Why hurricane 3 are less tacky?

[Scarfed Garchomp]

I heard a conspiracy in China that DHS has made low-quality prov H3 to push more people buy the national version.

Provincial grade is way easier to find nowadays compared to 10, 15 years ago, it would make sense that DHS would lower provincial QC standards to increase distribution and profit. National is also much easier to find, and I have been able to find national Neo for under 60USD on Aliexpress during sale seasons which I think is a reasonably fair price for a rubber of that quality- no more than your average high tier German rubber

 

[SFF_lib]

Provincial grade is way easier to find nowadays compared to 10, 15 years ago, it would make sense that DHS would lower provincial QC standards to increase distribution and profit. National is also much easier to find, and I have been able to find national Neo for under 60USD on Aliexpress during sale seasons which I think is a reasonably fair price for a rubber of that quality- no more than your average high tier German rubber

In that comparison yes, probably have to start buying national H3 soon, or look into K2 Pro and Rakza Z extra hard. Apparently these offer very similar performance to national H3

 

[SFF_lib]

Really? I have used my H3 BS for about 3 months now, 3-4 times a week. It still grips the ball perfectly fine

Whenever I try euro/jap rubbers on someone else‘s blade, the thin angles dont work anymore. Recently I had the opportunity to try out a brand new omega 7 china guang and it gripped nothing like a used H3 BS when brushing.

Probably because I boost each with 3 layers 🤣🤣

 

[longle]

I have never played a super sticky H3 over the last 10 years, they all are slightly tacky out of the package.

But I know some elder players who have more than 1-year old H3 and they are all super sticky. They said the more you play and wipe the topsheet with sweat, the stickier it becomes

I myself can't achieve that because I replace H3 after 3 months at best. But there are some sheets I boost and reboost a lot, they became stickier too.

It seems boosters and some kind of sweat can make the topsheet stickier, anyone else have the same experience ?

 

[zeio]

Using a vinyl protection sheet also makes it tackier as time goes on. One possible reason it happens is that the crosslinks get broken and/or the tackifier migrates to the top.

 

[JJ Ng]

I posted about this before. I think Hurricane became less tacky around early 2023. I have a copy of an email I sent to TT11 in 2023 asking about why the tackiness is gone. TT11 did not have much to add other than 1) they did not notice that many people complaining and 2) the National version, some customers might have complained about the lack of tackiness. I think before, national version might be less tacky because the top players wanted it less tacky. Not sure.

The explanations I have heard is that with the new plastic balls, it is more about speed than spin.

My personal opinion is that with rubber being less sticky, people need to change it every 1-2 months. I used to change my hurricane once a year almost. It is a business decision.

Interestingly, Hurricane 3 provincial blue sponge and Hurricane 3 national blue sponge seem to be more tacky than orange sponge (commercial v.s. provincial v.s. national orange sponge).

As for Chinese rubbers, most of them are not tacky anymore.

The one I find to be quite tacky and still playable is Sanwei Target National. However, STN needs more time to break in mechanically because it plays like a brick even after 3 layers of booster.

Rxton 9 blue sponge seems to be the same level of tackiness as hurricane nowadays.

The one rubber that is super tacky, reminiscent of the old hurricane is Yinhe Mercury II but the problem is that Mercury II is not bouncy at all.

 

[zeio]

Upon its release back in 2009, the tackiness of H3 Neo was already reduced by a lot compared to that of the original H3. It got further reduced around 2013 (from limited samples and online discussion) and the ones now aren't that different.

 

[danglybits]

All H3 are little tacky now in order to improve the speed.

I switched to TG2 as it was still tacky as hell.

Then TG2 became non tacky since 2024.

Worse part is the newer Prov Hurricanes tend to skid when brushing after just a few weeks. Euro and Jap hybrid seem much better at brushing and more durable.

I heard a conspiracy in China that DHS has made low-quality prov H3 to push more people buy the national version.

What are you using now then?

 

[mocker88]

Is there any chinese rubbers that are still tacky like the old days?
I was curious about loki rxton 9 sponge or yinhe jupiter 3 blue sponge.
Has any of you tried these rubbers?

Yes many. LOKI - Rxton 9 is one. 729 - Battle Max Pro is super tacky. 729 - Battle II series is more tacky than H3. Yinhe - Big Dipper Pro and Big Dipper National are quite tacky as well. Needs some booster though to perform (in my opinion).

 

[JJ Ng]

Yes many. LOKI - Rxton 9 is one. 729 - Battle Max Pro is super tacky. 729 - Battle II series is more tacky than H3. Yinhe - Big Dipper Pro and Big Dipper National are quite tacky as well. Needs some booster though to perform (in my opinion).

I think Rxton 9 is about the same tackiness as H3 BS provincial/national.

I agree 729 is tackier than the current version of hurricane.

To get the old hurricane level of tackiness, my recent impression is that Mercury II is as tacky as anything from before. I also have an old sheet of DHS G888 that is really tacky still. But not sure if G888's top sheet also changed around the time of hurricane.