the current dimensions, it fits my definition of pocket friendly perfectly. The shape of the yo-yo is well rounded without being bulbous and it fits comfortably in my large hands. The inner walls have a nice taper to them and are broken up by a little channel that adds to the aesthetic. I don’t see anyone actually using the channel for tricks at this time. Looking at the cups of the yo-yo you can tell it is definitely a CLYW product. It has the same spike that is used in the Peak, giving it instant recognition.  Now the first concession that was made for this inexpensive yo-yo is the anodizing. Caribou Lodge is know for its off the wall use of splashes, dips, and acid washes. All of those are gone on the Campfire. Instead it comes with a monotone color scheme and a simple, yet elegant, laser etch in the cup. While I miss the in your face anodizing from the higher priced CLYW products, this is one item I will give up for a smooth playing pocket yo-yo. The one feature that normally goes by the wayside is the bead blast finish; thankfully the Campfire retains that incredible CLYW bead blast.

Campfire 3

Weight

On paper, the 62.5-gram Campfire is a lightweight. Don’t let the published weight fool you; this yo-yo is a strange beast. It feels heavy on the string but it flies through the air like a humming bird on No-Doze. The fat rims give this yo-yo some very respectable spin times. With a stock bearing and a hard throw I am getting around 3 minutes of spin, more than enough time to pull off some insane combos. The weighting on the Campfire is distributed quite nicely so that it does have some great spin while staying stable on the string. It does not lean much when throwing and is very forgiving on a bad throw, all in all a great job on the weighting of the Campfire.

Response and Bearing

There is not much to talk about in the response department. The Campfire will come with the same flowable silicone installed that you are accustomed to seeing in most of the other CLYW products on the market. What this means is that you can expect the Campfire to play dead unresponsive while giving very tight binds.

The bearing is the standard steel C-Sized bearing that Caribou Lodge ships with all of its standard release yo-yos. What is there to say, they picked a great company to supply the bearings and it shows. The bearings spin forever, are a little on the loud side due to being precleaned, and can take one heck of a beating.

Campfire 5

Yes, that is a 10-Ball bearing. Forgot to take it out after testing it with the Campfire.

Playability

Ok, no beating around the bush, this yo-yo is incredible. It is fast, stable, and smooth. It maneuvers quickly through trick combos and handles them with ease. The wide gap makes it easy to catch during Eli Hops or when you pop it from one string to the next. The generous gap also accepts many wraps before it is bogged down and spins out. As far as grinds are concerned, the Campfire is a natural when performing two out of the three styles. Palm grinds and finger grinds are easy to pull off thanks to the bead blast finish. Thumb grinds are a little trickier. They can be done but you have to work for it. The IGR on the Campfire is flat while most yo-yos have a lipped IGR. This means that you have to hold the yo-yo at an angle to get it to stay on the thumb or it will just fall right off. The reasoning behind the lack of a lipped IGR is to keep the cost down. An extra cut means extra money. Also, if they remove the material to make a lipped IGR they would mess with the weighting on this yo-yo. While I would prefer a lipped IGR, I can live without it because the Campfire does everything else so well.

Final Thoughts

I have read reviews where they state the Campfire is not a yo-yo to learn tricks on. I will respectfully disagree. This is a forgiving and stable yo-yo. The only thing that might cause some headaches is the speed of it. I think CLYW has succeeded in making THE pocket yo-yo to beat. It is fun to play and performs beautifully. I could see this yo-yo being used just for fun as well as in competitions. To answer the questions posed in the introduction, yes, this is the pocket yo-yo we are looking for. No, the concessions are not detrimental to play. And yes, this has the same quality and charm that I have come to expect from CLYW. At $75, there is now no excuse to not have at least one CLYW in your case. This is better buy than many of the other metals in its price point. In closing, when these drop, do not hesitate to pick one up. I can guarantee that the first run is going to go fast.

Campfire 4