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Theres so many variants and so much to know about the acclaimed Hurricane 3 rubbers.
I got 40deg H3 provincial (orange sponge) as my FH on my first (current) bat. And i really like it.
Im looking to upgrade bats in the near future and would like to keep h3 on my forehand, although i would like to know more about all the many variants abt of H3

1. Whats the difference between H3 and H3 Neo ?

2. Whats the difference between Commercial/ Provincial/ National (more focus on prov v national)

3. Whats the difference between Orange and Blue sponge variants of each rubber?

4. Is boosting necessary ? (ik the obvious answer is no, but I hear even coach emratthick say h3 no good without booster)

Now im assuming each of these factors have the same effect across the board (Eg. blue sponge increases xxx on all H3s neos, com,prov,national alike)
although if this is not the case (eg. blue sponge increases xxx on Prov h3 neo, but increases zzz on H3 national) then feel free to let me know.

Bonus Q, is there variation in quality between sheets of H3 ? apparently older H3s (manufactured years ago) are much worse then new sheets (made in recent years) despite being the same exact rubber.

Hoping this can be a 1 stop shop for all things H3, if theres any factors I missed feel free to add
Thanks,
 
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Theres so many variants and so much to know about the acclaimed Hurricane 3 rubbers.
I got 40deg H3 provincial (orange sponge) as my FH on my first (current) bat. And i really like it.
Im looking to upgrade bats in the near future and would like to keep h3 on my forehand, although i would like to know more about all the many variants abt of H3

1. Whats the difference between H3 and H3 Neo ?

2. Whats the difference between Commercial/ Provincial/ National (more focus on prov v national)

3. Whats the difference between Orange and Blue sponge variants of each rubber?

Now im assuming each of these factors have the same effect across the board (Eg. blue sponge increases xxx on all H3s neos, com,prov,national alike)
although if this is not the case (eg. blue sponge increases xxx on Prov h3 neo, but increases zzz on H3 national) then feel free to let me know.

Bonus Q, is there variation in quality between sheets of H3 ? apparently older H3s (manufactured years ago) are much worse then new sheets (made in recent years) despite being the same exact rubber.

Hoping this can be a 1 stop shop for all things H3, if theres any factors I missed feel free to add
Thanks,

Ahhhh another one of these threads!
One factor you missed: doing a simple forum search as all three of your questions have been answered IN-DEPTH numerous times already. :)

From my experience in a nutshell:

1. H3 Neo is the successor to “non-neo” H3, slightly less tacky top sheet (although still quite tacky compared to other tacky rubbers) faster “neo” sponge.

2.Commercial = cheapest, lowest quality
National = most expensive, “highest quality”
Provincial = in the middle of commercial and national

3. Orange sponge softer than Blue sponge.
And you are correct, about each of these 1,2,3 factors affecting across the board.

I can’t comment on older versions of H3 because All of the Hurricane of tried were in the past 5 years so I’m guessing they are all newer version.
In my opinion, having tried all 3. The benefits don’t outweigh the risks of getting National H3 as there are numerous fakes out there, and the difference in performance isn’t noticeable enough for me to spend the extra time and money each replacement.
Commercial is a good way to try out hurricane because it doesn’t cost that much (to me at least) to find out if its for you or not.
My preference is the orange sponge provincial 39deg hardness boosted or not.

I’m sure others will chime In with their opinions and experiences and cover way more info than I’ve provided. Hope this helps. Please keep us posted !


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1) H3 Neo is factory boosted and comes in slightly softer than H3. Another major difference is also the top sheet of a regular H3 is much more tackier than the newer versions of H3 Neo. This makes H3 Neo easier to adapt and also easier on the maintenance.

2) Quality Control and consistency. QC is lesser on the commercial grades and usually this are the versions that are regularly boosted. Provincial has a better QC and consistency. You are likely to find similar responses for provincial grade when compare to commercial grades.

National grade is a different beast altogether. The orange sponge found in National versions are more dynamic. Besides that it also carries all the positives from the Province grade but at a higher level of playability. You do lose a bit of the spin due to the sponge being more dynamic.

3) Blue sponge are usually deader and have lesser bounce thus more spin oriented. This are the versions that usually players opt for and go for boosting due to them being harder than the Orange Versions.

Blue sponges usually comes in Province grade and above only.

And Yes, newer Hurricanes 3 especially the Province grade has improved in quality. I am able to pick up any H3 Neo Province grade and adapt to it within the same day. Better consistency.
 
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I play with H3 Neo and it is a slight step up from standard . How long have you been playing with H3 orange sponge.? Just make sure you can do the full stroke on FH loop to get the full advantage of the rubber.

May be you should try the H3 Blue sponge as the next logical step.
 
says Table tennis clown
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Original DHS Hurricane 3 Table Tennis rubber,Table Tennis cover / Pingpong rubber With Security Code Free shipping|Table Tennis Accessories & Equipment| - AliExpress

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32679747559.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.ec263c00F9P0EU&mp=1

At this price why don't you just buy a pair.
I do recommend the shop, have bought many things from them.

I use these on both Fh and BH as they come out of the packet.
They need adjusting to , they are definitely NOT a Tenergy..................just different.

I have got another blade and use H3 on the forehand and a NEO on the BH that works fine too, but i keep twiddling because i can not make up my mind which way round i prefer. ;)

All the best with you mega-thread.
 
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Thanks splasher78 and tt_kidz for the very useful info!

I've also been wanting to try Chinese rubber and in particular H3.

Based on what you've both written, seems better to start with Provincial rather than Commercial for quality reasons, and in order to better transition from Euro/Japanese rubbers, to use Orange sponge and Neo rather than Blue and regular H3.

I'm not interested in boosting (maybe later), so Orange sponge also seems like a better option for me than Blue.

Is this all correct?

My last question would be regarding hardness, should I start with 37 degrees or harder?
 
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The hardness difference is very big. Get the softest possible first. The rest is quite small actually (orange/blue, commercial/pro). I wouldn’t really bother with them if I just want a first try. Mostly take the cost into account as you want it to be fun. There is no such a thing as “easier transition” imoo.

If you like tacky rubber and you want European, try Rakza Z. You have 7 Soft there so H3 is going to be quite a big jump. Rakza Z feels a lot softer and bouncier/livelier than boosted H3. (I have it on backhand and switch sometimes for a taste, so this is not a 2-hour quick test).
 
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says MIA
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The hardness difference is very big. Get the softest possible first. The rest is quite small actually (orange/blue, commercial/pro). I wouldn’t really bother with them if I just want a first try. Mostly take the cost into account as you want it to be fun. There is no such a thing as “easier transition” imoo.

If you like tacky rubber and you want European, try Rakza Z. You have 7 Soft there so H3 is going to be quite a big jump. Rakza Z feels a lot softer and bouncier/livelier than boosted H3. (I have it on backhand and switch sometimes for a taste, so this is not a 2-hour quick test).

Thanks Tango,

I've actually tried Rakza Z, excellent rubber. If I were to try H3, it would be to try something not lively and therefore completely different.
 
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If you are that determined :D probably better change your backhand to be harder too, so quite a massive twist. Maybe just replace your 7 Soft with H3 and keep the 7 regular for backhand if it’s already Red.
 
says MIA
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If you are that determined :D probably better change your backhand to be harder too, so quite a massive twist. Maybe just replace your 7 Soft with H3 and keep the 7 regular for backhand if it’s already Red.

I'm mostly interested in trying H3 on my FH, doubt I'll put in on my BH too, but I'll definitely flip and try it.
 
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Appologize I wasn’t clear. WhatI mean is if you have H3 on the forehand then your 7 soft on backhand will be too soft. You could try 7 regular on backhand. Just my personal oppinion though
 
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Thanks splasher78 and tt_kidz for the very useful info!

I've also been wanting to try Chinese rubber and in particular H3.

Based on what you've both written, seems better to start with Provincial rather than Commercial for quality reasons, and in order to better transition from Euro/Japanese rubbers, to use Orange sponge and Neo rather than Blue and regular H3.

I'm not interested in boosting (maybe later), so Orange sponge also seems like a better option for me than Blue.

Is this all correct?

My last question would be regarding hardness, should I start with 37 degrees or harder?

If this is the 1st time you are playing with a Chinese characteristics rubber, then I would suggest you go for the commercial grades 1st. Reason because the techniques and requirement for Chinese rubbers are quite different than the usual tensor based rubbers.

As you maybe aware, H3 are not spin insensitive plus the requirement for longer and full strokes, they can play very differently than tensor styles rubber. You will find yourself struggling to return game as easily vs the usual rubbers that you are used to.

Also I do know that H3 is well known for fakes too thus unless you are sure that you are willing to persevere, is not worth spending too much on this until you are sure you want to stick to this style of game.

Personally commercial grades (usually between 38/39 and comes in orange sponges) are good testing grounds to see if you up to it or not before you make the jump in getting the Provincial grades.

With Provincial Grades you have a much larger range from the recently released 37 degrees to 41 degrees. This are not personal rubber range but the Provincial grades only.
 
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I was going to purchase from TTNPP, assuming his are legit.

Where do you guys buy yours from?

Buy it from AliExpress. Playa ping pong is a trusted store but there are many more. There’re quite a few threads on AliExpress.
 
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There is a significant disadvantage with Hurricane 8.

The topsheet for Hurricane 8 is much stickier than H3 Neo and the extra weight due to new sponge and topsheet.

This also means you need to be able to constantly generate high swing speed to generate decent spin.
The stickier topsheet also means this has a very low trajectory and even lower catapult than the usual H3 Neo. As such, flat hits are not the forte for H8 while you could still do reasonably well for H3N.
 
I was going to purchase from TTNPP, assuming his are legit.

Where do you guys buy yours from?

Ordered h3 neo provincial from TTNP numerous times without any problems. The only “downside” is the shipping time to USA. Average time is about 2-3weeks tops. But their prices more than make up for this.


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