Half a Century of Outer Fiber Blades: Trends and a Big Rundown, Part 3
Light-Carbon Blades Suited to Beginner and Intermediate Players
Once, inner light-carbon blades had hot days too. Domestically, the Ma Lin Carbon, Ma Lin Soft Carbon were loved by many penhold players. But the light-carbon blades I write about today are all outer. Their current target customers are beginner-to-intermediate players, women players, or players demanding high blade stability. They include Nittaku’s Ultra-thin Carbon, Victas’s Wool Carbon, Yasaka’s UD Carbon and more. These are lighter and thinner than ordinary carbon fiber, with less elasticity, a relatively soft striking feel, and a feel closer to all-wood blades. These light-carbon blades include:
Victas Swat Carbon, using a non-woven wool carbon. 6.0mm. The feel is not hard at all. You only faintly feel a bit of fiber added, with rebound slightly faster than the seven-ply all-wood Swat Ni Xialian uses. Nittaku Ease Carbon, 5 wood plus 2 UD carbon layers. Light, thin. I have not played it. Thickness 5.9mm. Carbon 45. We know this well. 5.8mm. A former god-blade. Feel close to all-wood. Usable from intermediate players to top players, the forehand pairs well with domestic tacky rubber, and pairs decently with a tensor. Absolute bottom power is only middle-of-the-road. But the attack flows endlessly, the feel very stable, with good continuity. The backhand holds the ball well, with smooth quick-rips. Andro Treiber CO ALL/S. The body is also designed very thin, 5.6mm. Soft, easy spin. This reminds me of another blade, Simon Gauzy’s HL CO OFF. It has two outer KLC layers, but extremely thin, the fiber layer almost invisible. Overall it plays very all-wood, gripping the ball via the blade’s overall deformation, with strong transparency. Though the face ply has some hardness (maybe koto or yellow lauan), it is also extremely thin, with a very soft interior. Also a blade intermediate players easily adapt to.
Non-Carbon Blades Emphasizing Stability
The selling point is moderate elasticity and better stability. No carbon added. For beginner-to-intermediate players used to all-wood, also fairly easy to adapt to. Their fibers include nano-cellulose CNF (Butterfly, Darker and Sharp have it), CAF (Butterfly), and Victas’s wood fiber. Such blades include: Outerforce CAF. One of Butterfly’s new series this year. 6.3mm. The ball-holding is relatively soft, easy to control. But to strengthen rebound, it must be made thicker. Hugo HAL. We have discussed it many times — the bat Hugo won the Macau World Cup men’s singles with. We look forward to the Doha Worlds starting this week, to see if Hugo continues his good form. Donic Nailiwen. Also a 5+2 structure. The two outer fiber layers are CERTRAN synthetic fiber, used to make fishing line. This fiber should be the type Stiga’s Power Carbon uses this time. We will release the Power Carbon review these days. I played the Nailiwen last year. It feels somewhat similar to the Jun Mizutani ZLC. Limba face ply, also fairly ball-holding. Feel clarity is less than the Mizutani Z, maybe because it uses an ayous core, not the Mizutani Z’s kiri core. But overall fairly steady. The Sharp one I have not played; recommended by Tabletennis Kingdom. Also using plant cellulose CNF. The face ply should be maple.
Individualistic Fiber Blades
As outer fiber blades developed to now, naturally there are some individualistic works in small numbers. For example the Duda AFC, same as the Koki Niwa AFC, two outer wool-carbon layers plus two inner aramid-carbon layers. The outer two are not hard, with a fairly smooth feel transition. The inner two have some support and rebound. Carbon Epoch. At first, playing blind, I thought it was like the OC. Under small-to-medium power, it adds spin better than the Carbon Dynasty. The sweet spot is huge, defense is auto-pilot, but not the support of an aramid-carbon blade like the Viscaria — a bit jarring and falsely springy. Because the feel is fairly individualistic, players used to Japanese aramid-carbon blades may not like it. But those who like Stiga’s crisp feel find it interesting, a good blade. Easy to add spin, good for both loop and drive. Super Jun Mizutani. We just discussed it. After denser fiber, the rebound sweet spot is bigger, but it demands more stroke compactness. Ice Cream AZX. Heterogeneous fiber. We reviewed it before.