Double Fish Volant-Phoenix

[Zwill]

Has anyone tried this rubber? Seems like a new one. I have tried the Qiji from Double Fish and it is very impressive. I can imagine this one is good too. It goes pretty cheap on prott, for about 15USD and apparently the manufacturer states it needs no boosting. From like a quick glance it reminds me of the TDE from Victas, but who knows...

I kinda trust that Double Fish can own up to their claim and make good rubbers, but I'm just wondering if anyone has tried it.

 

[Gekko]

I struggled to find reviews even on Chinese forums. Seems like it's quite unpopular

 

[lodro]

just another decent quality Chinese rubber to give hope and inspiration to the budding TT-enthusiast 😂

 

[sampz77]

Unfortunately Double Fish rubbers seem quite hard to come by.

 

[Zwill]

I got a sheet of this in 39deg on friday, so didn't have the chance to try it but it's 68g with the foil on it so maybe it will be like 65-6g without the foil. 166x165mm is the size and it has all corners. Doesn't seem to be boosted,it doesn't smell like booster just like a normal rubber. It's unlike the Double Fish Qiji which has a very weird smell.
No glue layer on the blue sponge either.

More info later.

 

[latej]

I got a sheet of this in 39deg on friday, so didn't have the chance to try it but it's 68g with the foil on it so maybe it will be like 65-6g without the foil. 166x165mm is the size and it has all corners. Doesn't seem to be boosted,it doesn't smell like booster just like a normal rubber. It's unlike the Double Fish Qiji which has a very weird smell.
No glue layer on the blue sponge either.

More info later.

You're in the tournament right? Not supposed to review rubbers now!

That said, I forgot to wish you luck. Hope it's good, write about it pls.

About the rubber, I'll get H40, but I'll not test it immediately, because the H3 is new. But I have very high hopes!

 

[Zwill]

You're in the tournament right? Not supposed to review rubbers now!

That said, I forgot to wish you luck. Hope it's good, write about it pls.

About the rubber, I'll get H40, but I'll not test it immediately, because the H3 is new. But I have very high hopes!

Awww man, I have never missed a hearbeat to test new rubbers in a LIVE situation. I am a sucker.
But I have not gone and done it this time tho. I was so conservative that I feel disgusted with myself.

Anyways the torunament went pretty well, I used G09c and G(05) and I bought some new glue on pingpongstore.eu((for me it's pingpongbolt.hu)??? Don't wanna raise any tensions but I guess that Slovakian-Hungarian store is like a stepbro for a Czech lad like yourself too. Anyways to difuse all the BS non-existen border tension their LatX glue is basically normal Revlution just cheaper (and they give a shit ton of sponges)
Anyways on Thursday I had both Glayzers glued with a glue called Winion, my girlfriend has got it from China. It's a very watery but easy to remove glue. It's like those Dianchi and Huieson glues on Aliexpress. Actually it's not so bad.
I digress I removed the Winion glue and reglued with this LatX glue and I kinda f'ed up. While the Winion glue sticks immediately the LatX or Revolution glue can stay unglued forever if you don't press it. I didn't press it. My mistake, I'm an idiot. I had some dead spots on my racket, and it feels bad.

Anyways to make your head scratch even more I got 3rd place while I beat in the final the winner...
Yeah, funny situation. Actually the final was like a 3 participant group (final 3), where I beat the 1st place player but lost to the 2nd placed player, and the 1st placed player beat the 2nd placed and I got the short end with setcount... Oh well... I'm not too disappointed. But I think if it was played normally I would have been 1st :3

 

[Zwill]

I tried it, it's not a bad rubber actually. I felt the 39 deg is bit soft and unstable for forehand but on BH for someone who likes a bit bouncy Chinese rubbers this could be a really good one.
The topsheet is soft and stretchy, the sponge is pretty supple for a Chinese sponge as well, but when it bottoms out it has the metallic feel and sound.
Maybe with a harder sponge it would suit FH better but even at 39deg unboosted could be OK with a blade that gives more arc than a koto ZLC outer blade.
I guess the best part with it was opening up with spin and the rest is like a good Chinese rubber. Maybe a bit softer one on BH and a bit harder on FH would be the best combination.
It's quite bouncy without effort, it's unlike the typical B2 or H3. I haven't used it that much on BH but I think it's more usable than H8-80.

If someone doesn't wanna boost or just wants a great priced rubber, I think Big Dipper, H3N, B2 etc etc they are all worse. This is a pretty solid rubber.

 

[bobisekmilky]

I tried it, it's not a bad rubber actually. I felt the 39 deg is bit soft and unstable for forehand but on BH for someone who likes a bit bouncy Chinese rubbers this could be a really good one.
The topsheet is soft and stretchy, the sponge is pretty supple for a Chinese sponge as well, but when it bottoms out it has the metallic feel and sound.
Maybe with a harder sponge it would suit FH better but even at 39deg unboosted could be OK with a blade that gives more arc than a koto ZLC outer blade.
I guess the best part with it was opening up with spin and the rest is like a good Chinese rubber. Maybe a bit softer one on BH and a bit harder on FH would be the best combination.
It's quite bouncy without effort, it's unlike the typical B2 or H3. I haven't used it that much on BH but I think it's more usable than H8-80.

If someone doesn't wanna boost or just wants a great priced rubber, I think Big Dipper, H3N, B2 etc etc they are all worse. This is a pretty solid rubber.

I tried it recently since the seller introduced it as an equivalent to Battle II, Hurricane 3, Hurricane 8 etc. I didn't have an experience with these rubbers but I have heard these are good FH rubbers. So I decided to give it a try for its low price tag. I added DHS Hurricane 3 Neo Soft (37° Chinese) for BH and stuck it to my spare Tibhar Stratus Powerwood, and I was looking forward to experiencing this Chinese monster. Since I'm normally using Omega VII Asia on FH and Vega Tour on BH on the same blade, I was not impressed at all.
It was quite deadish. My first drive went very short, so I realized I really need to give the ball a long push with nice arc topspin-like movement to make it go over the net. One would, of course, accommodate, if necessary. But in direct comparison, it was quite a disappointment. Yet, the rubber did not feel deadish just in comparison with Omega VII. It felt dead even in comparison to the red Hurricane 3 Neo Soft on BH which again, did not really impress me in comparison to Vega Tour on my standard setting. However, the Hurricane was not so much less bouncy than the Vega. It was quite fine, playable, just somehow slower and less powerful. But the Volant Phoenix (black) was astonishingly dead. It did not make me want to try it more. In fact, at present, I am thinking about trying it again just to see if it stays really so dead, or whether it somehow enlivens after some time of playing.

 

[JJ Ng]

I tried it recently since the seller introduced it as an equivalent to Battle II, Hurricane 3, Hurricane 8 etc. I didn't have an experience with these rubbers but I have heard these are good FH rubbers. So I decided to give it a try for its low price tag. I added DHS Hurricane 3 Neo Soft (37° Chinese) for BH and stuck it to my spare Tibhar Stratus Powerwood, and I was looking forward to experiencing this Chinese monster. Since I'm normally using Omega VII Asia on FH and Vega Tour on BH on the same blade, I was not impressed at all.
It was quite deadish. My first drive went very short, so I realized I really need to give the ball a long push with nice arc topspin-like movement to make it go over the net. One would, of course, accommodate, if necessary. But in direct comparison, it was quite a disappointment. Yet, the rubber did not feel deadish just in comparison with Omega VII. It felt dead even in comparison to the red Hurricane 3 Neo Soft on BH which again, did not really impress me in comparison to Vega Tour on my standard setting. However, the Hurricane was not so much less bouncy than the Vega. It was quite fine, playable, just somehow slower and less powerful. But the Volant Phoenix (black) was astonishingly dead. It did not make me want to try it more. In fact, at present, I am thinking about trying it again just to see if it stays really so dead, or whether it somehow enlivens after some time of playing.

Honestly I have given up on trying Double Fish, Sanwei and Friendship products. I have gone back to H3 neo 39 degree and I am sticking with it.

I have not experienced any tensor Chinese rubber. Boosted H3 neo is the closest thing.

I think TT11 just started carrying Volant Phoenix. I am not tempted to EJ that rubber.

 

[longle]

they have Volant Phoenix 2 which is in H35 and H37, for BH maybe ?

 

[TT Lover]

they have Volant Phoenix 2 which is in H35 and H37, for BH maybe ?
View attachment 28259

For BH.
Double Fish Backhand Master.
Hardness : 32-35 Degrees.
Thickness : 2.05-2.15 mm.

 

[Zwill]

they have Volant Phoenix 2 which is in H35 and H37, for BH maybe ?
View attachment 28259

I tried the Volant 2, I am 100% sure it has the Qiji spin sponge with the Volant topsheet. I did not like it at all. H3-50 is much better and the Qiji too so I think skip.

 

[TensorBackhand]

Darn, I was looking forward to testing this. Because I like most Chinese tacky rubbers.

Not sure if it's worth it.

 

[Bagogo]

Darn, I was looking forward to testing this. Because I like most Chinese tacky rubbers.

Not sure if it's worth it.

So stick to the H3 rubber and boosting it is the best choice for forehand rather than trying other rubber?

 

[netdriver]

decided to bump this thread to post about my impressions on the rubber

i had VP 40 degrees pasted on my stiga intense CCF (stiga intensity nct with CCF carbon layers available only in chinese market) for my FH

i dont think it is a bad rubber but it is either not for me or ive pasted it on the wrong blade

the main draw of VP imo would be speed, this rubber is pretty bouncy out of the package

counters are quite deadly bc of this

but overall i find the ball quality to be mediocre compared to B2 BS, slow loops are more threatening with the B2 and VP in comparison is quite flaccid when it comes to that.

it is also a very heavy rubber and the performance drops off after about a week but what you give is what you get, this is a cheap rubber after all

if people were to try VP i think it would play better on either outer ALC blades or softer blades like limba outerply

 

[JJ Ng]

Volant Phoenix blue sponge. Is the top sheet tacky? Is the blue sponge fast enough?

 

[Lazer]

Volant Phoenix blue sponge. Is the top sheet tacky? Is the blue sponge fast enough?

Beware of the EJ devil… 😇

Cheers
L-zr

 

[netdriver]

Volant Phoenix blue sponge. Is the top sheet tacky? Is the blue sponge fast enough?

tackiness of VP is on the lower scale unfortunately

i would say that the rubber itself is fast for a chinese rubber but keep in mind that its factory boosted

 

[latej]

Volant Phoenix blue sponge. Is the top sheet tacky? Is the blue sponge fast enough?

Yes, the top-sheet is tacky, but less tacky than Rxton9. It can lift the ball, but the ball falls down almost immediately, whereas Rxton9 when clean can hold for some time. The top-sheet feels also a bit harder than Rxton9, but not really that much, e.g. signif. less than Battle 3, and I think it also a bit softer than B2 Prov. or Nat., but I didn't play with these for long time now. So the top-sheet is not bad at all, for me it is second after Rxton9, when we speak about H3 alternatives... But note that I dislike STN and also Victas TDE, as H3 alternatives (and IIR correctly you liked those), where all these have somewhat similar sponge response. The sponge on DFVP feels OK to me, I have H40, comparable to Rxton9 sponge or B2 BS sponge. For me all these are *slow*, I can't distinguish the level of slowness in between those sponges, and neither can my tr. partners. I would search for speed elsewhere ;-) Good rubber nevertheless...