DHS Hurricane 8-80 review: A great hybrid backhand rubber

[victormanriquey]

Hey all!

I'd like to add here my personal experience and feeling using the DHS Hurricane 8-80 for quite a while on the backhand. Until now we had a couple other very nice posts talking about the topic, so wanted to make those more complete with my review. Mine is mostly based on the 37 degrees, as opposed to the other thread which was based on the 38, but experience should be similar.

You can find the full blogpost here: https://www.tabletennisequipmenthelp.com/blog/hurricane-8-80-review

And here is the TL;DR if you don't have too much time or don't want to click on the link

Category	DHS Hurricane 8-80
Sponge feeling	Hybrid Hard chinese sponge, livelier than Hurricane 8
Spin potential	Very high due to the level of tackiness
Speed & Gears	Medium, but can be high with the correct hit-brush technique
Throw angle	Medium but higher than Hurricane 8
Loops	Very good for opening backspin and topspin attacks
Serves	Very high due to the level of tackiness
Flicks	Great for BH flicks, fine on FH flicks
Pushes	Great control and spin
Blocks	Good control
Flat hits	Not great but not as bad as the harder Hurricanes
Boosting	Not needed for Amateurs
Price	Usually pretty cheap
Durability	Very good

Here are the other 2 great forum threads for those players who want to have the full picture, and also to give credits to their previous authors and contributors:
- https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/another-dhs-hurricane-8-80-38d-backhand-review.38051/
- https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/dhs-h8-80.25218/

Last thing, I will be reviewing the Nittaku 8-80 power soon, I'm on it already

Hope you all like the review, and as always, feedback is welcome, I look forward to the fun chat as always!

Thanks

Victor

 

[banbekas]

Used it once, threw it away after 10 sessions. People keep saying Glayzer is slow, H8-80 is nightmarish slow with even lower spin generation.

Boosting also didn't help much. For the price, it's okay but you can get so much more just buying Vega Europe or Golden Tango.

 

[Tyce]

What would you say the difference is between this 8-80 and a Mercury 2 (medium)?

 

[victormanriquey]

Used it once, threw it away after 10 session. People keep saying Glayzer is slow, H8-80 is nightmarish slow with even lower spin generation.

Boosting also didn't help much. For the price, it's okay but you can get so much more just buying Vega Europe or Golden Tango.

Haha yeah G09c has much more bouncy at low-medium speeds, they are different in philosophy, glayzer is bounce first, tack second, 8-80 comes from the chinese side so it's the opposite. This is just a generic metaphor to explain it, it's ofc no that simple

I didn't enjoy boosting it, it got weird, not like H3N which gets better.

8-80 you need to hit more into it with the body to get the high gears, pure brushing doesn't work on it. But control is excellent at low speeds, so for me has all a lot of options for when you need it

And yes, vega europe is also a totally different vibe as well, pure bounce with good control!

 

[victormanriquey]

What would you say the difference is between this 8-80 and a Mercury 2 (medium)?

Mercury 2 has less gears, it's 'safe' and it's easier to use, feels softer and bouncier in the hand at low speeds, good for developing/beginners, but less good when you need action haha

Also, mercury 2 is unbeatable for the price.

 

[Angerer]

It's only my experience, but H8-80 37 was the 2nd worst rubber I've tried in my life (if we do not include ultra-budget beginner rubbers) only overshadowed by the horrendous H8 37.
Maybe it's the blades I tried it on--DHS PG6X and DHS Sun Yingsha, H8-80 37 felt like mush. The extreme dwell of the rubber somehow didn't help the spin generation, since the speed was so slow. Even if I rarely span the ball well, it still lacked overall kick to cause issues. Flat hitting is very bad and unenergetic.
2 layers of boosting didn't help, the rubber became even mushier. Somehow is H8-80 37 a soft and a dead rubber at the same time.

I also had two players trying it out: a semi-pro and a pro. Same conclusion: a dead rubber with little dynamics (not as astonishingly dead as H8 37 tho).

 

[Larshos]

Could you include weight (especially cut to size)?

 

[Denso]

Last thing, I will be reviewing the Nittaku 8-80 power soon, I'm on it already

Looking forward to this review, I set my eyes on this as a BH replacement for D09c

 

[kapahoo]

Problem has always been inconsistet weight between different 8-80s

 

[longle]

Chinese rubber BH is a fun style but hard to master - taking advantage of its "dead sponge" to kill opponent's force, and generate uncomfortable spins. I enjoyed H8 on BH a lot (mine comes with sponge code 710s since H8-80 is a bit soft for my BH)

 

[victormanriquey]

It's only my experience, but H8-80 37 was the 2nd worst rubber I've tried in my life (if we do not include ultra-budget beginner rubbers) only overshadowed by the horrendous H8 37.
Maybe it's the blades I tried it on--DHS PG6X and DHS Sun Yingsha, H8-80 37 felt like mush. The extreme dwell of the rubber somehow didn't help the spin generation, since the speed was so slow. Even if I rarely span the ball well, it still lacked overall kick to cause issues. Flat hitting is very bad and unenergetic.
2 layers of boosting didn't help, the rubber became even mushier. Somehow is H8-80 37 a soft and a dead rubber at the same time.

I also had two players trying it out: a semi-pro and a pro. Same conclusion: a dead rubber with little dynamics (not as astonishingly dead as H8 37 tho).

Yes this is a perfectly valid opinion, I see you play with a FZD ALC and Tenergy 19 + D80, so the 8-80 is going to feel like a fiat panda for you hahaha H8 has an even lower throw, so maybe that's why you disliked it so much, I personally don't like the H8 either, I find the H3N well boosted much better.

And indeed, flat hitting is not good with most of the hurricane rubbers, the rubber slows down a lot with the tackiness and has a flat-ish trajectory so it's not a rubber made for that

What were the pro guys playing with @Angerer ? )

 

[victormanriquey]

Could you include weight (especially cut to size)?

Ah yes, I see in the blog I put the uncut weight, not the cut one, it varies as QA is not super good, but mine have usually been around 50g give or take. this is also what @kapahoo mentioned

Chinese rubber BH is a fun style but hard to master - taking advantage of its "dead sponge" to kill opponent's force, and generate uncomfortable spins. I enjoyed H8 on BH a lot (mine comes with sponge code 710s since H8-80 is a bit soft for my BH)

Yeah for sure is fun, it's a personal thing but I enjoy it a lot! If you find 8-80 soft on BH, you must hit pretty hard @longle ?

Looking forward to this review, I set my eyes on this as a BH replacement for D09c

I will tell you soon! I'll likely make two blogs for it, one about the rubber itself and another to compare

 

[banbekas]

What would you say the difference is between this 8-80 and a Mercury 2 (medium)?

Get Mercury and boost the heck out of it. It's the better approach than getting a sheet of H8-80. Or you could get yourself TG3-60.

 

[golden_son]

I would agree with others that say 8-80 feels like mush, and boosting makes it feel like mashed potatoes. It's a little better on outer-carbon than inner carbon; in fact I liked the control and spin generation fine on Viscaria but it felt slow even on that blade. I'm sure with a rapid swing speed you can get some power out of it but I prefer a little more "help" from my BH rubbers. Tennis elbow is a thing.

Honestly Moon 12 Blue feels like it has a similar topsheet and a better sponge, but I played them many months apart so my memory could be unreliable. I just remember in my first session with M12B thinking "Wow, this feels really similar to 8-80 but not quite as weird."

Looking forward to your review of H8-80 Power, though @victormanriquey.

 

[Jslick89]

can you do a mini comparison between 8-80 vs dhs h3n 37/38 degree rubbers on backhand?

 

[longle]

Yeah for sure is fun, it's a personal thing but I enjoy it a lot! If you find 8-80 soft on BH, you must hit pretty hard @longle ?

just personal taste, I just feel like 38d H8-80 softer than other 38d H3 and H8 I usually play

 

[joshmak10]

8-80 to me is just a worse version of 09c for cheaper. I played with Provincial and national versions of this rubber, and it’s good but I still rather have 09c for my BH. Commercial is just not good for my opinion

 

[victormanriquey]

I would agree with others that say 8-80 feels like mush, and boosting makes it feel like mashed potatoes. It's a little better on outer-carbon than inner carbon; in fact I liked the control and spin generation fine on Viscaria but it felt slow even on that blade. I'm sure with a rapid swing speed you can get some power out of it but I prefer a little more "help" from my BH rubbers. Tennis elbow is a thing.

Honestly Moon 12 Blue feels like it has a similar topsheet and a better sponge, but I played them many months apart so my memory could be unreliable. I just remember in my first session with M12B thinking "Wow, this feels really similar to 8-80 but not quite as weird."

Looking forward to your review of H8-80 Power, though @victormanriquey.

Yep indeed @golden_son this is a rubber that is not for everybody, and I also did not enjoy boosting it

Yeah I'm excited about the nittaku review too, its in the testing phase and in the making!

 

[victormanriquey]

can you do a mini comparison between 8-80 vs dhs h3n 37/38 degree rubbers on backhand?

I have added some good info on this here! https://www.tabletennisequipmenthelp.com/blog/dhs-hurricane-3-neo-complete-amateur-guide

But mostly, 8-80 is just easier to use and has more kick, and you dont need to boost is constantly. H3N 37 boosted feels great for 2 weeks, then you struggle in rallies and openings, it just does not have as much tempo unless it's well boosted.

 

[victormanriquey]

8-80 to me is just a worse version of 09c for cheaper. I played with Provincial and national versions of this rubber, and it’s good but I still rather have 09c for my BH. Commercial is just not good for my opinion

Yep, I would not say worse per se, more like just more controlled haha but i understand where the worse comes from, less speed, bit less speed, and more difficult to activate overall. I do enjoy the lower throw on it and the price D09c is a great rubber anyways!