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W968 / HL5 / Fang Bo Carbon thread

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slevin View Drop Down
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    Posted: 02/08/2019 at 4:43pm
Let us start a DHS W968 / Hurricane Long V / Fang Bo Carbon owners thread.

What are your blade dimensions, thickness and weight? What is the handle type? What rubbers have you tried on it? What matches well and what does not?

Blade: W968 provincial (letters version)
Weight: 89g
Thickness: 5.94mm
Dimensions: 158x150
Handle: thicker handle
Last combo used prior to W968: Zhang Jike ALC / T05 Hard / Gewo EL Pro 48

I have owned >4 HL5 in the past (one bought from Paddle Palace and the others from TT11 - all authorized DHS dealers).

Here are the differences I found between the HL5 I have owned & the W968:
  1. W968 has slightly less speed, clearly better dwell and more spin (both in topspins and pushes) for my strokes
  2. What I like about the W968 I have is that the 2nd wood layer is not too much softer than the outer wood layer (though the overall feeling is soft)
  3. If you're thinking of getting the regular HL5 / W968, make sure that you are OK with thin handles
Recommendations:
  1. If you can, buy as heavy a W968 / HL5 as you can comfortably use. I wish I had ordered one around in around 93g range (as I have no issues with racket weights out to 195g).
  2. Besides the ubiquitous H3 Neo, Rasanter R50 works very well on FH. My assumption is that T05 hard would work well as well. Need a bit fast / bouncy rubber on BH if you have one of the lighter blades




Edited by slevin - 02/09/2019 at 9:57pm
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photino View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote photino Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02/08/2019 at 10:10pm
Where is the w968 bought? Tongue
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote filipo123 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02/09/2019 at 2:53am
How do they compare to ovtcharov no 1 senso?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote slevin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02/09/2019 at 11:40am
Originally posted by photino photino wrote:

Where is the w968 bought? Tongue

Prott.
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slevin View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote slevin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02/09/2019 at 11:51am
Originally posted by filipo123 filipo123 wrote:

How do they compare to ovtcharov no 1 senso?

I don't have that blade. But, I have the Donic Ovtcharov No 1 (which, I guess, is the same blade but with a different handle?).

I have a control issue with blades in which you have alternating moderately hard and soft materials. In my Donic blade, the outer layer (limba) is medium hard relative to the 2nd layer (Ayous, which is very soft). Then, you have ALC (medium-hard) followed by ayous again (soft).

The Viscaria (et al) blades never have this problem. OTOH, the Tibhar Drinkhall Powerspin Carbon (a Viscaria clone) does.

For my strokes, the throw with such blades varies quite a bit depending on how hard you hit the ball during a topspin stroke.

What I like about my W968 is that there is not much of a gradient in hardness / softness in the two outer layers - I wonder if the 2nd layer is limba instead of ayous. 

Again, this is a personal preference...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote filipo123 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02/09/2019 at 5:43pm
Thanks for info. I find o. Senso no 1 remarkably similar to w997.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Alwin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02/09/2019 at 8:00pm
Bought a HL5 (new version) after trying my friend's HL5 (old version). See here for some comparisons: http://mytabletennis.net/FORUM/new-hurricane-long-5_topic78103_post966334.html#966334. Personally, I prefer the old HL5 handle and headsize since I used PG7 and PG12 before forking out for a HL5.

With my friend's help I chose the second heaviest in store, 89g flared handle. The little red card stated the thickness as 5.80mm and the "Rebound Rate" (see below for approx translation) of 61%. There was some discussion in store about whether a lower value was better or worse and eventually my friend and the store owner agreed a lower value was better. Anecdotally, it felt stiffer than a similar weighted blade that had a higher rebound rate.

On forehand I started with TG3 Neo but after my friend's instance I swapped to something softer, T05 Hard after using it on a different friend's blade. I'm more consistent now and there is plenty of speed on my loop drive/kill but it took a while for my short game to adjust. On backhand, I started using T05 and I think it works well but haven't used T05 regularly on any other blade. I had a reason to celebrate so bought HL5 + T05H + T05 but think I will be moving back to cheaper rubbers once these tenergys wear out. I think it'll work great with H3 forehand and R47/GA8 or similar tensor backhand.

-----------------------
DHS Little Red Card:
序列号 = Serial Number
产品技朮测试值 = Product Technical Test Values
[在标准条件下(标准温度 、湿度)经实验室测拭所得数据] = [Data obtained by laboratory testing under standard conditions (standard temperature, humidity)]
重量 = Weight
厚度 = Thickness
平衡点 = Balance Point
弹跳高度 = Bounce Height
反弹速度衰減率 = Rebound Rate
T05H | HL5 | TG3-60
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bars Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02/09/2019 at 8:38pm
If anyone is between a hl5 and viscaria I would recommend the bty viscaria.

I hit with a cpen dhs w968 for a bit. it has great feeling like bty viscaria. with hl5 action off the blade?(not sure about this point)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote slevin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02/09/2019 at 10:02pm
Changed the topic to include the DHS Fang Bo Carbon.

So, one big criticism I have on this family of blades (and of DHS in general) is the number of types (blade dimensions, handle types, etc), qualities (and fakes) available. And, importantly, there is near-zero official documentation from DHS about all this.

Possibly the best bang for the buck among all carbon composite blades available: a well-chosen and lacquered Fang Bo carbon blade.




Edited by slevin - 02/09/2019 at 10:15pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote slevin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02/09/2019 at 10:08pm
Originally posted by bars bars wrote:

If anyone is between a hl5 and viscaria I would recommend the bty viscaria.

With European / Japanese rubbers, these two blades are very different. Almost too different to warrant comparison.

HL5 is like a all-wood blade with a lot of oomph when you need it. It has the advantages of an all-wood blade (like feel, control, flex and catapault) with some disadvantages relative to the Viscaria - I'll get to that below.

While HL5 has good control (when you switch from Viscaria to this blade using Eurpean / Japanese rubbers, all of a sudden, you can do a lot more in the short game to befuddle your opponent), the fact that it is flexy could also be considered a negative for a newby to such blades (in the sense that it takes good practice to learn / use that flex in a positive manner). It is, IMHO, better for serve-receive and easier to serve with more spin given a smaller serve movements (which helps in deception).

A negative of HL5 (relative to Viscaria) is that it is less spin-sensitive on harder strokes. So, one gets less spin reversal in topspin-topspin loops (unless one utilizes flex effectively) and needs good technique / timing to power-loop against backspin (which, to me, is much easier with Viscaria). However, this trait makes it an excellent blade to block with.

Now, back to the HL5 variants: the HL5 I owned in the past necessitated brush-looping almost every time. It is less of a necessity with this W968 that I have - I can still get good spin when I 'penetrate the blade a bit more into the ball'.

Again: all personal opinions...


Edited by slevin - 02/09/2019 at 10:13pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote slevin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02/10/2019 at 12:58pm
Question for our members in China: is Dec 25 normally a holiday in China (as I presume it should be)? As the production date here (based on the engraving) seems to be Dec 25 2018!



Edited by slevin - 02/10/2019 at 1:00pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote photino Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02/10/2019 at 5:34pm
i can't read a date from those letters but Dec 25 is not an official holiday in China.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote slevin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02/11/2019 at 12:40am
Originally posted by photino photino wrote:

i can't read a date from those letters
  Perhaps a chinese friend can help translate, but I think the 1st two letters represent the year, the next 2 represent the month and the next 2, the day. The last one (E or F) represents whether this is commercial HL5 or a provincial blade.


Edited by slevin - 02/11/2019 at 12:42am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Soundoff88 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02/11/2019 at 8:25am
Date decode is spot on.
E/F = Professional/commercial respectively.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote pingpungpeng Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02/11/2019 at 8:31am
why do some hl5 come with the coded date and some come with the numbers?

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Renol Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02/11/2019 at 11:29am
Originally posted by slevin slevin wrote:

Changed the topic to include the DHS Fang Bo Carbon.

So, one big criticism I have on this family of blades (and of DHS in general) is the number of types (blade dimensions, handle types, etc), qualities (and fakes) available. And, importantly, there is near-zero official documentation from DHS about all this.

Possibly the best bang for the buck among all carbon composite blades available: a well-chosen and lacquered Fang Bo carbon blade.



Some players feedback that Fang Bo Carbon blade is slightly harder as compared to HL5/W968.
Blade: DHS Long 5
FH: DHS Hurricane 3 Neo (Provincial)
BH: DHS Hurricane 3 Neo (Provincial)
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