550 Beta Edition - The original Hydra titanium begleri, modified with a slightly larger bore diameter to accommodate 550 paracord.  These betas were previously only available in a purple/ green combo, and are now also available in natty (natural) titanium. 

Aroundsquare's Hydra Begleri are a fun yet highly capable modern adaptation of the traditional Greek multi-bead begleri. They were the first of their kind, offering the customizability of weight, colour, and materials. All of the Hydra sets have multiple interchangeable beads, allowing for interesting colour combinations, and some customization of weight. The Hydra 550 Beta edition is slightly adapted from the original, with a larger bore diameter to accommodate the wider 550 paracord preferred by some players. 

The Hydra 550 Beta edition comes with four beads, precision-machined from grade 5 titanium, weighing in at around 6.4g per bead, for a total of around 25.6g per set--slightly less than the weight of the standard titanium Hydras. The beads themselves are 16mm in diameter and 8mm thick, making for a 16x16mm stack at either end. While this dimension sounds small compared to the 19/20mm Titans, and the 22mm Wukongs, the more angular shape of the Hydras makes them feel and play larger than their measurement would suggest. 

The Hydras are extremely playable, and despite their cylindrical shape, are surprisingly adept - particularly in the four bead configuration. The shape of the beads make them particularly well-suited for two handed tricks and transfers. They are less solid and somewhat quieter than heavier single-bead designs, and the multiple beads add a nice "fiddle factor" to each set. The slight rounding of all edges on the beads adds the overall feel.

The titanium Hydras come with several extra strings, a fist full of stickers, a canvas carry bag, an info card, and a slick little gift box. 

About the purple and green anodized coatings: The anodized finish on these titanium begleri is reasonably robust. Because of the hardness of titanium, the finish holds up against dings and scratches better than anodized aluminum. However, the finish is not as durable as the PVD coating used in the other titanium colour editions. The anodized finish may change colour somewhat after extended contact with the skin, but because the colour matches well with the dark metallic colour of titanium, the blue edition ages very nicely, and takes on more of a patina than what is observed in the other titanium models. Because this is a new product and a new coating, Aroundsquare is introducing the blue beads at the same pricing as the Natty Ti version, until we have sufficient player feedback about how the blue finish holds up. At the very worst, you have solid grade five titanium underneath and that ain't bad!

Aroundsquare works to identify and use the best available materials and processes, but all colours are prone to wear after extended use and drops. Players literally beat these beads against each other for hours each day. The colourings are not painted on, and do not "chip", but they are very thin, and will show scratches and nicks over time, especially if dropped on rough surfaces like concrete. 

Colours may not be exactly as shown, and look different in different lighting. There may be slight blemishes, and some are lighter or darker than others.. We've manually pulled out any significant flaws in our quality control process, but we haven't concerned ourselves with minor discolourations, because once they are out of the box you're going to be hammering them and dropping them. Right? The colours of the cloth bags and extra strings depend on availability and may not be as shown.