Any reviews for Sword VSea?

[TensorBackhand]

I know some forum members have been using the Sword Vsea. Can anybody give some review of the blade and how it plays?

It looks like a 968 clone but swapping the alc for vc. How does that change the properties vs the 968?

 

[tackyfh]

Gan has reviewed it sometime ago
Sword vsea review - tabletennisgan

 

[TensorBackhand]

Gan has reviewed it sometime ago
Sword vsea review - tabletennisgan

Yeah. In his video, he claims the vc fibre is similar or the same as butterfly zlc. I wonder if this is true? Is Vectran really the same as zlc?

From those who have played it, does it really feel like zlc?

All the different fibre names confuse me.

 

[TensorBackhand]

Also confusing to me is that Gan says that the Vsea doesn't have the catapult effect of W968. But if it really is zlc, wouldn't that provide more catapult that alc?

 

[TensorBackhand]

@Attitude Any feedback here?
@VilligeMaster

 

[Attitude]

Yeah. In his video, he claims the vc fibre is similar or the same as butterfly zlc. I wonder if this is true? Is Vectran really the same as zlc?

From those who have played it, does it really feel like zlc?

All the different fibre names confuse me.

First of all, I must correct you: He says vectra is similar not the same as zlc.
Second, sadly i lack the material for any comparison because i never owened any inner carbon blade. Though i will try an inner zlc blade soon.

I try to give some input anyway^^
Catapult doesnt equal speed and imo doesnt come from a harder blade but from more flex. Maybe some of our blademakers can share some more light into it.
The speed itself, especially topend speed would probably be higher with a stiffer and harder blade.
Therefore Gan says he is quite happy with the speed the blade provides.

So my own experience is almost the same.
I have a shitload more of control now especially in blocks and touchplay.
I do require some decent technique for harder shots like loops against underspin but the result feels so sweet. The setup is not that forgiving because all of a sudden the arc gets low if you dont put some force into it. But if you do you creat some great arcs.

Counterlooping is a brease and makes way more fun, than with my outer alc blades. Sound, feeling and results are awesome. The arc helps a lot getting some serious counterattacks into the table.

All in all the only thing i currently miss, is the raw and easy to generate speed with topspins from my FZD alc. Topspinning feels a bit off sometimes, although i am not sure if the blade alone is the issue here. Because the handle ofc is different i often feel that i stop pressing the blade down with my index finger so that my racket closes down before i hit the ball with the desired angle. Resulting in catching edges with this shot way more often and creating weird shots. I mean i managed to hit the ball full force, but the only thing i did was spinning the balld slightly with the speed of a block...

 

[TensorBackhand]

First of all, I must correct you: He says vectra is similar not the same as zlc.
Second, sadly i lack the material for any comparison because i never owened any inner carbon blade. Though i will try an inner zlc blade soon.

I try to give some input anyway^^
Catapult doesnt equal speed and imo doesnt come from a harder blade but from more flex. Maybe some of our blademakers can share some more light into it.
The speed itself, especially topend speed would probably be higher with a stiffer and harder blade.
Therefore Gan says he is quite happy with the speed the blade provides.

So my own experience is almost the same.
I have a shitload more of control now especially in blocks and touchplay.
I do require some decent technique for harder shots like loops against underspin but the result feels so sweet. The setup is not that forgiving because all of a sudden the arc gets low if you dont put some force into it. But if you do you creat some great arcs.

Counterlooping is a brease and makes way more fun, than with my outer alc blades. Sound, feeling and results are awesome. The arc helps a lot getting some serious counterattacks into the table.

All in all the only thing i currently miss, is the raw and easy to generate speed with topspins from my FZD alc. Topspinning feels a bit off sometimes, although i am not sure if the blade alone is the issue here. Because the handle ofc is different i often feel that i stop pressing the blade down with my index finger so that my racket closes down before i hit the ball with the desired angle. Resulting in catching edges with this shot way more often and creating weird shots. I mean i managed to hit the ball full force, but the only thing i did was spinning the balld slightly with the speed of a block...

In the subtitle it says "similar to zlc". But I believe that in the Chinese, he actually says "it is zlc". Maybe a native speaker can provide clarification.

 

[ben1229]

structure is the same, material unknown. Gan only mentioned structure.

 

[hclnnkhg]

I think Sword's equivalent of ZLC is called JLC, so I don't think the VSEA fibre is ZLC.

 

[hclnnkhg]

Vectran - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Zylon - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

According to Wikipedia (not the most reliable source), Zylon's tensile strength is 1.6 times of that of Kevlar, whereas Vectran has similar strength as Kevlar.

The difference between ALC and Kevlar

Many people can't distinguish between ALC and Kelvar, ALC and Kelvar are both ovtcharov innerforce alc and innerforce layer alc.

sanweisport.com

Kevlar is a kind of Arylate according to Sanwei.

 

[TensorBackhand]

Vectran - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Zylon - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

According to Wikipedia (not the most reliable source), Zylon's tensile strength is 1.6 times of that of Kevlar, whereas Vectran has similar strength as Kevlar.

The difference between ALC and Kevlar

Many people can't distinguish between ALC and Kelvar, ALC and Kelvar are both ovtcharov innerforce alc and innerforce layer alc.

sanweisport.com

Kevlar is a kind of Arylate according to Sanwei.

So if Zylon is stronger than Vectran, why does Gan say that the fibre is similar to Butterfly's ZLC?

 

[hclnnkhg]

So if Zylon is stronger than Vectran, why does Gan say that the fibre is similar to Butterfly's ZLC?

My theory is that Gan feels Vsea plays similarly to Innerforce ZLC. He then deduced that Vectran carbon is similar to Butterfly's ZLC. However, this is only true if the rest of the blade are identical. Whilst both Vsea and Innerforce ZLC are Limba-Ayous-Fiber-Ayous, other factors can also affect the blade behaviour, including how the wood is processed/selected, how they are glued and put together, which are completely unknown to us normal customers.

For example, Sword provides an optional technology for custom blade orders called 内核强化. Instead of putting all wood and fiber layers together and compress all of them in one go, compression is first applied to the core, then fibre+core, and then other plies of wood i.e. the blade is compressed multiple times. This can increase the density, and very likely the stiffness of the blade (Sword claims that it is possible to make a normally 6.5 mm blade to 5.8 mm with multiple compressions). As such, the Vsea could be as stiff as Innerforce ZLC, despite Vectran carbon not being as stiff as ZLC.

Link for more details about Sword custom blade:

私人定制-个性定制-世奥得乒乓世界

www.swordtt.com

 

[VilligeMaster]

I don't get notifications and I missed the thread.
I use Sword VSea and have comparison to many other blades, also Sword HD Long5, DHS Long5 and Butterfly Innerforce ALC and Harimoto.
As I know, VectranCarbon is same material as ArylateCarbon. In therm of hardness and feeling, Sword VSea is somewere between Innerforce ALC and Innerforce ZLC. My blade 92g is rather hard and stiff, but not too much. Indeed there is no noticable catapult, what is noticable for Sword HD Long5. Catalult I call the effect of springness from the blade, what makes shots more effortless, but less controlable in low gears. Sword VSea is very lineral, fast when you play hard, but control is very good for soft shots. The best feature of this blade is feeling of stability. Very large sweetspot and solid feeling gives you a lot of confidence. The blade is very direct, so active block is very easy, and counterloops are just insane, especialy with Pinyin Cuifeng Bluesponge you want to counterattack every loop.
The disadvantage for me is that the prints come off quickly after few rubbers changing. The handle is not in my favorite shape, wings are big, upper part of the handle is little thin, but I forgot about it after few shots. I recommend rubbers like Pinyi Bluesponge, Battle ll Provintial and Gold or just H3 for forehand, and D09C, Pinyi TsuNami or FastArc G1 for backhand.