Would you say the new sanwei target shares the same characteristic of a boosted h3n? I have a semi- boosted h3n national 2.1/40. i said semi bc I ran out of booster on 2nd layer, a new haifu nat yellow is coming soon and also a new sanwei target
Yes I feel that after playing with two sheets of STN (unboosted) and 18-20 sheets of H3 neo 39 degree (all boosted) that the STN with blue sponge does not need to be boosted. It comes right out of the package and within 10 minutes I can play with it very well. For H3 neo, I always boost it with 2 or 3 layers (depending on my mood) and let it dry for 24 hours in between each layer of boosting. Once I install H3 neo, takes about 3-5 practice session (1.5 hour to 2 hour each session) to mechnically break the H3 neo in (even though of course we already broke it in somewhat with the booster, i.e. chemical break-in).
I have one more sheet of STN in my possession. I want to boost it before I use it, just to compared. But no interest in doing that now. I have plenty of other blades that I want to install my old H3 neo's just to see how those blade feels like.
Also I heard from another thread that normally you want black chinese rubber instead of red (like friendship 729, DHS, etc.) because black is more spinny and the red is less spinny (and harder too). However, the thread said that STN is the opposite. The black is less spinny and more firm. The red is tackier and stickier. Therefore the black actually becomes very very good hybrid rubber as a result.
can i attest to that? No, not right now. I have no idea. I have one STN black installed on my Tibhar Stratgus Power Wood and one STN red installed on my Nittaku Acoustic carbon which is a VERY fast carbon so I have no idea. I cannot compare those two sheets of rubber because the underlying blades are so different.
I can say for sure is that I have tried K1 and K2 from Tibhar brand. Both are "hybrid" rubbers. Definitely STN plays more similar to boosted H3 neo (traditional chinese rubber) than K1 and K2. Now I actually like that! I want a chinese rubber that comes out of the package, not needing to boost and plays similar to H3 neo boosted..I don't need another hybrid rubber to play (there are so many on the market and they are so expensive: K3, Rakza Z, Stiga Dragon Grip, Joola Tango, XIOM vega china, etc. etc.). I have no time and no interest (and no money) to test them.
In conclusion, I am happy with STN. I am replacing my H3 neo with STN black. I am pretty satisfied that I know of all these hybrid rubbers out there but have no interest trying them now.