Hurricane 301

5 out of 5 rating for Hurricane 301

Before I start, this is my first time doing a review so I'm not very good. When I tested this blade I was using H3P blue sponge in 39 degrees and 2.2 mm thick on forehand and Rozena in 1.9mm thickness on backhand. Also I am a Cpen player. And finally, I do not have the weight of my blade sorry.

So, after 1-2 hours of testing, I found this as an truly amazing blade. First of all, this is a very affordable blade and great for its price. Secondly,there was no difficulties at all switching from an all wood blade to this. That is because of its structure, It has the same construction as a Long5 blade except for the fact that the ALC layer is thinner and the top ply is koto instead of limba. So on soft shots it has the great feeling of a wood blade with a little less dwell time and on medium/hard shots, has the crisp feeling of Carbon. None of my shots went out of the table because of this switch. The sweetspot by the way, is pretty big kind of like the carbonado 190 but overall a little smaller.

This blade is stiff but not so much as to other ALC blades. On topspins I barely found any difference between this and my old blade( however, part of that is maybe due to the fact that I haven't had that much experience with equipment). On topspin against backspin, it was really smooth and I had no difficulties doing it. When flicking, because you do not use as much power as your other shots, you are basically only flicking with the two outer wood layers and that actually helps a lot, because it gives more dwell time. Block was great and counter hitting is the best part. Because of the sheer speed of your blade combined with the power from your opponent, the return is very fast and still has quite some spin in it. On hard shots, you can feel the vibrations pass through just like a wood blade. It offers a lot of control along with spin and speed. This blade also has many gears unlike some other composite blades when the ball just shoots out immediately.

SO, on with the negative part of this blade. When I opened the package, a part of the side of the blade has a crack in it. It doesn't affect the game much but just looks bad. And later when I was walking to get some water I accidentally banged it on a chair and a bit of the blade chipped off. This blade definitely is not that durable but we kind of have to forgive DHS for that because of the price. If you do not want this to happen you can actually purchase a national version of this blade and from what I've heard the quality just skyrockets and the performance improves too. I personally suggest this blade to someone who is still improving their techniques and was using an all wood blade.
 
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says I would recommend all wood. Samsonov Alpha sgs is the...
says I would recommend all wood. Samsonov Alpha sgs is the...
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5 out of 5 rating for Hurricane 301

It is a blade made with the same philosophy as the Hurricane rubber after which it is named.

The outer layer is hard (koto wood) which insulates the inner layers from impact so long as the impact is weak, meaning that touch play with this blade is exquisite, possibly the best of all my blades.
The ALC weave comes only after the second wood ply, next to the wood core, so the high speed it can generate requires you to use power to activate it. It does not come immediately, thus giving a very linear grading of speeds which are very easy to access and control.
So all in all it's like a hurricane rubber. Great for very soft touches and very speedy when YOU give it power, thus it is a blade for more advanced players in good health.

I think it is a brilliant cross of a viscaria and an innerforce, given the koto outer layer and the placement of the carbon layer, which gives it the best linearity and gears of any blade I've tried.

The only problem I find is that after the carbon is truly activated, it can be... well, it can get too fast. For me at least. It is also a bit harder to attack backspin balls reliably with this blade compared to others, since you have to generate all of the power there and therefore can be too prone to mistake.
The throw of this blade is low (again in keeping with the hurricane rubber theme), which makes topspins very sharp, direct and deadly fast, but not so safe. This is especially noticeable with backhand, which requires very good technique for safety. So in effect the great strengths of this blade also make for weaknesses, which is why it is not a blade for a beginner.
 
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5 out of 5 rating for Hurricane 301

Been playing this blade with goldarc-8 (50 deg Max sponge FH, 50 deg med sponge BH) and it has turned out to be a lovely combination.
As others have also reported, the blade has lots of gears which enables one to play a large variety of strokes comfortably, be it close to table or mid distance.
the control is superb !! I am able to play backhand over the table flicks/topspins very comfortably without overshooting. The blocking is one of the best i have experienced, due to the outer koto layer. I can even punch block slightly high balls perfectly. The slower gears also help in drop shots (2 bounce) , which are very helpful against defenders. Forehand/backhand topspins/counter-topspins from close/med distance are very controlled.
Throw angle is slightly medium, and dwell is also medium. So make sure your rubbers are grippy enough to lift the ball.
The small issue i think with the handle design is that the flare is not so much, when compared to butterfly viscaria or stiga blades, but that could be a personal issue, based on my hand anatomy etc.

You may try the goldarc-8 (47.5 deg max sponge) for BH. Should also be a good combination.
Cheers !!
 
says Hi, I am a life-long table tennis enthusiast and...
says Hi, I am a life-long table tennis enthusiast and...
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5 out of 5 rating for Hurricane 301

The DHS Hurricane 301 blade is a great blade for highly aggressive advanced players. The blade offers good control on soft shots, yet allows the carbon and koto plies to really kick in at faster swing speeds, to produce very fast and flat balls. Due to the lower margin of error, good technique and footwork are needed to tame this beast, but those who can will have an extremely powerful weapon on their hands, especially if combined with fast rubbers (although I am not sure I would be able to adequately control any rubber faster than H3). I am particularly impressed with the crisp feeling that the blade offers on loops, blocks and smashes. It feels and sounds more like a 7-ply all-wooden blade with an enlarged sweet spot, than a prototypical composite blade. Finally, the price-performance ratio of the 301 is simply outstanding. At ~$70, this blade is a steal. Read the full review here: https://blog.tabletennis11.com/dhs-hurricane301

 
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4 out of 5 rating for Hurricane 301

Hands down one of if not the best looping blade in terms of price to performance ratio. The standout attribute I feel right away when using this blade for the first time is the superb feeling of the ball and excellent controls, both with FH and BH. An innerforce-ALC type blade with Koto outer, it is medium stiff on the top ply but you don't get any of that when driving... I reckon it's proper when said to be HL5's little brother with only 1/3 of its price. If you come from an outer carbon blade, be aware that the speed will seem a bit 'shackled'... whilst the manufacturer rated it as an OFF++ blade, I really think its at most an OFF-/OFF blade (I reckon the OFF++ rating is when you activate its top gear due to its power linearity, aka swinging full stroke + activate the carbon inside).That being said, imparting spins are crazy easy with this blade - I used a hard Chinese rubber on FH (unboosted at that time, stupid me lol) and people are finding the spins too immense to block... But, blocking is not as easy- you need to be active, at least impart a short stroke in the block otherwise most of the balls will just get to the net no matter how fast it comes at you. However, for counter-looping, loop-killing, this blade is a beast. Backspin multiball training is a breeze for me due to its medium-flex and sufficient dwell time.Average weight of the blade should be around 89+- 3 grams, mine is 94g but feels relatively fast and lightweight. Thickness is 5.9mm. Looks ideal quantitatively.Comes in a nice silver box, wrapped in plastic (blade face is PLAIN, the 301 text writing is on the plastic! lol)Please do yourselves a favor, SEAL this blade (and any other blades you use really) before first time use because the top ply gives you the feeling that it can splinter a lot when regluing.(Have to admit, DHS's QC is not near 'top' brands like Butterfly, even Yasaka is a lot better imo).This is a blade I will heartily recommend to beginners (who already know the basics of TT), and intermediate players who are developing techniques as they go up the ranks. People who are physically strong-armed can also benefit from the control factor of this blade (due to its innerforce structure). I suggest to couple this with a Chinese/tacky FH rubber and a Euro tensor BH rubber, a versatile combo.
 
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