Friendship 729 Battle 2 National vs Friendship 729 Battle 3

[Zwill]

I kind of came across my B2 national that I didn't like much on W968 if I have to be super honest and I am pretty sure I gave voice to that discontent in a few posts. Maybe I didn't boost it well. I got it around the same time as H3N prov blue last year and I didn't like that either at that time since I presume I boosed them similarly (shitty).

But now I re-boosted the same sheet with some plain Seamoon and I did the dirtiest job on it too. 9pm 1 medium layer, 11pm 2nd medium layer both on the naked sponge, next day 6am rubber is curled (sponge looks dry) well I'm like shit I need to quickly glue it on my blade otherwise I can't play with it after work. So 2 layers of Sueke on sponge, and one on blade. Anyway this is not that ideal way of boosting I suppose.

But so I glued it on the Stiga Wang Manyu blade and honestly, it was good. Maybe it's still a touch soft due to being "too" freshly boosted but it was super fine. Topsheet can hold the ball for 3-4 seconds after being chucked in some corner for a year, grip is great... It's fast and spinny, with amazing fault tolerance... I'm not gonna say I like it more than H3N blue, but I don't like it less either.
B2 Nat is OK priced around 30USD, still below H3N BS prov, and it feels great. I might like it more than B3. For sure B3 has a nicer topsheet, just feels waaaay more quality but B3 is a bit more hard work to use and I think even more difficult to boost. B3 40deg is much harder than B2 blue 40 deg.

I'm beyond confused how my shit job of a boost worked so well. Before I also boosted and on W968 it felt like Matrix "bullet time" slow. Just swinging like mad and not much output from the rubber.

Anyway, according to my memory, I like B2 gold more than blue, it's maybe a touch harder and bouncier. I used B2 gold without any booster and it was servicable while B2 blue is not feasible without booster so maybe the gold is easier to boost and works out better.
B2 gold is also like 21-22USD shipped taxed whatever, I'm sure it used to be double that.

The confusion is real.

there's no information yet, I will keep updating

Some Chinese sellers on wechat posted pics of the blue package B2 national, they wrote more sticky.

 

[longle]

I kind of came across my B2 national that I didn't like much on W968 if I have to be super honest and I am pretty sure I gave voice to that discontent in a few posts. Maybe I didn't boost it well. I got it around the same time as H3N prov blue last year and I didn't like that either at that time since I presume I boosed them similarly (shitty).

But now I re-boosted the same sheet with some plain Seamoon and I did the dirtiest job on it too. 9pm 1 medium layer, 11pm 2nd medium layer both on the naked sponge, next day 6am rubber is curled (sponge looks dry) well I'm like shit I need to quickly glue it on my blade otherwise I can't play with it after work. So 2 layers of Sueke on sponge, and one on blade. Anyway this is not that ideal way of boosting I suppose.

But so I glued it on the Stiga Wang Manyu blade and honestly, it was good. Maybe it's still a touch soft due to being "too" freshly boosted but it was super fine. Topsheet can hold the ball for 3-4 seconds after being chucked in some corner for a year, grip is great... It's fast and spinny, with amazing fault tolerance... I'm not gonna say I like it more than H3N blue, but I don't like it less either.
B2 Nat is OK priced around 30USD, still below H3N BS prov, and it feels great. I might like it more than B3. For sure B3 has a nicer topsheet, just feels waaaay more quality but B3 is a bit more hard work to use and I think even more difficult to boost. B3 40deg is much harder than B2 blue 40 deg.

I'm beyond confused how my shit job of a boost worked so well. Before I also boosted and on W968 it felt like Matrix "bullet time" slow. Just swinging like mad and not much output from the rubber.

Anyway, according to my memory, I like B2 gold more than blue, it's maybe a touch harder and bouncier. I used B2 gold without any booster and it was servicable while B2 blue is not feasible without booster so maybe the gold is easier to boost and works out better.
B2 gold is also like 21-22USD shipped taxed whatever, I'm sure it used to be double that.

The confusion is real.


Some Chinese sellers on wechat posted pics of the blue package B2 national, they wrote more sticky.

Battle 2 Gold is my most favorite among the B2 line, but Bloom Power is my most favorite among all 729 rubbers. Both of them have the purple sponge, or maybe I just love the color of the sponges ?

 

[Zwill]

Battle 2 Gold is my most favorite among the B2 line, but Bloom Power is my most favorite among all 729 rubbers. Both of them have the purple sponge, or maybe I just love the color of the sponges ?

I have to say deep purple is one of my favorite colors. I like blue and red too and the mix is just the best. 🤡

 

[Brozi]

I might like it more than B3. For sure B3 has a nicer topsheet, just feels waaaay more quality but B3 is a bit more hard work to use and I think even more difficult to boost. B3 40deg is much harder than B2 blue 40 deg.

Thats interesting, I've always thought it was supposed to be the other way around. How come the B2 is easier to use than B3?

 

[Rinforzando]

what b2 gold has a purple sponge ? Maybe I got scammed, my B2 gold has a blue sponge attached to it

 

[Zwill]

Thats interesting, I've always thought it was supposed to be the other way around. How come the B2 is easier to use than B3?

Maybe just managed to boost it well now? I'm not sure either. It feels a bit soft and quite springy if I hit with impact. Many times I overshot too because of the extra speed. And I really didn't need to worry at all about racket angles much and brushing. In fact I feel I was still playing too much with friction and not enough with impact.
But on countering I didn't have this worry that oh my racket angle is a bit off and will go long or into the net.
One of my early memories of B2 prov orange was that it's very easy to control spin with it. Well I have the same impression with the national too now.

what b2 gold has a purple sponge ? Maybe I got scammed, my B2 gold has a blue sponge attached to it

Black sheet has lilac or purple sponge, red sheet has red sponge. I think you got the wrong one if it was blue. Blue is usually provincial or national. They all have different packaging too, but commercial and golden pack is a bit similar. The provincial is this grey simple pack and national is yellow colored. Some stores sell all on aliexpress you just need to select the correct one.

 

[Rinforzando]

I got mine on aliexpress, my packaging is blue with gold letters, and there is a squared hole in the bottom right corner of the packaging

 

[Zwill]

I got mine on aliexpress, my packaging is blue with gold letters, and there is a squared hole in the bottom right corner of the packaging

That's provincial blue then.

This is the golden version.

 

[Rinforzando]

I need to try the gold one then. How do you compare it to the provincial version ? Maybe you already commented on that, I'll check previous answers

 

[Zwill]

The golden is a bit harder and quite a bit faster. I used it for long without boosting and it was fine. If I remember well it comes with 2.15mm sponge not 2.1mm but whatever, not a huge difference.
What I clearly remember is that the golden has speed and quite good for impact play, better than the blue sponge versions. The Chinese say it has better bottom strength, when you hit hard on your wood it supports your shot better than the blue sponge.

Back when I bought it I'm sure it cost 40USD-ish, now 22-23, it's awesome.

 

[Spinsanity]

I regularly train and play against an rpb penhold player who uses bloom power on FH... The spin -AND spin variation it offers is very very high and reminds me of Adidas p7

It's not bouncy, so serve, receive, touch shots are all amazing - yet as soon a you go 70% + power it's really fast and deadly. In this respect it outshines many ESN which are too bouncy to really play a tight touch / short game.

On blocks, the angle has to be closed because it's a very spinny rubber so it does react to topspin. On counters it's amazing because it doesn't react much and it can borrow your opponents speed and spit it back!

I find it absolutely great on the avalox P500 because it has flex and speed. I think bloom power should be played on slightly Flexi blades with high control to make it shine.

Far from the table it's possible to play, a bit harder than a Tenergy but with good technique it can be played. I think you'd want to go back to medium/ short distance asap though as this is where the rubber is actually better than ESN/ Tenergy

Totally agree

 

[netdriver]

i had a brief hitting with a clubmate of mine that also had the same blade as mine, can say that b2 national bs is way better than b2 provincial bs (wow, what a shocker )

the nat. topsheet is more elastic than prov. and its easier to "eat" the ball. i feel that the bite on the ball is way better than prov. too because of the elastic topsheet.

39 nat feels softer than 39 prov.

its easier to play unboosted compared to prov. but its not as powerful nor as fast as prov. unboosted

it would be a pretty good rubber if boosted.

only thing is that im not really sure if i would fork over the extra dollars for a national. i doubt it plays better than the way cheaper DF volant phoenix.

 

[Zwill]

i had a brief hitting with a clubmate of mine that also had the same blade as mine, can say that b2 national bs is way better than b2 provincial bs (wow, what a shocker )

the nat. topsheet is more elastic than prov. and its easier to "eat" the ball. i feel that the bite on the ball is way better than prov. too because of the elastic topsheet.

39 nat feels softer than 39 prov.

its easier to play unboosted compared to prov. but its not as powerful nor as fast as prov. unboosted

it would be a pretty good rubber if boosted.

only thing is that im not really sure if i would fork over the extra dollars for a national. i doubt it plays better than the way cheaper DF volant phoenix.

I like the boosted nat 40deg now. I somehow boosted it with not much care but it turned out great. I wish it was maybe a hair harder especially on the tophseet side. But I'm not complaining. Well sometimes the extra cost is worth it since with one you are satisfied and with the cheaper ones you wish it had more. The national goes around 40USD which is still acceptable as Battle 2 lasts generally long.

 

[netdriver]

Well sometimes the extra cost is worth it since with one you are satisfied and with the cheaper ones you wish it had more.

thats a fair point

now im wondering whether to go gold or to go nat. esp when gold is the one that most ppl love and way relaxing on ur wallet

despite the vitriol i had of battle 2 (i am mostly bitter about the prov. bs) theres also a lot to love about it when things go right in a game or two and at this point im completely used to how it plays and behave

 

[Zwill]

My national is old but I used it before maybe one time when I didn't fancy it. Seems like it's choosy with the blade or I dunno what I messed up, the boosting could be a culprit too.

But I am ordering golden and not Nat.
Not because of the price, but I liked golden the most back in the days. I'm fully prepared that I won't like it now as much as this national. I played with the golden one 4 years ago? My taste could have changed too.

 

[netdriver]

My national is old but I used it before maybe one time when I didn't fancy it. Seems like it's choosy with the blade or I dunno what I messed up, the boosting could be a culprit too.

But I am ordering golden and not Nat.
Not because of the price, but I liked golden the most back in the days. I'm fully prepared that I won't like it now as much as this national. I played with the golden one 4 years ago? My taste could have changed too.

with a bit of moon juice you can save your relationship with gold from jeopardy

 

[Brozi]

i had a brief hitting with a clubmate of mine that also had the same blade as mine, can say that b2 national bs is way better than b2 provincial bs (wow, what a shocker )

the nat. topsheet is more elastic than prov. and its easier to "eat" the ball. i feel that the bite on the ball is way better than prov. too because of the elastic topsheet.

39 nat feels softer than 39 prov.

its easier to play unboosted compared to prov. but its not as powerful nor as fast as prov. unboosted

it would be a pretty good rubber if boosted.

only thing is that im not really sure if i would fork over the extra dollars for a national. i doubt it plays better than the way cheaper DF volant phoenix.

So its easier to spin a dead ball with this one than the Prov? Whats the difference in comparison to the Battle 3?

 

[Rinforzando]

So national or golden ? ;(
I had a very good session today with my B2 provincial, so good that I don't want to test the B3 I received recently :/

 

[Zwill]

So national or golden ? ;(
I had a very good session today with my B2 provincial, so good that I don't want to test the B3 I received recently :/

If you like the B2 prov then leave it on. If you remove it and don't like B3 I bet when you glue the B2 back again it will feel bad. And then you will curse you removed in the first place.

 

[Rinforzando]

If you like the B2 prov then leave it on. If you remove it and don't like B3 I bet when you glue the B2 back again it will feel bad. And then you will curse you removed in the first place.

exactly 😭