Ultimate 7-ply fast wood blade? Stiga? Nittaku?

Hi,

I am a fast offensive power looper who likes to play near to mid table position. I am currently using Rosewood V, which I really love for its control and lovely spin - and generally decent power, however, I wished I had a bit more speed.

On the forehand I often alternate between Xiom Tau, Xiom China and sometimes DHS Hurricane 3; although I'm mostly settled on Tau (for sheer power, awesome spinny serves, and silly dangerous dippy loops). On the backhand I've started having great success with Donic Baracuda.

I'm looking for a faster blade which will give me the extra zip I need for stronger blocks (RW5 is a bit weak here), less tiring loops, close to the control of RW5, decent spin and 20-30% more speed i.e. close to carbon but with more feel/dwell time.

I am considering the Ebenholz VII, Rosewood VII and Clipper CR from Stiga. I also have a huge soft spot for Nittaku as I almost exclusively played with their blades 10-15yrs ago and loved their feeling - but have found it increasingly difficult to locate their blades (and reviews!) where I was living in China, which is easier now with Ebay - and moving to Hong Kong etc..!

Of the above I've only used Rosewood VII - which my coach has lent me for a few weeks and I actually like it quite a lot - the speed is just right, control is similar to RW5 but it's a bit too hard to use with Xiom Tau (now difficult to lift backspin over the net, especially when flicking - therefore I've been forced to mostly use Vega China which is a bit slow for my liking). Unfortunately, Stiga have decided to jack up their prices for hardwood blades by around $30-$40 in the last few months on Dandoy - which breaks my $100 limit (about to have a kid - so pennies matter!). A friend is offering their Ebenholz VII a very attractive price, but I hear it's even harder than RW7 and even lower throw. Is clipper CR right for me? Will I find the extra power I need there?

In the Nittaku camp, I can only dig up reviews of older 5-ply blades like Acoustic, Violin and the very old septear - all which I imagine will be too slow especially for the new ball. Any one have experience some of the hot new Nittaku 7-plies like the cheaper barwells, Ludeacks etc?

Also, as an aside which is Nittaku handle is thicker - FL or ST? I used to play with their AN handles, but I don't think they have blades with that any more.

Cheers for any help you can give me! I'm also open to other suggestions. 

Edited by Larnus - 05/21/2014 at 11:26am

Try the DHS PG7, it is a 7 ply all wood blade. Handles, both the flared and strait are nice. Plus it is cheap, 25.00 to 30.00 dollars.

You should try DHS Hurricane Long 2/3 or DHS 506.

There is no ultimate 7ply allwood blade but maybe ludeack would be a good choice. Clipper cr is just great. But its not light and head feels heavy. So its not great for a close - mid distance player.   Rosewood or ebenholz are too hard and both headheavy.

P700 is a bit slower than a clipper and rosewood but head is lighter.

Ludeack 's head is not heavy but p700 is even lighter. On the other hand ludeack feels better. Its amazing , totaly same construction but the feeling is different. P700 is just fine but its a Dream spinning those sliced balls with ludeack. And its really easy to block with it. Key thing is ludeack offers good dwell-feeling-arc but still its easy to block with it. I was playing with a 5ply allwod blade and its easy to adjust to ludeack. I have say that St handle is slim and round. I had to wait for a while to getting along with it.

Ps: barwell fleet and ludeack fleet are great too. Both are not that silly fast and ball feeling is there. Nothing like butterfly alc stuff. Barwell is a bit smoother. Very very balanced, does everything right but it's just too expensive.

Edited by TSuBaSa - 05/21/2014 at 2:44pm

I've used both DHS 506 and PG 7.  Both are nice blades and they are somewhat similar to each other (as the composition is basically identical), however, the 506 is a few millimeters thicker which translates into a bit less flex - easier blocking, and the looping is not bad.  Overall, I wouldn't argue that there is a huge difference between the blades but to me the 506 just feels a bit better overall. I'd recommend it as a good 7-ply blade.  I've heard good things about Korbel SK7 as well.

try the adidas challenge speed. it is surprisingly fast for a 7 ply limba blade

the extra special isn't that fast

How about Yasaka Max Wood?
I think it's pretty fast. It pairs up pretty well with H3/TG3 Neo.

yogi_bear wrote: try the adidas challenge speed. it is surprisingly fast for a 7 ply limba blade

I like that one too. Paired with xiom sigma II euro, it pays like in a dream. Tibhar samsonov force pro, Nittaku ludeack pro or Barwell are also good candidates. Nowadays stiga clippers are unfortunately not any more what they use to be.

I have the non power version. My teammate is using power version. There is not much difference but power version is a bit stiffer so there is a bit less arc. It's closer to clipper but still crispier.

I also tried Max Wood and extra special. I hated the Max Wood. The old Max Wood was really great. New one (it has thin blue secondary ply) feels terrible. I don't know why but there is less dwell, and low throw angle. It's easy to block passively but that's it...

Extra offensive feels a lot different. It's thin but hard. Not that fast but feels like it (thanks to the hard top ply). Great for blocking, hitting or driving close to the table but it's not that easy to loop sliced balls.

I have ludeack and SK 7. Both are awesome blade and pairs well with medium hard rubbers like vega pro.

clipper wood/ clipper CR. enough speed for high level games, great feel and its tested by time, ive tried those new clippers as compareed to an old clipper wod hey are actually not bad specially those heavier ones like 95g and above

Adidas Challenge Speed hands down the best 7 ply offensive blade for me

ChichoFicho wrote: Nothing comes even close to DHS 08.