Looking to get All+ to Off- CPenhold Blade

[James Livesey]

So I'm looking to upgrade my blade for a number of reasons. Firstly, the blade I have now is alright speed, but I feel going a bit slower will help me develop my strokes better. The Friendship blade I have now is classed as Off- and is 5-ply all Ayous. the medial plies are about as thick as the middle ply, and compared to other blades I have tried at my club, I don't think it has enough flex. Furthermore, it's a bit thick at around 6.8, confirming it's stiffness and on top of that a thinner blade is more comfortable to hold. It's also around 85g, which is a fine weight but going lighter will offer me better recovery and room to experiment with heavier, higher quality bh rubbers. I've also begun to really develop my style of play, which is the classic close to the table quick attack, RPB penhold, with an emphasis on spin and placement rather than speed.

This being said, I want a blade with the following characteristics:
5-ply, all wood
thinner than 6mm
80g
good flex
All+ to Off- speed and of course, Cpen.

So far I have come across three models that fit my description: Stiga Offensive Classic, Donic Burn All+, Xiom Fuga

I am worried about Stiga's QC, and getting a heavier blade. What are your opinions about these blades? What are your opinions about the quality of the brands? Do you know of any other blades that fit my description? Cheers and all the best!

 

[NextLevel]

Yasaka Sweden Extra Penhold.

 

[Der_Echte]

If you are in USA, I have one C Pen version of Nexy Amazon, a BOSS close to table.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

 

[James Livesey]

If you are in USA, I have one C Pen version of Nexy Amazon, a BOSS close to table.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

I'm not in the US. The blade looks absolute quality, but it's a bit out of my price range, and I don't want carbon. In fact, Nexy makes a lot of really interesting blades for PH, but I think they are too fast for what I am trying to achieve here.

 

[Raylazyfo]

Yasaka Sweden Extra Penhold.

Exactly

 

[SFF_lib]

So I'm looking to upgrade my blade for a number of reasons. Firstly, the blade I have now is alright speed, but I feel going a bit slower will help me develop my strokes better. The Friendship blade I have now is classed as Off- and is 5-ply all Ayous. the medial plies are about as thick as the middle ply, and compared to other blades I have tried at my club, I don't think it has enough flex. Furthermore, it's a bit thick at around 6.8, confirming it's stiffness and on top of that a thinner blade is more comfortable to hold. It's also around 85g, which is a fine weight but going lighter will offer me better recovery and room to experiment with heavier, higher quality bh rubbers. I've also begun to really develop my style of play, which is the classic close to the table quick attack, RPB penhold, with an emphasis on spin and placement rather than speed.

This being said, I want a blade with the following characteristics:
5-ply, all wood
thinner than 6mm
80g
good flex
All+ to Off- speed and of course, Cpen.

So far I have come across three models that fit my description: Stiga Offensive Classic, Donic Burn All+, Xiom Fuga

I am worried about Stiga's QC, and getting a heavier blade. What are your opinions about these blades? What are your opinions about the quality of the brands? Do you know of any other blades that fit my description? Cheers and all the best!

Don't forget DHS Hao2. A really fine blade. Built in quality with a nice finish. Arguably better built than Stiga blades.

I have played that for a few months. Very good flex and wonderful wood feeling. That would guarantee pretty good control and short game.

It's very comfortable for RPB too.

 

[HairF1]

Don't forget DHS Hao2. A really fine blade. Built in quality with a nice finish. Arguably better built than Stiga blades.

I have played that for a few months. Very good flex and wonderful wood feeling. That would guarantee pretty good control and short game.

It's very comfortable for RPB too.

Well HH2 is definitely the best blade I have tried so far but imho is far from being an all+ / off- blade. It is true that with the new ball and everything it cannot be rated as off++ as DHS claims it to be but it is still an offensive blade that suits the looping style better than an "allround" one.

 

[HairF1]

I own a Yasaka Sweden Extra and a Yasaka Extra 3d and they are both amazing. I feel that 3D is a little bit faster and YSE has a bit more control.

hoever, if you dont mind lifting the restriction about carbon, I would suggest Stiga Allround Classic Carbon. The carbon is there to add a little bit more speed and a incredibly huge sweet spot. It excels in everything.

 

[SFF_lib]

Well HH2 is definitely the best blade I have tried so far but imho is far from being an all+ / off- blade. It is true that with the new ball and everything it cannot be rated as off++ as DHS claims it to be but it is still an offensive blade that suits the looping style better than an "allround" one.

Hao2 can be as slow or as fast as you want depending on the rubbers you put on and your stroke.

I own Hao1 as well. It's thinner and lighter than Hao2. Quite slow due to the thinner core. Might suit what you need.

 

[HairF1]

Hao2 can be as slow or as fast as you want depending on the rubbers you put on and your stroke.

I own Hao1 as well. It's thinner and lighter than Hao2. Quite slow due to the thinner core. Might suit what you need.

Yes, I agree, but that holds true for most blades. But I did forget to mention that I use H3 boosted on both sides of my HH2 =D.

HH1 is an amazing blade too but mine vibrates a lot more than HH2. Sometimes too much. But it is indeed quite slower.

 

[SFF_lib]

Yes, I agree, but that holds true for most blades. But I did forget to mention that I use H3 boosted on both sides of my HH2 =D.

HH1 is an amazing blade too but mine vibrates a lot more than HH2. Sometimes too much. But it is indeed quite slower.

Haha seems like you want a slow blade with little vibration. That's not an easy task.

Little vibration= thicker core = usually higher speed.

Another one I own is Nittaku Septear. It's a 7-ply hinoki blade. It's thick enough to give little vibration. The soft hinoki makes it not fast with superb control. It's a wonderful blade with a low price tag.

Sent from my ONE E1003 using Tapatalk

 

[HairF1]

Haha seems like you want a slow blade with little vibration. That's not an easy task.

Little vibration= thicker core = usually higher speed.

Another one I own is Nittaku Septear. It's a 7-ply hinoki blade. It's thick enough to give little vibration. The soft hinoki makes it not fast with superb control. It's a wonderful blade with a low price tag.

Sent from my ONE E1003 using Tapatalk

Im not the one looking for a new blade just to be clear =D. But it is indeed hard to find slow blades with little vibration

 

[SFF_lib]

Im not the one looking for a new blade just to be clear =D. But it is indeed hard to find slow blades with little vibration

Try Nittaku Septear if you can. It's one of the most little known underrated blades.

 

[HairF1]

Try Nittaku Septear if you can. It's one of the most little known underrated blades.

I will, thanks.

 

[James Livesey]

Yes, I agree, but that holds true for most blades. But I did forget to mention that I use H3 boosted on both sides of my HH2 =D.

HH1 is an amazing blade too but mine vibrates a lot more than HH2. Sometimes too much. But it is indeed quite slower.

HH1 is another possibility I have known about for some time. It has the same composition as the Fuga and OC, but is almost twice the price. I have heard it is a tad faster than Fuga (probably not a bad thing for me), but overall, Fuga is better. Koto-Spruce-Ayous-Spruce-Koto. When I pay that much money and a little bit more, I ideally want to be upping the speed and quality to a Nittaku/Nexy/Stiga Intensity etc.

 

[rokphish]

I can vouch for Fuga being a very good blade, albeit I played it with the shake hand handle.

 

[James Livesey]

Haha seems like you want a slow blade with little vibration. That's not an easy task.

Little vibration= thicker core = usually higher speed.

Another one I own is Nittaku Septear. It's a 7-ply hinoki blade. It's thick enough to give little vibration. The soft hinoki makes it not fast with superb control. It's a wonderful blade with a low price tag.

Sent from my ONE E1003 using Tapatalk

I initially considered this, because Nittaku is one of the best for All wood blades. However, it has an opposite goal: it is stiffer, but softer, whereas I want flexier and harder.

 

[James Livesey]

Found another gem! Avalox Blue Thunder 550. looks perfect!! can anyone vouch for Avalox?

 

[James Livesey]

Another possibility: Avalox Blue Thunder 550. I've never even heard of Avalox, but reviews are good, and they seem to mostly sell expensive blades. This and Fuga seem top of the list atm.

 

[PierreAd]

Reading your initial post, I was immediately thinking of the Yasaka Sweden Extra as well. ALL+, well-known and appreciated among penholders. It's quite thin, between ALL+ and OFF- I think, with good control. Really the first name that came to mind.

The Stiga OC might be a good idea as well, it's a classic blade, even though it's not one I particularly liked in shakehand (not tested since I switched to penhold this year).

In the OFF- range, you can also have a look at the Galaxy W6, I've been playing with it for 3 months now. Very good blade, not too fast, flexy but not too much, medium hardness... It's very versatile and not too expensive.