Latest reviews

Pros
  • lots of gears
  • good blocking
  • superb touch
Cons
  • handle design
Been playing this blade with goldarc-8 (50 deg Max sponge FH, 50 deg med sponge BH) and it has turned out to be a lovely combination.
As others have also reported, the blade has lots of gears which enables one to play a large variety of strokes comfortably, be it close to table or mid distance.
the control is superb !! I am able to play backhand over the table flicks/topspins very comfortably without overshooting. The blocking is one of the best i have experienced, due to the outer koto layer. I can even punch block slightly high balls perfectly. The slower gears also help in drop shots (2 bounce) , which are very helpful against defenders. Forehand/backhand topspins/counter-topspins from close/med distance are very controlled.
Throw angle is slightly medium, and dwell is also medium. So make sure your rubbers are grippy enough to lift the ball.
The small issue i think with the handle design is that the flare is not so much, when compared to butterfly viscaria or stiga blades, but that could be a personal issue, based on my hand anatomy etc.

You may try the goldarc-8 (47.5 deg max sponge) for BH. Should also be a good combination.
Cheers !!
Speed
9.1
Control
10
Hardness
6.1
Durability
9.1
Pros
  • spinny
  • good speed
  • good arc
The best forehand rubber I have tried out of the following : rasant powergrip , rasant, tibhar aurus, yasaka rising dragon, xiom omega 4 pro, xiom omega 5 tour, tibhar 1qxd, h3neo, skyline tg2 neo ..
Fastarc G1 incorporates the best qualities of the above rubbers :
1. tackiness like 1qxd (this helps a lot over the table short game, server receives, pushes, lifting underspin balls in a controlled manner without overshooting edge of table, sidespin-hook topspins)
2. spin/grip like rasant power grip (provides great spin when brushing looping as well as when you engage the sponge in close/mid/far distance game)
3. med-hard sponge like aurus (not too hard, but not also medium like rasant... this allows you to start engaging the sponge relatively closer to the table, without fear of ball overshooting due to high throw of rubber, or ball rushing to the net due to med-low throw...... the med-hard sponge also ensure adequate power from all usual playing distances)
4. med-high throw angle like rasant (helps in clearing the net easliy from close/mid .... )
5. blocking is also good like xiom rubbers .. no issue in this aspect
6. speed like omega v tour(not overly fast, but good enough for most playing distances .. a 9.1 types speed rating)
from the look, feel, and daily playing experience, it seems pretty durable as well !! Totally satisfied !! Highly recommended !! I m using it as FH on DHS long 5 blade, with tibhar 5Q+(power update) on BH. Great combination.
Speed
9
Spin
9.5
Durability
9.8
Control
9.2
Pros
  • fast speed
  • monster spin
  • great control
Cons
  • heavy
  • not for lazy ppl
Highly impressed by this rubber !! I am using a black sheet as FH rubber on Hurricane Long 5 blade.
1. hard sponge : perfectly qualifies for a good, powerful FH rubber
2. very grippy topsheet : easy to lift any kind of of underspin
3. medium low throw : good for counter topspins and blocks
4. great control both close to the table and away : but you need to get used to its sponge hardness ... cannot play casual shots close to the table and expect the ball to land on the other side...play with commitment and this rubber will deliver everything you need !!
5. it is not springy like other tensors, which proved very helpful when i was lifting underspin of opponent serves with topspin shots....

Recommend it to ppl who are at a decent level of play !!
Speed
9.5
Spin
9.6
Durability
9.2
Control
9.4
Pros
  • fast
  • controllable
  • good loop, drive
Cons
  • slightly heavy
was earlier using carbonado 190 with black-rasant[FH] and red-aurus_soft[BH] until I decided to try HL-5.
Seems to be a very good blade indeed !!
I am using black-rasant_power_grip [FH] and red-tibhar 5Q_update [BH] and it is proving to be a lovely combination. The throw angle of the blade is medium types as it is not overly stiff
The combo provides enough control for close to the table shots on both FH and backhand. I can easily lift backspin using FH and the ball stays close to net height..
thanks partially to the grip of Andro rubber and partially to the control the blade offers. It is also very convenient to do banana flicks from BH and the ball does not easily overshoot. This was slightly troublesome with carbonado 190 which was very stiff and low throw (though that helped tremendously in close table drives and blocks) (difficulty in playing these over-the-table backhand shots forced me to try HL-5 rather than sticking to 190) .. chops are controlled. blocking is also good, not the best considering the fact that I was using carbonado 190, which was amazing in this aspect. The handle is a bit thin, so it will suit you well if you have small palm size (my case..!!... this is a big reason for me to switch to HL-5 from 190.... somehow the flare in stiga handles feels inconvenient to me....personal issue though) , but the only downside I can see as of now is a bit of head heaviness....this turns advantageous when you play power shots (loop drives from mid/far).
Cheers !!
Aditya.
Speed
9.2
Control
9
Hardness
6.7
Durability
9
Pros
  • direct strokes
  • low throw
  • close/mid table
This blade is superb for close/mid distance play due to its hardness/stiffness and lower throw angle compared to viscaria family of blades.
I used andro rasant (black) for FH and tibhar aurus soft for BH.

blocks extremely well. ball stays close to net height.
Close table exchanges/drives/counterdrives are very easy.
pairing up with tibhar aurus soft on BH has been a wonderful experience, since the blade characteristics (fast/stiff/low-throw) mate perfectly with rubber (med-fast/med-soft sponge/high throw). All kinds of strokes : over table banana loops, away from table power loops, close table blocking etc worked extremely well.
On the FH side, andro rasant also gave good results because of its medium sponge giving the necessary dwell time and grippy surface for lifting backspins easily. The low throw of the blade ensures that you dont overshoot the edge of the table easily, but you need to still keep a check as the blade and rubber are both fast. Maybe a marginally slower rubber would have been the best combination, but rasant is also not bad either !!
Serve receives/ pushes are well controlled. I was able to place the ball easily to different spots and at extreme angles.

Overall, very happy with the blade !!
Speed
9.2
Control
9
Hardness
7
Durability
9
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