Latest reviews

This is a really fast, controlled, light blade. This really is a silent black killer. If you want to feel your shots, this is not it. It's perfect for an attacking player who'd like to place it and place it FAST. Short -long distance attacking is incredible

Altough it is a little bit too head-heavy you can play nice topspins from the mid-distance, but the strenghts of that blade is playing offensively near the table.
The feeling you have is quite similar with a Primorac Carbon, but a bit softer.
So with the Epox Carbotec there are the same problems like with the Primo Carbon, namely keeping the service short and having a nice low arc when playing slow spinny topspins of pushes and the same advantages like playing powershots what you can to pretty well with that blade.

The haifu national rubber I have used is $82.
Out of the packet after first use was so so so so spinny by far the spiniest rubber I have ever used chops were lifted with ease and topspins kicked so high.
after about 30 hours of use the rubber started to degrade in terms of performance think it was the factory tuned booster on it.
i would only use this rubber if u have $82 to spare each month.
my overall rating of rubber within the 30 hours is 9.7/10
my overall rating of rubber after 30 hours is 7.8/10

Great reversal of opponents spin with good control really good dying effect.
great choice for defensive players with the 1.1 mm thickness can attack with low fast pushes and dying topspins.
my personal overall rating is 8.7/10

A very fast rubber good value for money a must by for attacking players good serves and great topspin ability.
my only issue is that the tackiness wears off quite quickly.
my personal overall rating is 9.1/10

This is a great blade, high quality packaging with testing card which tells you weight of blade at £100 it's good value for money.
Extremely fast blade but with good control at close and far distance from table.
a blade most definitely worth investing in.
My personal overall rating 9.4/10

So first of all, the 145 blade feels really good in the hand. I think the STIGA way of using a bit of roughness on the handle is a good thing at least for me, I feel the use of an over grip unnecessary.

I really like the metal logo under the blade, that you also can find on the Emerald VPS V and the rest of the new models from STIGA, it looks very professional and high quality.

The 145 blade felt really controlled when counter driving with a wider trajectory then the 190. It has some big sweet spot and I love the touch in this blades.

I felt really stable in my topspin loop away from the table, the blade got high trajectory which gives the blade really good control. This blade will suit you perfect if you like a to play a safe game style from behind.

My block felt also really stabile with this blade, I could really control my opponent and keep a great pressure, no problems playing straight and the pressure and speed I got when I was placed over the table and applying pressure on the ball was incredible. I played a only backhand-backhand match with my opponent and I played very good with this blade.

Short play and serve: The blade got good control in the short game. And this blade is a great choice if you like playing hard underspins and a lot of flicks over the table. I really like the contact I got in my serves and I could easily get the serve short and low over the net.

My experience overall:

I found this suitable for an all around based game and I think this blade is optimized for medium to far distance shooting.

I would recommend medium rubbers on it. I really like the combination between Tenergy 05 and this blade, but I would still recommend medium rubbers for this blade even thought Tenergy 05 is pretty hard. This blade is for offensive players who still prefer much control, I think it suits the most offensive all round players.

Carbonado 190!


Weight: 93 grams


Handle: Straight


Thickness: 5.87


Speed: OFF


Hardness: Stiff


Test rubbers: Tenergy 05


Test ball: Donic 40+

I started out with some counter drives and the first I noticed was a great balance between both power and control, it was a bit faster and stiffer than I was expecting but this was just a positive thing for me because I could still feel a great control over the ball. Every stroke felt the same as the previous one even though I didn't hit the ball on the exact same place which is a good proof that the 190 blade got a high and very large sweet-spot.


When I started to loop a bit away from the table I could directly feel the power this blade were able to generate. Together with my Tenergy 05 I was able to get a good topspin loop with great control and the feeling that I could easily put the ball on the table even under pressure. I also tried some defensive strokes away from the table, the control felt good even though this blade is a really fast and offensive blade.


Block and counter-attack: My block felt a bit different from what I was used to when I’m usually playing with the Infinity VPS V but I could pretty quick get use to the difference. The Carbonado 190 could generate much spin and speed from just using my opponents power and I felt that I could get a constant pressure at my opponent. I think that this blade is well suited for players who likes to put pressure on the opponent close to the table since the blade got a very flat trajectory.


Short play and serves: It was in the short game and serve that this blade gave me my happiest surprise. Together with Tenergy 05 I had very good control over the short game and I could without problems get really low spiny serves and returns. This combo was extraordinary when It comes to the short game.


Mid distance and my experience overall: I could get good pressure playing at mid distance and due to the big sweet spot I was able to put many balls in the exact place where I wanted to put them on the table. My goal when I play is usually to keep the pressure close to the table and play faster than my opponent, but since this blade got such a speed and flat trajectory I felt that I could keep the pressure on my opponents even at a great distance from the table.


I don't know exactly which player I would first of all recommend this blade to because I think it will suit the most offensive all-round players very good. Although I had some high expectations on this blade I must say it did not dissapoint me. I have only been playing with it for three practices so it's a bit early to say exactly how pleased I will be in the future but the first impression really made an impact on me. I think Stiga really has made something special here and this is what makes the blade worth the price.

Very nice high quality rubber. Not a speedy rubber but control is the best and has a high throw.

Myself and @Tom had the opportunity to review the Adidas Tenzone Ultra Rubber.

I used the Avenger blade and Tom used the Hypertouch blade in the review which looked at the AdidasTenzone Ultra rubbers on both sides of our blades. The review looks at various techniques and a range of shots used in today's modern game of table tennis.

Tinarc 3 is the softer version of Tinarc from DHS. First of all, the TinArc family is the clone of the famous Butterfly Tenergy family, but semi-chinese style. Sponge is quite similar, colour is same like Tenergy and hardness too. The difference is, that in max version you get harder sponge and in 2 mm version you get softer version. Tinarc 3 is a bit faster than 05FX.

Playing characteristics is like euro rubber with a little chinese feeling. Topsheet is a bit harder, really works well keeping the balls short and controllable service recieving. Chops and pushes are easy and fast. Flicks are bit harder, you have to give more forward momentum, to engage the sponge. Looping is very agressive and fast with good spin. The arc os the ball is low like T64, but very consistent. Counterlooping is very controllable.

Durability is notably good. You may play 300 hours with this sheet before it gets old. This rubber really likes to be boosted, to soften it up a bit, this way it really becomes an euro type rubber.

I recommend this rubber if you like ESN large pored rubbers, but you want less spin sensitive setup, try this.

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.

Equipment
Blade: Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive (Cpen) - 94 grams
FH: Yinhe Big Dipper, Black, Max - 39 Deg sponge - 44 grams (cpen cut with 1.5cm gap)
BH: Andro Hexer+ (old rubber), Red, 2.1mm - 38grams (cpen cut with 1.5cm gap)
Total weight - 178grams


Warm up and first impression
My first impression was - huge catapult effect - It didn't feel like a Chinese tacky rubber.
It took me around 5 balls before getting the ball onto the table. First five balls, my first touch made the ball go 1meter off the table (I normally use H3 or TG3 on the forehand).
I had doubts that this is a 39 deg sponge, feels more like 36 deg. Maybe it got to do with the factory tuned sponge.

FH Top spin
After gettting used to the pace of the rubber, I was able to generate powerful top spin forehand shots - having high spin and power behind the ball.
As per my previous review above, there isn't a lot of tack in the top sheet (I will explain further), but with a power shot, I was able to grip deep into the sponge and release the ball with extreme precision and spin. The feeling of this sponge is similar to DHS Provincial and more leaning towards National sponge! I'm sure the pretune effect is making it so great, so I actually want to test one without the tune, so I will need to wait a couple of weeks and remove the layer at the bottom and test again.
Yinhe told me, they will be making "provincial" version of this rubber, I can't wait for that.

FH Arc
During warmup, the arc was huge - because I wasn't able to control the rubber yet.
But once I was able to control the rubber slighty better , I could generate low arc and high arc - depending on my bat angle and contact point (of the ball arc)
This feeling is the same with a boosted H3 commercial or provincial H3, just below national H3.
It is very easy to use (a bit too fast and powerful for my students though)

BH Cpen Traditional block
I didn't try a SH backhand, or Cpen RPB (Didn't have enough time as I was doing all this in a coaching session)
The traditional block (passive) arc was quite high, but with a power added traditional block, the arc can get pretty low and more tricky for the opponent.
Again the same feeling as a boosted H3 commerical or prov and just below nat H3 rubber.

I do believe this rubber can work for RPB or normal shakehand play.

Service
I wasn't used to the big catapult effect, as most of my serves was eating too much into the sponge, thus pushing the ball long.
My spin was not as powerful as my H3, but I have to say, service is the most difficult part of the game to master, so I do believe if I had more time to use this rubber, I am able to control it fully.

At the moment, I can only control it 50% and able to do ghost serves, down the line on the white line and side spin onto the base white line and off the right hand side of the table.
Long serve was very easy to do, but overall my service quality, placement etc was not good.
There is plenty of spin, so I don't have doubt that the rubber is good for service, I just need more time to train myself with it.

Short Balls/Chops
Getting the ball on the bounce (short balls), I manage to use only the tack of the topsheet and only using the sponge when required. So this is like 2 gears - soft sponge and hard sponge basically. My placement was great, and few times my opponent only got there after the second bounce (wide fh short). Placement - great, spin - almost great.

Chops.
I did some underspin feeding to my students. Extreme spinny. I can use only the top sheet tack or also can eat deap into the sponge. If I go deep into the sponge, my students will net the ball with a top spin shot (didn't adjust in my change of action). I did notice that my deep into the sponge feed, to shoot out faster and longer - same as a Tensor rubber

So I think I need to serve with this "2 gear" action - Topsheet with little sponge, or with lots of sponge.
But so far for both chop and service - I do wish for a bit less catapult effect.

Conclusion.
I think the sponge is too soft for a rating of 39 Deg. I actually want to try 40 or 41 Dec, or 39 with no tune.
The top sheet is just perfect - not too tacky and feels like a provincial H3 top sheet. It also has great grip due to a pretty elastic top sheet - what makes this nice is that one can use the tack when required (short movement or just contact the top sheet), or go further into the sponge and grip the ball like a Tensor rubber and when doing that, you have a best of both worlds (slight tack + tensor like sponge)

I think this rubber is great for players who want tacky rubber but on a softer sponge, or Tensor like sponge. Or Euro style game, but want a Chinese like forehand or play. Best of both worlds and I didn't even know such rubber exists.

The marketing of this rubber states this is a forehand rubber, but due to the soft feel, I would say, this can work on the backhand too. Also the rubber is not heavy compared to a H3 (50grams vs Big Dipper of 44 grams cpen cut). My rating of the soft feel is medium - medium hard, or around 36deg - same as Tenergy 05 +/-.

Also note, this is designed for the new ball. And I have notice much more spin from a topspin game than that of a regular H3 boosted (all other new poly rubber state more spin....I haven't tested other rubbers yet, so maybe if true, this is a pattern).
For example on the more spin, my student uses a TG3 Neo, and tried out my setup. I was choping with a TSP P4 Curl on a TSP Balsa 3.5 (Def+) and with the TG3 he was netting 50% of the balls. With the Big Dipper, he net less than 20% of the ball. I'm sure he will buy a Big Dipper tomorrow

It is really like a provincial H3. However maybe due to the factory tune, the sponge has a lot softer feeling.

Pros:
More gears - especially away from the table
One can play more passively - unlike traditional hard sponge which requires more active strokes

Cons:
More difficult to generate spinny serves

The T-4 is a hardened Carbon blade that is OFF+++ top gear. No kidding, you want to do the equivilant of drag racing in TT, you chose the right blade.

If you play a flexible attacking topsin oriented game like most aspiring players, the T-4 is not a suitable choice at all.

The T-4 is for those who like to park themselves at teh table and block or counterhit, or pick hit you to death. You hit a drive at your opponent, and it migh go through both the player and the 3 ft concrete wall behind him leaving a flaming vapor trail. That all makes for a nice viral vid, but it doesn't make you a sucessful typical OFF topsin oriented player.

The T-4 can also be effective for those who like to camp out at mid and very far distance and powerloop away like there is no tomorrow. The T-4 reqards such a powerloop with a very powerpacked heavy topspin ball. taht is the only way to generate topspin, if you slow loop, you wont like T-4, but you can battle away at distance all day long like you are in WWII doing an artillery barrage.

Combination players who use OX LP on BH wing and a control rubber on FH who like to use the OX to disrupt and get a loose ball to pound... these players will wet their pants liking this balde for the putaway power and stable feel. You make a shot like that, and somewhere, a controller at NASA Houston will make the famous announcement report of BLAST OFF.

The T-7 is a medium (think OFF - range pace top end) speed class blade with composite construction.

It is billed as a slower controllable looping blade, but in practice, this blade is for hitters or combination players, NOT those who want to topspin the ball.

Drives and powerloops and the sweet spot of this blade. Slow topsins... you better be 100% right on it or you will not make your topspin. The problem here is the ball leaves the bat too soon, there is no dwell on this blade. The feeling of a well struck ball for a hit or powerloop is great. Everything wlse... poor unacceptable control.

Another positive thing is in an emergency when you run out of ammo and you cannot draw your RAMBO knife to face and engage the enemy... you could always wield the T-7 like a Tomahawk and if you strike first, the fight is OVER.

When testing this blade first I looked at the price tag, then the composition and possible clones. This blade is composed of hinoki outer plies with kiri core and arylate carbon middle layers. Well except the composite it looks like a Butterfly Photino Light (it has ZLF). Characteristics are same, but slower, and less vibrating.

Handle is comfortable, blade is around 6,7 mm thick. During play I tested it with an older sheet a of TinArc 3 and a Sriver. For playing style my blade was an ALL+/OFF- blade, with kind of a soft touch like Michael Maze blade. When I needed tempo the blade had it, so smashes and power loops work well. The blade is good with rubbers from soft to hard sponges. Control is excellent in every kind of hit/block/loop. As for the price I can only say, this is a good blade with fine characteristics, but not close to be a substitute/clone of other blades.

The softest of the Calibras, but don't think it's slow! The rubber feels soft and controlable. By far the easiest to use of the three Calibras. Loops don't carry as much spin as they do with Calibra Spin but the speed is somewhere between Calibra Spin and Calibra LT which is actually quite nice. Blocks and drives are a breeze with this one, great control and a nice punch make it a great rubber for my backhand.

The spin is the weakest point of this rubber, but it's still quite decent. Just keep in mind that you have to dig into the sponge to produce spin with this rubber, unlike Tenergy style rubbers that can produce heavy spin just by lightly grazing the ball.

This rubber has a sponge that is right in the middle between the soft Calibra Sound and the hard Calibra LT. As it's name suggests it's the spinniest of the three rubbers, which you can feel both on slow loops and on power loops. It's not as spinny as Tenergy 05 but it's not far behind.

The speed is quite nice too. Loops are great but flat shots are not so easy to perform. I use it on the forehand as I found it too difficult to control on blocks and punches for the backhand.

Keep in mind that you have to dig into the sponge to produce the spin from this rubbers, unlike Tenergy style rubbers that produce a lot of spin even when lightely grazing the ball.

A 5 ply all wood blade in the OFF- range. Excels in control but it's still faster than Butterfly's classic Primorac OFF-. This blade feels harder than most blades in the OFF- speed range which makes it very nice for blocks and drives.

Doesn't pack much punch when looping but the control is great. When looping it's very similar to Primorac OFF-. Touch shots like the serve and push are nice and easy to perform as the blade is very controlable. Drives and blocks are where this blade shows it's superiority to the classic Primorac.

Who will like it: Players who like to play flat shots but don't want a speed demon. Players looking for a nice and controlable all wood blade that can still kick it on harder drives. Allround attackers who use loops, blocks, counters and drives. Players who like blades with a harder feel but not too much speed.

Who won't like it: Players who play an all out looping game. Players who are used to fast composite blades. Defenders. Players who like a lot of vibration in their blade.