Okey. I see. My friend have never complained about this. We sweat very much so Maybe that smells instead. Do not know. Many have protection or plastic bag to keep the tackiness.
Alternative to smelly Chinese rubbers
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I had a racket with H3 neo both sides and it made my entire apartment smell like fish. It's VERY strong.
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Great idea! I'm looking for "organic" rubbers and I also need them to be gluten free. While we are at it, I want the tree sap to be collected as humanely as possible, without any cruelty to trees.
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Like many people suggested, you could try Genesis 2 on FH. Or you could go with Mantra H for better control in short touches. I know it sounds crazy but trust me, firmer/harder rubbers are actually less bouncy in short touches. If Mantra M is too bouncy for short touches, then go with Mantra H for FH.
You'll need some time to adjust to Mantra H though, it's much faster than H3 neo and less linear.
If you want really linear rubbers, then you'll have to use hard Chinese rubbers, or use a hard blade with low throw angle (which I don't recommend for developing players).
I don't think tacky hybrid rubbers (with softer sponge) can be as linear as Chinese rubbers with hard sponge.
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Fwiw I just tried Yinhe Jupiter 2 after several recommendations and boy, it stinks even worse. Never again. For those who don’t mind the stink, it’s a real nice rubber though. Too bad.
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You know chinese rubbers only smell bad the first few days,. Acter you have aired them the initial stink goes away.
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It's hard to imagine someone switching rubbers because of the smell and not the performance... that being said, most Chinese rubbers come in a sealed plastic bag (to preserve the tackiness), whereas most other rubbers comes without the seal, that's why they don't smell as bad. Also, most brand has their own unique smell, for example to me Butterfly rubbers smell like used socks soaked in sweat and haven't been washed for a few days, and DHS rubbers smell a bit like fish (the ones come in cans).
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Most of you who are saying you can’t imagine someone changing rubbers because of the smell....well, you never met my wife while she was still around. My daughter and my sister too.
And, for sure, I have had H3 that smelled pretty bad.
If you can’t smell it and the OP can, it may not mean OP’s sense of smell is too sensitive. It may instead mean something about many of us and our sense of smell. I will own that I cannot smell plenty of things my daughter can.
And I think, the smell of a rubber giving you a headache and making you want to throw out your racket case is a perfectly intelligent reason to change rubbers. [emoji2]
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And, for sure, I have had H3 that smelled pretty bad.
If you can’t smell it and the OP can, it may not mean OP’s sense of smell is too sensitive. It may instead mean something about many of us and our sense of smell. I will own that I cannot smell plenty of things my daughter can.
And I think, the smell of a rubber giving you a headache and making you want to throw out your racket case is a perfectly intelligent reason to change rubbers. [emoji2]
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True, I know how smells can be very intoxicating, I doubt anyone like smelly things around, and I'm one of those who can smell lots of weird smells when my friends say they smell nothing... What I'm trying to say was, I can't imagine the smell being that bad on the rubbers, and that is so strong and travels so far such that you can constantly smell it when using it. At least all I can smell when I'm playing is the sweat from myself and everyone else in the room. And like I said previously, I don't like the smell either, I've just learnt to not let it bother me since the strong smell only lasts for a short time after taking the rubber out of the packaging, afterwards it'll only be noticeable if I stick my nose up to it.
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One thing I read was that he smelled it through his case and it made his case smell. Did he say it made his bag and the stuff in his bag smell too?
As a result of reading details about smell through the case, I doubt that is about things happening only while playing. Like, most people don’t play with their racket in its case. [emoji2]
And I do remember my wife coming in to where I kept my TT equipment in our apartment and pointing and asking what smelled so bad. Asking what the chemical smell was. So, I did give those rubbers to a friend. [emoji2]
From my perspective my wife was saving me from my own bad sense of smell and not letting me expose myself to as many toxic chemicals.
Sent from my NSA SpyPhone from Sector 13D-SR13Z74 Sub Level 29X Fort Meade, Maryland
As a result of reading details about smell through the case, I doubt that is about things happening only while playing. Like, most people don’t play with their racket in its case. [emoji2]
And I do remember my wife coming in to where I kept my TT equipment in our apartment and pointing and asking what smelled so bad. Asking what the chemical smell was. So, I did give those rubbers to a friend. [emoji2]
From my perspective my wife was saving me from my own bad sense of smell and not letting me expose myself to as many toxic chemicals.
Sent from my NSA SpyPhone from Sector 13D-SR13Z74 Sub Level 29X Fort Meade, Maryland
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I can't help but feel that some singular/uncommon experiences are being magnified here.
I'm really curious to know which brand/name of rubber is so bad. I would also like to know from where the rubber was purchased. And finally, how many sheets were purchased and how many were bad?
I just want to form a more balanced opinion on this matter. Maybe some players had a bad first experience with a defective or fake Chinese rubber and assumed that all Chinese rubbers are similarly smelly, so they never tried again. Or maybe we can isolate the problem to a certain brand or a vendor (who might sell fake rubbers).
My personal experience with Chinese rubbers have always been excellent. I have probably bought 60-70 sheets of Chinese rubbers over the years - mostly DHS, Galaxy, and 729 Friendship rubbers.
Maybe I got lucky and never received a defective or fake rubber. I have about 25 rackets and all of them have Chinese tacky rubbers on FH. I've never experience a piece of Chinese tacky rubber that smelled so strongly and permeated through racket cases, gym bags, and even entire house.
I'm really curious to know which brand/name of rubber is so bad. I would also like to know from where the rubber was purchased. And finally, how many sheets were purchased and how many were bad?
I just want to form a more balanced opinion on this matter. Maybe some players had a bad first experience with a defective or fake Chinese rubber and assumed that all Chinese rubbers are similarly smelly, so they never tried again. Or maybe we can isolate the problem to a certain brand or a vendor (who might sell fake rubbers).
My personal experience with Chinese rubbers have always been excellent. I have probably bought 60-70 sheets of Chinese rubbers over the years - mostly DHS, Galaxy, and 729 Friendship rubbers.
Maybe I got lucky and never received a defective or fake rubber. I have about 25 rackets and all of them have Chinese tacky rubbers on FH. I've never experience a piece of Chinese tacky rubber that smelled so strongly and permeated through racket cases, gym bags, and even entire house.
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@usualsuspect The rubbers I tried are described in my posts - Hurricane 3 Neo and Yinhe Jupiter 2. They are purchased from real shops in Sweden and UK.
If you have about 25 rackets with Chinese rubbers, that explains why you don't smell it ;-)
If you have about 25 rackets with Chinese rubbers, that explains why you don't smell it ;-)
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I used to use Revolution3 glue. I switched to Donic blue contact because I didn't like Revolution3's smell.
I use tensor rubbers on BH for all rackets, so I can tell which rubbers smell and which don't.
All I'm trying to say is that normally Chinese rubbers shouldn't be significantly more smelly than other rubbers.
I'd like to think I have a fair amount of experience on this subject.
I always appreciate new information and different points of view, however, I just don't want others to read a few horror stories online about Chinese rubbers and make a sweeping generalization about the matter.
If this happens, then our thread is potentially spreading misinformation about table tennis, which is the opposite of what we want to achieve here.
I don't think so because I had the same response to a sheet of H3 Neo from a popular and reliable online vendor. Smell was strong and unpleasant enough that after gluing it on I kept the blade in a sealed plastic bag at all times (except when using it). Lasted quite a while too. For me Hurricane 8 was the solution to this problem.
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What smells is the factory tuning/booster/treatment that many Chinese rubbers have. This treatment makes H3Neo bouncier than H3 but also stinks. My H3Neo smelled significantly less after about 4 weeks (one might say it "aired out"), but it also went dead. So what's the product here? It's possible that I could get a regular H3 and have a dead, low-smell rubber from the start. But it's recommended that you reglue and boost these after 3-4 weeks, and there you go again.
I can respect that some people are not bothered by the smell, but there are also plenty rubbers (most of them non-Chinese) that don't have this problem to begin with. Mantra, Mark V, Sriver, Cobra2000, Tenergy, Xiom Vega etc to mention a few I have come in contact with.
I can respect that some people are not bothered by the smell, but there are also plenty rubbers (most of them non-Chinese) that don't have this problem to begin with. Mantra, Mark V, Sriver, Cobra2000, Tenergy, Xiom Vega etc to mention a few I have come in contact with.
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So just find a booster that doesn't smell then
And most of them don't.Also, I think you're stereotyping a bit since you say Chinese rubbers which includes tens if not hundreds of different rubbers out there.
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Totally agree it's being magnified, though not necessarily singular experience. Of all the rubbers I've bought so far, I hate the smell from tenergy the most, especially combined with Butterfly's own FreeChack II glue. FreeChack II itself doesn't have a strong smell, nor when I used it on other rubbers, only when put on tenergy it smells like old stinky socks. Other smelly rubbers I've used is actually DHS H3 National Blue Sponge, but it's not too strong since there's no plastic seal to keep it in.
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