Can anyone talk me either into buying this or leave it alone

[UpSideDownCarl]

Thank you my friend, this of course will bring us to the next question : At what price is a Hinoky blade a real Hinoki blade ??? Or with other words : will a NZ $ 65 single ply Hinoki blade from eg. Stuor or Sanwei give me the "real feel" or does it have to be something really expensive ?

As I see it, there is not a whole lot of craftsmanship behind making a One Ply blade. There are no layers to laminate. There is no question about what kind of glue was used to laminate. All it is, is a slab of wood with a handle on added to it. Lower quality wood might not play as well. But, I don't know....it also might play better.

Most of the one ply Hinoki blades I tried were Darker Speed 90s and the were pretty amazing. But I remember playing this blade that was an orange cypress wood. I think the guy who made it was calling his blades "American Hinoki". It wasn't an expensive blade. It wasn't really Hinoki but a similar wood from USA. And it felt quite nice to me.

If it is a one ply blade and it is made out of some form of cypress that has a similar playing quality to Hinoki (which is a kind of cypress) it will probably be fun to mess around with.

But if you can get your hands on a Speed 90 or something like it, man it would be nice to have.

You could also ask @Gozo Aruna about the guy who made his one ply Hinoki blades.

 

[TensorBackhand]

Eh? I was just looking at XVT store yesterday on Ali

Try: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1801900

I even got responses them via Ali messaging. First there was AI response (which actually was quite good), and then a human replied when they were available

Hmm I also notice there is another XVT store: https://xvtsport.aliexpress.com/store/530940

I see similar thing often on AliExpress (multiple stores with similar name). I'm never sure if they are legit or just the same store running under different names... 🤷

Could message each store and ask if it's safe to buy from the other store haha. If they say yes its safe to buy from other store, probably means they are just trading under multiple names? I think my logic is sound there?

Edit: I just got a reply. I asked store 530940 if it was safe to buy from 1801900 and they said "Yes we are the same company"

But it seems like they took down most of their old blades. I dont see the long 5 or zl600.

Do you?

 

[Loop Lob Smash]

Hi @lodro
I have owned a number of Hinoki blades, some all-wood (5 and 7 ply Kiso), some fast carbon (Gergely and TCore Kiso-carbon), slower carbon (Rossi Emotion), and most recently an Andro TP_Ligna CO Off (Italian 'Hinoki' in quotes).

I enjoyed all of those blades, however the Andro is the best of the bunch for me. Why?
1) Because it has the most gears, most appealing power profile. Delicate touch for short game, controllable for attacking close, still deadly from a distance.
2) Because I like the feel at impact.

In support of buying the XVT, it is an interesting blade because of its 6mm thickness (as is the Sanwei Nova Carbon). I expect this should fit the niche of low Off speed.

The all-woods I tried lacked a top gear and were a bit bouncy in the short game (e.g. Nittaku Septear). The Gergely and TCore were a bit too strong, stiff and direct. The Andro, at 6.3mm fits the middle ground I desire. The fact that it is Italian 'Hinoki' (spruce) is of no concern to me.

Cheers, LLS

 

[Der_Echte]

The only reason i want to buy it is that I am interested to find out what the 2 layers of hinoki will feel like in comparison with koto , Limba , ebony etc etc and all the other outer layers i got in the house already. Will there be a distinct difference and will there be some of the hinoki-magic in this blade.

Another blade that interests me for the same reason is the Sanwei Nova carbon , it also has a very thick hinoki top layer.

If you like doing a crushing loop drive where you smack the dog piss outta the thing, you will LIKE it.

 

[lodro]

If you like doing a crushing loop drive where you smack the dog piss outta the thing, you will LIKE it.

Neee, I leave the heavy hitting games to the young'ns 😂 ..........or big brutes like yourselves.

 

[Lazer]

Neee, I leave the heavy hitting games to the young'ns 😂 ..........or big brutes like yourselves.

If you want a blade with a good feel, I find an outer with a spruce top really does it…
My favorite being Nittaku S-CZ. The draw back being the top is fragile, gotta be careful when changing rubbers and don’t bang it too much in the table. Also this particular blade is a bit on the slow side…
But it has a great feel…

Cheers
L-zr

 

[lodro]

If you want a blade with a good feel, I find an outer with a spruce top really does it…
My favorite being Nittaku S-CZ. The draw back being the top is fragile, gotta be careful when changing rubbers and don’t bang it too much in the table. Also this particular blade is a bit on the slow side…
But it has a great feel…

Cheers
L-zr

I actually do own a very slow feely blade, my
TSP/Victas Blockman II but no matter how hard i tried i never managed to find out what woods are used in the laminates.

 

[greenbeanmachine]

Leave it. Why?
Hinoki should be left unsullied, in its pure form.

Quadri Aruna disagrees with you

 

[nzbloggs]

So when's it arriving?

 

[lodro]

Quadri Aruna disagrees with you

looks like it.
His blade seems to have japanese cypress over carbon

 

[lodro]

So when's it arriving?

the jury is still out but it seems to be about 50 : 50 pro vs contra

 

[nzbloggs]

But it seems like they took down most of their old blades. I dont see the long 5 or zl600.

Do you?

I couldn't see them either but the seller sent me these links

Long V https://a.aliexpress.com/_mNADhxH

ZL 600

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtMRxnd

 

[TensorBackhand]

I couldn't see them either but the seller sent me these links

Long V https://a.aliexpress.com/_mNADhxH

ZL 600

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtMRxnd

do those links work for you? they dont work for me

 

[nzbloggs]

Yeah they work for me, strange.

I can find those two bats via Ali search now... Maybe the seller had previously hidden them accidentally and only just realised 🤣

 

[TensorBackhand]

Yeah they work for me, strange.

I can find those two bats via Ali search now... Maybe the seller had previously hidden them accidentally and only just realised 🤣

Darn I can't see it. I'd really like to try the XVT long 5

 

[lodro]

Darn I can't see it. I'd really like to try the XVT long 5

just another long5 copy 😁

 

[TensorBackhand]

just another long5 copy 😁

Sometimes these copies are better than the real thing, I'm not even joking or exaggerating. It's like a lottery. Each blade and wood is just different, and sometimes it just works out to be amazing. My Lemuria Long 5 is amazing.

So I'm curious if XVT has a good clone. The XVT ZL600 is really very good, so that's why I think the XVT Long5 has a good chance to be good too.

 

[Der_Echte]

Neee, I leave the heavy hitting games to the young'ns 😂 ..........or big brutes like yourselves.

YES, I can CRACK that ball and make it leak 100% of the dog piss that is in the ball... but I use that shot less than 10% of my shots attempted.

GO heavy (slow) or go home is my mantra.