Vodak 4APC King

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VODAK 4APC King

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VODAK 4APC King

Available at: www.vodak-dreva.cz (The website is in Czech but if you open it using Google Chrome it will automatically translate the site for you.)

Blade composition: Limba – APCLimba APCKiriAPCLimba APC Limba

Blade construction: I’ve said this for all the Vodak blades I’ve reviewed, and I’ll say it again: the quality is up there with the very best you can get. Any of you who’ve used blades made by top blade-makers (of which there are several in the TTD community) will know what I mean: their blades are a cut above commercially produced products. The well-respected reviewer Yogi Bear said of another Vodak blade (I think it was the Rebel Carbon Off) that it is the best ‘bang for the buck’ blade available at the moment he’s 100% right and that applies equally to the 4APC King: at a similar price I don’t think any of the commercial blades can compete on quality.

Blade dimensions: 157mm x 152mm x 6.0mm. Note that Vodak make their blades to order and will make any of the following sizes for no additional charge:
  • 157mm x 150mm
  • 157mm x 152mm
  • 157mm x 156mm
  • 162mm x 156mm
Blade weight: 87.5g

Handle: ‘Anatomical’ style at 105mm by request (Standard length is 100mm).

Tested with: Nittaku Fastarc G-1 (max.) FH & Stiga DNA Pro M (max.) BH

First impressions: Excellent control and precision; surprisingly soft feeling for an outer-fibre blade; slower than I was expecting for a 9-ply blade with 4 APC layers. The 4APC King (I’m just going to call it King from now on) offers incredible control for a stiff 9-layer (5 wood + 4 APC) blade, enabling very precise ball placement. An analogy might help (but only if you’re a Lord of the Rings fan!): The King feels like the kind of weapon that Legolas would choose (ie. nimble, precise, sharp, deadly-accurate) rather than battle-axe kind of weapon Gimli would use. I know that won’t make any sense to some of you but, to others, that’s pretty much all I need to say!

Speed: The base speed is quite low I would say around ALL. But … as you apply more force, so you discover more and more ‘gears’ and the top-end speed is more than sufficient. The interesting thing is that it feels very different at the top end to, for example, the Vodak M. Horejsi ALC (see reviews on TTD and RevSpin). Whereas the Horejsi is an ‘innerfibre’ construction with some flex that imparts top-end power through a ‘whip’ action, the King is very stiff with no flex at all and when you really bang on the power the 4 layers of APC seem to come alive!

Feel: A gentle, soft touch on low-impact shots. A stiff, sharp connection on high-impact shots. I don’t know the technical details of how Vodak achieved this, but the King seems to have an incredible range of gears. I also don’t know the technical details of what APC is compared to ALC, ZLC and other synthetic fibres but, to me, it feels softer than others I’ve used. Another reviewer said that the APC feels to him very similar to Super ZLC. When you play gently with it, it feels soft and easy. I know folks will debate whether ‘dwell time’ is a real thing or not, but we all know the difference between a blade that ‘feels’ like it gives good dwell time compared to one that feels like it doesn’t. Well, the King gives the feeling of good dwell time on all shots. Even so , when you connect with force it feels sharp, stiff and quick. It also has the largest sweet-spot of any blade I’ve used. Basically, it doesn’t have a sweet ‘spot’ the whole thing is just sweet!

Arc / trajectory: I found it produced a slightly lower arc than the Horejsi ALC on most shots, but that the trajectory was more constant. The Horejsi probably gave me a marginally higher arc in the low-to-mid range, but was more direct on high-powered shots. The King was ‘medium’ throughout on the FH side, but more direct on the BH.

Loops: This is a blade for those who want to win points on precision placement rather than brute power. Again, think Legolas rather than Gimli! The soft touch allows easier forehand opening loops than with other stiff blades, and very precise and controlled follow-ups with high-spin and a super-direct trajectory. It won’t give you the same level of outright, top-end power as, for example, the Vodak Horejsi ALC Entech (or something similar like a DHS Long 5), but it’s still a quick blade when you go for it. On the backhand it’s amazing! Whereas the Horejsi ALC Entech is my favourite blade for FH loops, the King is far and away the best BH attack blade I’ve used. So much so that I’ve seriously considered adopting the King as my main blade.

Flicks: Excellent! The soft touch combined with stiff response when you apply force means it’s the perfect blade for quick flick attacks.

Block: Very good on active blocks, as you’d expect of a stiff blade. It’s probably not the best blade for passive blockers though.

Chop: Easy. I found it easy to chop from both near and far, and to switch from chops to loops and back again with no problems at all. The stiffness of the blade means it’s super-predictable and therefore easy to adjust the force of your own impact to control the trajectory of your chops very well.

Serve: The soft feel of the King (on low impact shots) makes it easy to impart lots of spin on serves and to vary placement, angle and speed of delivery.

Control: Very high! The King behaves absolutely predictably and enables very precise, accurate play across the full range of shots.

Overall: The King is a special blade in that it enables easier spin generation than most outer-fibre blades and in that, whereas most outer-fibre blades are purely offensive blades, the King would support an allround player just as well. If you are an all-out power attacker (think Hugo Calderano, FZD, Ma Long, Dimitri Ovtcharov) then there are probably other blades better suited to you. That said, the King would suit a player like Lin Yun-Ju perfectly still an awesome attacking player, but who relies more on precision and timing than on physical power. It would equally suit players like Simon Gauzy (who plays with superb ‘touch’ and can switch from weird, tricky shots to acutely-angled bullets in the blink of an eye) or Mima Ito (close to the table, super-quick reflexes, and sharp, precise shots). All in all, the King is something special and deserves to be thought of in the very top echelon of blades at the moment. Given the exchange rates and prices at the time of this review, the King is around one-third of the price of the top Butterfly Super ZLC blades and it’s at least their equal for quality. That’s some serious value for money!

Those of you who’ve read my reviews of other Vodak blades will know that, by now, I’m a big fan. Vodak blades are (in my opinion, for my playing style, and compared to everything else I’ve tried) simply the best standard production blades (by which I mean blades you can order from a manufacturer as 'standard' products; ie. I'm not comparing to custom blades) available at the moment.

See some other reviews of the King on this site here:
 

Manto76:
Wery good , informative review.
Many thanks!
King blade is unique blade in tt-world. Another blades with 4 composite layers are hard , high speed , rigid. Not so easy to use.
King APC is despite 4 composite layer soft feeling , mild feeling blade with middle speed by fine shots.And by power shots is this blade so powerfull or just so powerfull as Viscaria blade.
I tried this blades face to face .
King has similary abilities for power play as Viscaria.
But in pasive game King has big advantage - definitely more controll due sufter feel , lesser speed.
No doubt.
I thing for many players not professional levels King should be better option due this features.
When it is needed , I can play controlled , passive game and when it is possible , I can vith the same blade to play very aggressive powerfull game.
This is biggest advantage King blade against classic ALC or ZLC blade.
As I already said , we played in corona times with my friend in very small room.
I played with King blade.
Friend tried this blade shortly.
When I played powerspins and he blocked , he asked me for King blade with explanation , that he needed this extra control for his blocking game .
His main blade was Butterfly Kong Ling euro blade , 7-ply wooden blade.
This short episode can take you , why is play with King interesting.
Against Horejsi ALC blade is King stiffer , basc speed lower , power speed the same or very similary , King is stiffer , better for blocking game and passive game (inclusive play with short and long pips , anti e.t.c.), Horejsi ALC has some flex , what is probably better for easier generating topspin game.
But all is hard individually..
Both blades are on very high level of controll for offensive blades.
 
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VODAK 4APC King

4APC%20King1.png

4APC%20King2.jpg

4APC%20King3.jpg

4APC%20King4.jpg

4APC%20King5.jpg


VODAK 4APC King

Available at: www.vodak-dreva.cz (The website is in Czech but if you open it using Google Chrome it will automatically translate the site for you.)

Blade composition: Limba – APCLimba APCKiriAPCLimba APC Limba

Blade construction: I’ve said this for all the Vodak blades I’ve reviewed, and I’ll say it again: the quality is up there with the very best you can get. Any of you who’ve used blades made by top blade-makers (of which there are several in the TTD community) will know what I mean: their blades are a cut above commercially produced products. The well-respected reviewer Yogi Bear said of another Vodak blade (I think it was the Rebel Carbon Off) that it is the best ‘bang for the buck’ blade available at the moment he’s 100% right and that applies equally to the 4APC King: at a similar price I don’t think any of the commercial blades can compete on quality.

Blade dimensions: 157mm x 152mm x 6.0mm. Note that Vodak make their blades to order and will make any of the following sizes for no additional charge:
  • 157mm x 150mm
  • 157mm x 152mm
  • 157mm x 156mm
  • 162mm x 156mm
Blade weight: 87.5g

Handle: ‘Anatomical’ style at 105mm by request (Standard length is 100mm).

Tested with: Nittaku Fastarc G-1 (max.) FH & Stiga DNA Pro M (max.) BH

First impressions: Excellent control and precision; surprisingly soft feeling for an outer-fibre blade; slower than I was expecting for a 9-ply blade with 4 APC layers. The 4APC King (I’m just going to call it King from now on) offers incredible control for a stiff 9-layer (5 wood + 4 APC) blade, enabling very precise ball placement. An analogy might help (but only if you’re a Lord of the Rings fan!): The King feels like the kind of weapon that Legolas would choose (ie. nimble, precise, sharp, deadly-accurate) rather than battle-axe kind of weapon Gimli would use. I know that won’t make any sense to some of you but, to others, that’s pretty much all I need to say!

Speed: The base speed is quite low I would say around ALL. But … as you apply more force, so you discover more and more ‘gears’ and the top-end speed is more than sufficient. The interesting thing is that it feels very different at the top end to, for example, the Vodak M. Horejsi ALC (see reviews on TTD and RevSpin). Whereas the Horejsi is an ‘innerfibre’ construction with some flex that imparts top-end power through a ‘whip’ action, the King is very stiff with no flex at all and when you really bang on the power the 4 layers of APC seem to come alive!

Feel: A gentle, soft touch on low-impact shots. A stiff, sharp connection on high-impact shots. I don’t know the technical details of how Vodak achieved this, but the King seems to have an incredible range of gears. I also don’t know the technical details of what APC is compared to ALC, ZLC and other synthetic fibres but, to me, it feels softer than others I’ve used. Another reviewer said that the APC feels to him very similar to Super ZLC. When you play gently with it, it feels soft and easy. I know folks will debate whether ‘dwell time’ is a real thing or not, but we all know the difference between a blade that ‘feels’ like it gives good dwell time compared to one that feels like it doesn’t. Well, the King gives the feeling of good dwell time on all shots. Even so , when you connect with force it feels sharp, stiff and quick. It also has the largest sweet-spot of any blade I’ve used. Basically, it doesn’t have a sweet ‘spot’ the whole thing is just sweet!

Arc / trajectory: I found it produced a slightly lower arc than the Horejsi ALC on most shots, but that the trajectory was more constant. The Horejsi probably gave me a marginally higher arc in the low-to-mid range, but was more direct on high-powered shots. The King was ‘medium’ throughout on the FH side, but more direct on the BH.

Loops: This is a blade for those who want to win points on precision placement rather than brute power. Again, think Legolas rather than Gimli! The soft touch allows easier forehand opening loops than with other stiff blades, and very precise and controlled follow-ups with high-spin and a super-direct trajectory. It won’t give you the same level of outright, top-end power as, for example, the Vodak Horejsi ALC Entech (or something similar like a DHS Long 5), but it’s still a quick blade when you go for it. On the backhand it’s amazing! Whereas the Horejsi ALC Entech is my favourite blade for FH loops, the King is far and away the best BH attack blade I’ve used. So much so that I’ve seriously considered adopting the King as my main blade.

Flicks: Excellent! The soft touch combined with stiff response when you apply force means it’s the perfect blade for quick flick attacks.

Block: Very good on active blocks, as you’d expect of a stiff blade. It’s probably not the best blade for passive blockers though.

Chop: Easy. I found it easy to chop from both near and far, and to switch from chops to loops and back again with no problems at all. The stiffness of the blade means it’s super-predictable and therefore easy to adjust the force of your own impact to control the trajectory of your chops very well.

Serve: The soft feel of the King (on low impact shots) makes it easy to impart lots of spin on serves and to vary placement, angle and speed of delivery.

Control: Very high! The King behaves absolutely predictably and enables very precise, accurate play across the full range of shots.

Overall: The King is a special blade in that it enables easier spin generation than most outer-fibre blades and in that, whereas most outer-fibre blades are purely offensive blades, the King would support an allround player just as well. If you are an all-out power attacker (think Hugo Calderano, FZD, Ma Long, Dimitri Ovtcharov) then there are probably other blades better suited to you. That said, the King would suit a player like Lin Yun-Ju perfectly still an awesome attacking player, but who relies more on precision and timing than on physical power. It would equally suit players like Simon Gauzy (who plays with superb ‘touch’ and can switch from weird, tricky shots to acutely-angled bullets in the blink of an eye) or Mima Ito (close to the table, super-quick reflexes, and sharp, precise shots). All in all, the King is something special and deserves to be thought of in the very top echelon of blades at the moment. Given the exchange rates and prices at the time of this review, the King is around one-third of the price of the top Butterfly Super ZLC blades and it’s at least their equal for quality. That’s some serious value for money!

Those of you who’ve read my reviews of other Vodak blades will know that, by now, I’m a big fan. Vodak blades are (in my opinion, for my playing style, and compared to everything else I’ve tried) simply the best standard production blades (by which I mean blades you can order from a manufacturer as 'standard' products; ie. I'm not comparing to custom blades) available at the moment.

See some other reviews of the King on this site here:

Wait what?? Quadruple ALC?? Curious how this compares to a quadruple pure carbon blade.

 
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Wait what?? Quadruple ALC?? Curious how this compares to a quadruple pure carbon blade.

Hi Yogi,

I haven't played with a quad pure carbon blade, but I imagine it might feel like playing with a frying pan!

The Vodak King has a surprisingly soft feeling. The synthetic layers are APC, not ALC. I'm no expert on these materials but you can read Vodak's explanation of APC here: https://www.vodak-dreva.cz/technologie-a-materialy/

The King has a very pleasant 'soft' touch on gentle shots but plenty of stiffness and 'crack' for high-impact shots. It's a special blade and worth a try!
 
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Hi all,
have seen the fotos and read the posts. Very interesting this KING!
I'm curious and put my question to all that have tested this KING: how is this blade compared to the DHS Fang Bo B2 ALC (not B2X)? feeling, speed, spin?
I have read the comparison with Viscaria, and Viscaria is very diffierent to DHS Fang Bo B2 ALC (Viscaria is stiffer, but with less emotional feelings). Technically is also clear that the B2 is a "inerforce" construction, different to Viscaria.
It would be great to have some feedback.
Jut to add some other point: have someone tested the blade with Bluestorm PRO?
 
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Hi all,
have seen the fotos and read the posts. Very interesting this KING!
I'm curious and put my question to all that have tested this KING: how is this blade compared to the DHS Fang Bo B2 ALC (not B2X)? feeling, speed, spin?
I have read the comparison with Viscaria, and Viscaria is very diffierent to DHS Fang Bo B2 ALC (Viscaria is stiffer, but with less emotional feelings). Technically is also clear that the B2 is a "inerforce" construction, different to Viscaria.
It would be great to have some feedback.
Jut to add some other point: have someone tested the blade with Bluestorm PRO?

Hi Bear, sometimes the question we ask is too specific and hard to answer, happens to me too. I'm sure you read manto76's review, which covers it perfectly. I myself didn't play with King, I only had it in hand and could do couple of bounces without rubbers, measure the vibration... You really will be surprised how soft it feels, given that you still feel the stiffness - I agree with manto76 and actually that is about as much as I can say. It is still a bit stiffer than Viscaria, so it is definitely stiffer than the DHS Fang Bo B2 ALC.

Btw. the DHS Fang Bo B2 ALC, as you know, has the same composition as DHS HL5 and DHS PG5, and also as the Vodak Horejsi ALC (here the heights of layers may differ a bit of course, among other things). So I have DHS PG5 and I was not impressed, honestly. Of course, it is cheap. Don't know how to explain, the clarity of feedback from Vodak Horejsi ALC is simply somewhere else for me. Viscaria too is a quality blade, I don't regret buying it, even when I don't play with it now. Cheers.
 
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Hi Bear, sometimes the question we ask is too specific and hard to answer, happens to me too. I'm sure you read manto76's review, which covers it perfectly. I myself didn't play with King, I only had it in hand and could do couple of bounces without rubbers, measure the vibration... You really will be surprised how soft it feels, given that you still feel the stiffness - I agree with manto76 and actually that is about as much as I can say. It is still a bit stiffer than Viscaria, so it is definitely stiffer than the DHS Fang Bo B2 ALC.

Btw. the DHS Fang Bo B2 ALC, as you know, has the same composition as DHS HL5 and DHS PG5, and also as the Vodak Horejsi ALC (here the heights of layers may differ a bit of course, among other things). So I have DHS PG5 and I was not impressed, honestly. Of course, it is cheap. Don't know how to explain, the clarity of feedback from Vodak Horejsi ALC is simply somewhere else for me. Viscaria too is a quality blade, I don't regret buying it, even when I don't play with it now. Cheers.

Many thanks LATEJ for your indications!
At the moment I don't will change anything due to a (very) good feeling that I have with my B2. What I search is to have a little bit more thrust by short-short touches in order to make work more the rubber and a little bit more speed by blocking hard, without losing feeling.
It's hard to find all I need; in german it will be knwon as "eierlegende Wollmilchsau": the pig that places eggs as a chicken, make wool like a sheep, produces milk like a cow... 😆
Probably the King will not fit that what I'm looking for, maybe the Horejsi ALC could be the right one.
For me Viscaria is a "cold" blade, same as the Zhang Jike. Probably the difference is done by the innerforce construction of B2 against Viscaria.
Anyway, I will look forward and wait for the "right" blade (a never ending story...🤣)
Ciao!

 
Hi Yogi,

I haven't played with a quad pure carbon blade, but I imagine it might feel like playing with a frying pan!

The Vodak King has a surprisingly soft feeling. The synthetic layers are APC, not ALC. I'm no expert on these materials but you can read Vodak's explanation of APC here: https://www.vodak-dreva.cz/technologie-a-materialy/

The King has a very pleasant 'soft' touch on gentle shots but plenty of stiffness and 'crack' for high-impact shots. It's a special blade and worth a try!

I guess it is still not as stiff as a quadruple carbon blade.

 
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Many thanks LATEJ for your indications!
At the moment I don't will change anything due to a (very) good feeling that I have with my B2. What I search is to have a little bit more thrust by short-short touches in order to make work more the rubber and a little bit more speed by blocking hard, without losing feeling.
It's hard to find all I need; in german it will be knwon as "eierlegende Wollmilchsau": the pig that places eggs as a chicken, make wool like a sheep, produces milk like a cow... 😆
Probably the King will not fit that what I'm looking for, maybe the Horejsi ALC could be the right one.
For me Viscaria is a "cold" blade, same as the Zhang Jike. Probably the difference is done by the innerforce construction of B2 against Viscaria.
Anyway, I will look forward and wait for the "right" blade (a never ending story...🤣)
Ciao!

... and I got it!!!!!
now I have to wait 8-10 days for it, I'm very excited!
hope it will works well with the PRO's!!!

 
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... and I got it!!!!!
now I have to wait 8-10 days for it, I'm very excited!
hope it will works well with the PRO's!!!


Here are my notes and experience with the 4APC King blade to which I mounted, as already indicated, the Bluestorm PRO max rubbers.

I'll give it my rating right away: Excellent! Excellent in all playing situations!

But I must also say that this result was not immediately reached because, like all personal things, you have to adjust a few parameters slightly to get the maximum you want!
Here is the description of how I arrived at the result of excellence achieved, if anyone is interested, otherwise it is enough to know that it is the perfect blade for all offensive players!
Additional note: excellent product quality in all its components and finishes!

I'll try to be concrete. Once the frame arrived (it took 14 days to arrive...) I immediately mounted the rubbers I was using on my Fang Bo (DHS, innerforce construction with ALC, 6mm, half-rigid, OFF/OFF+).
The first impression was of speed, the ball running away in length, not in flat strokes, but with the forehand topspin and also little/less rotation as wanted... this sensation for me was very negative because I expected it to seize more, especially having read MANTO76 and YOGI_BEAR on TTD!
I switched to the backhand and here a world opened up! Tense, strong, violent exchanges, wonderful feeling of power! Topspins that turns and always travels inside! Counter-top (-loop) on the table easy to manage! Wow!!!

I play the championship match with this racket, we lose, but we probably would have lost anyway. I'm angry that the forehand doesn't work as expected (and dreamed of!).
I get home, dismount the rubbers of the racket and think about the centre of gravity; measure the Fang Bo (129mm from the base of the handle) and measure the King (139mm from the base of the handle)! 10mm difference! And therein lies the possible problem! The inertia of the racket doesn't allow me to make the shot technically as I am used to! I added a few grams of lead at the base of the handle (about 2g) to centralise the centre of gravity by about 5mm. I put the rubbers on the blade and played again to see if this "modification" brought results. And the results were there! I got pretty much the same racket balance as with the Fang Bo, but with an ability to generate speed and spin beyond what I already had and beyond what I expected!
Yesterday, in practice (matches) with my usual playing partner, to confirm what I had done, I had confirmation that this setting is consistent with my needs, but the fantastic thing is that with less force, the ball travels strong and with rotation, and all (all!!!) of the actions in play, namely: serves, return serves, openings, flicks, forehand (and especially backhand!) topspin are exceptional! And all this while feeling the ball very well, which was and is also important to me! MANTO76 is right: "lots of gears"!!!

I can only suggest, for those who are looking for a fast blade, but not very (or too) fast, but that makes you feel the ball, need a little bit of parabola (not much) for the forehand in topspin, want to have a very high control with the backhand, in addition to giving a huge amount of rotation (makes the rubbers work very well!) and who do not want to have a mass product to spend this money because the joy of playing with this King is immense! Bravo VODAK!

Surely I could write many other details, but I think that already with my summary you can get an idea of the level of play you will encounter using this King!

Many thanks to all has suggested this blade!!! Really incredible what you ca do with it!!!

Well done Vodak!!!

 
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Joola Vyzaryz Freeze and Vodak 4APC king blades.

Please advice which blade to buy out of this two: Joola Dynaryz Freeze and Vodak 4APC King?
At the moment I am playing with Xiom Hugo Hal, I need another blade to complement the Hugo Hal.
Thank you very much.
jozef
 
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Joola Vyzaryz Freeze and Vodak 4APC king blades.

Hi yogi.

Please advice which blade to buy out of this two: Joola Dynaryz Freeze and Vodak 4APC King?
At the moment I am playing with Xiom Hugo Hal, I need another blade to complement the Hugo Hal.
Thank you very much.
jozef
 
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