Kokutaku Alnon Review

There is another blade with a very similar construction and is also made in Japan:

The Yasaka Alnade.   Even the name is close!   Could they be coming from the same factory?

For the past few weeks I've been lucky enough to be able to use one of Kokutaku's new blade range - Alnon.  KKT are of course probably best known for their 1-ply hinoki blades, but have also got quite an extensive range of all sorts of other constructions -  3-ply, 5-ply, carbon, etc - most of which aren't so well-known outside of Japan.

Well, now they have 4 new blades, all Made in Japan:

Alnon - Koto/AramidCarbon/Limba/Kiri

Zenon - Limba/ZylonCarbon/Limba/Kiri

CanonZYC - Hinoki/ZylonCarbon/Kiri

CanonTRC - Hinoki/Carbon/Kiri

I think it's pretty obvious what kind of market KKT are aiming for here, and which blade archetypes they've decided to produce.  Here are some pictures!

The finish is absolutely impeccable - this is a very well-made blade.  No blemishes anywhere, with a super-smooth koto top ply.  The wings were razor-sharp and needed a light sanding to avoid the need for bloodshed.  The aramid/carbon weave is very well fitted with basically nothing poking out (you can see a little bit of fibre extrusion where I've sanded the wings, but that's it).  This is essentially as well-made as any other Japanese-made blade you care to put it up against.  The cut on the weave layer is much nicer than, say, Xiom's Vega blades, Donic's Baum Spirit, or a DHS cheapo special like the Fang Bo 2.  This might not be a problem in practical terms for these blades, but there is a difference in terms of quality of finish.

This one is 86g, FL handle, 157x150, 5.8mm thick.

I think it's important not to beat around the bush with this one.  This is the most Viscaria-like of any blade I've ever used.  I directly compared Alnon to a Viscaria (silver tag, pre-hologram) of the same weight with the same rubbers (Hybrid K1 Plus, Rasanter V42), and I found it incredibly hard to pick the bones out of the comparison.  The handle on the Alnon seemed a bit wider and flatter.  The basic speed and sweet spot were near-identical.  The initial sharp koto feel was present on both.  If I had to pull something out of the air, I'd say that the Alnon was ever so slightly softer and stiffer when looping harder - there seemed to be a slightly different feel on harder hits, and a touch lower arc on the Alnon.  Alnon perhaps felt a touch more stable/predictable through those middle gears at the expense of some top-end speed.  But in all honesty I've had plenty of Viscarias over the years and they've varied to a larger degree than this.  In a blind test I doubt I'd be able to tell the difference between the two.

As you would then expect, Alnon did a superb job with the tacky K1 Plus - adding a little bit of additional initial speed in comparison with my usual 5-ply all-wood, and removing the need for so much effort with the arm swinging when slightly away from the table.  Rasanter V42 was good, but when I switched it out for Rozena I was super-happy with both BH penetration and spin.  Rozena shines in this kind of setup IMO.

How well KKT does with these blades is probably going to come down to price vs the obvious competition, perhaps helped by having a handle choice and being able to order internationally.  But as a Viscaria alternative I can't think of a closer match than this.

Many thanks for Chewy over at http://www.rocket-tt.com for offering up the Alnon for early purchase.  There is more information over at KKT's website too - http://www.kokukdaku.com/