DHS Hurricane 8

I would agree with most of the reviews here. But i needed to add something:Yeah this rubber needs technique and is slow in itself. This is something many of you should already know about a comparable rubber, like the Hurricane 3. So what are we doing with the Hurricane 3 to compensate for the "flaws" it has in itself? - Excactly we boost it!So i went for the typical chinese backhand way - and bought the Hurricane 8 in 2.15 thickness and 37° hardness. Then i boosted it: One layer of DHS No. 15 glue.One big layer of Falco Tempo Long Booster.(usually this is supposed to be enough already, but i went a little overboard it here and wasnt patient enough)Another small layer of Falco Tempo Long Booster. Some days later i had to glue, though it was still a bit domed. Either way i succeded and it sticked to the blade. But holy moly this thing was fast all of a sudden. The famous clicking sound already cracked through the air by merely touching the ball through a backhand drive. Besides this strong change in speed it still had his advantages in the shortplay. Comparison:Equally fast, maybe slightly faster than the Xiom Vega Pro, but more controllable, even with 2 layers. Faster and even more spinnier than the Yasaka Rakza 7. On top more controllable and with the Rakza it happened way too often that the ball didnt sink into the rubber deep enough, so the ball went way too short and fell off onto my side of the table. Never happened with the Hurricane 8. Faster than the Hurricane 3 37° hardness boosted, but equally controll and feeling. Conclusion:For those who play an aggressive looping style and have no problem of boosting their rubbers, i would totally recommend this rubber. If you dont want to boost, and have a more controlled playstyle, this rubber would fit quite well too.

I used the Hurricane 8 as aforehand rubber for 6-8 months during which it lost very little of it's tackiness - it was very durable. I started of using it on an old version of the Butterfly Timo Boll Forte (they don't sell them anymore) which was a moderately soft blade and around an OFF-. The first few weeks when I used the hurricane on this blade, it was so beautiful that I thought that I found the perfect rubber; it was extremely good for serving - thanks to it's tackiness - and open-ups off a backspin ball, as well as looping was incredible. The rubber put a lot of spin on the ball during loops, more than a tenergy, the only downside being that the power was limited. This means that if you prefer power over spin, this rubber is probably not for you.
The only thing that I left out of the equation when playing with the Hurricane was adapting my technqiue to the Chinese technique over the standard European techniques. This could have been a factor which limited the power that I was able to generate with this rubber, maybe, I don't know.
I then changed blades to a Timo Boll ZLC whilst still using the Hurricane 8, for anyone hwo doesn't know, this is a faster blade than the Timo Boll Forte which I used before and a lot harder than the other blade. One thing that I can tell from this experience is that hard blades and hard rubbers do not go together, so if you are using a hard blade DO NOT buy this rubber. The ball will spring off the bat too quick for the rubbers to spin the ball and the feeling of the bat becomes really bad.
Hope this helps, Mat

This rubber is spiny, powerful, and controllable in the hands of people who know how to use it. Whether it is boosted or not, this rubber will stick to most blades.

Rate:8.8/10
Hardness: Hard
Tackiness: Not so tacky(Less than H3 and H3 Neo)
Thickness: 2.15mm
Type: Inverted

I have been using Hurricane 8 on my FH for about a month now.
When compared to H3 and H3 Neo, this rubber is not as tacky and spinny but it gives more control in every shot.
During FH play, it is really good close to the table but requires effort when in mid distance and far from the table.
*** When pushing, it requires a precise timing to push or else the ball will go off the table.
It is also very good for looping. When looping, it require effort and skills but when you have both of them.
Looping with this rubber is perfect!
After a month of playing, the rubber lose some of its grip and lose some of its spin.

Would recommend for intermediate player and players who likes hard sponge.
*** not to forget that it REQUIRE EFFORT and for people who used to use EUROPEAN rubber it requires a bit of change in technique.

It's a good rubber, but it's different than Hurricane 3 (neo or not). It's not as tacky, so less spinny. It's also softer.

The bottom line is, you can do many things with this rubber; control is very good. In comparison with H3 it misses the ultimate kill shot. This might result in more matches won, but still, the ultimate kill shot, it is a very nice feeling.

Impressions after several practice session (H8 on FH + Nexy Calix):


a) tackiness - it is a mildly tacky rubber, the level of tackiness is nowhere near N3 Neo. Which for me translates into slightly worse short game, and not as much spin on "brushy" serves. But still, H8 is much less bouncy than pretty much any modern tensor rubber.


b) driving the ball - easier with H8 than H3 Neo because H8 is less tacky. Same considerations apply to passive blocking.


c) looping - the grip is good, quite reliable, but one needs to engage the sponge a bit more when looping using H8 in order to generate the same amount of spin as with H3 Neo. The arc is a bit lower than with H3 Neo, as noted by other reviewers. Looping against backspin requires more effort using H8 than H3 Neo.


d) speed - at medium swing shots H8 feels a touch faster than H3 Neo, but at full swing H3 Neo is faster and spinnier.


If you want to see H8 in action, here is a video of a practice session using Nexy Calix with H8 on FH and 5Q+ on BH. I'm the player in orange shirt.




Video segments relevant to this review:
22:00 - alternating FH/BH loops against block
26:30 - FH to FH drives
29:50 - FH loop against block

UPDATE:
First match of the season using Calix 2 and H8 on FH.

My latest review of the DHS Hurricane 8 with STIGA player Tom. In the review I used a boosted Hurricane 8 on a Butterfly Timo Boll Spirit blade and a un-boosted Hurricane 8 on a STIGA Carbonado 145 blade and looked at the differences as well as the playing characteristics of the rubber. STIGA 40+ plastic balls during the testing.