Air Original Rubbers

I have the chance to get several Air rubbers. I have used the Air Scirocco and Illumina rubbers many years and was quite impressed back then when speed glue was still around. The Air rubbers mentioned above were better than a lot of rubbers in the market that were made in China because the quality and make-up of the rubbers speaks a lot compared to the usual RITC rubbers. Please take note that the sponge hardness of these rubbers are using an ESN scale hardness.

 

AIR Scirocco

Weight: 71 grams (uncut)

Speed: Off-

Sponge hardness: 47 degrees

 

The Air Scirocco is an entry level rubber of AIR. This is one of the first inverted rubbers of Air. This is a very tacky rubber reminiscent of RITC 729FX rubber. It is almost as tacky but the topsheet is top quality. Some compare this to another entry rubber like Dawei 2008XP but the AIR Scirocco offers more because of a much more elastic sponge. The rubber feels firm in both topsheet and sponge. If I remember it right, the original sponge of the Air Scirocco was white and now all of the rubbers, either updated or the new ones, use the newer and firm red sponge. I used this on my Xiom Stradivarius blade together with the Air Assassins at the other side. The Xiom Stradivarius (new version) is an off blade and to some extent an off+ blade. The Air Scirocco is an entry level rubber wherein the Scirocco’s speed is more or less an ALL+ speed. The newer version with the red sponge is a bit faster compared to the Dawei 2008XP, Yinhe Mars 2 or Yinhe Earth 2 rubbers. The speed is not too fast that it is a good rubber to develop strokes and skills. Beginners can appreciate this rubber because this is a great rubber with a low price. The spin is very high due to its tackiness or stickiness. This is a great looping rubber wherein you can spin a lot due to the Scirocco’s “dwell”. Whether you place this in a 5 ply all wood blade or in a faster composite blade, looping is excellent. It took me a bit of effort to loop the ball if I wanted it to be faster and stronger but I guess boosting is the only solution for this rubber to be a little bit faster. In some situations, you can place this in an offensive carbon blade. This blade is also excellent in doing spinny serves or pushes. Overall, this is an outstanding entry level rubber that offers enough speed and much more spin for beginner or intermediate players.

 

AIR Illumina

Weight: 80 grams (uncut)

Sponge hardness: 47 and 50 degrees

Speed: Off

 

The Air Illumina is the first AIR rubber I have tried several years ago. If I remember it right, I used to own this rubber before I got hold of a used Scirocco given by a friend of mine. For me the Illumina was a bit advanced for a Chinese rubber for its time. The old one I tried was semi-tacky and it was not as tacky as a Hurricane 3. The newer version has even less tackiness than the original. I could say it acts like a hybrid rubber and for its time it was a bit advanced. It was one of the few ESN substitutes that I saw a few years ago. The rubber is dynamic, fast and still spinny. Out of the box, the Illumina is a little tacky wherein there is still some point that you fingers still partially stick to the topsheet if you press your fingers against it. It was not as tacky as a Hurricane 3 and it borders being a grippy rubber with some stickiness on it. The rubber is firm overall but the topsheet has some softness that you can feel when you are pinching it. I have used the Air Illumina with a Xiom Hugo HAL blade together with Air TigerS rubber. The Illumina is fast for a Chinese rubber. Whether it is the 47 or 50 degree sponge version you are using, the Illumina offers a good amount of speed. If I am not mistaken, the Illumina is one of the fastes t rubbers in the Air arsenal. It acts like a true hybrid rubber wherein it offers the best of both worlds – spin and speed. It is as spinny as regular Chinese rubbers but fairly faster than Hurricane 3 Neo. It is fast and better smashing rubber because it is only semi-tacky and the ball does not hit the net often.

The arc is medium to medium-low when looping underspin. Both the 47 and 50 degree versions are excellent in looping but I prefer the 50 degree since it feels really good when you boost it. The Illumina when boosted can rival older generation of ESN rubbers but with its improved speed but with a greater amount of spin. The Air Illumina can be a good rubber for advanced and expert level players and I recommend this to be boosted further despite this having already factory boosting. The moment you boost it and the 50 degree sponge softens a bit, you will feel faster shots that you can only have on those ESN rubbers. It can be an above average backhand rubber but it is better suited for the forehand unless you are looking for a budget rubber. This can be an alternative or better option for Mark V or Sriver rubber users as this is faster when boosted and has more spin.

 

AIR Panamera

Weight: 62 grams (uncut)

Speed: Off+

Hardness: 50 & 47 degrees

 

The Air Panamera is a short pimpled rubber with a medium-hard and hard sponge. The pimple structure is almost similar to the TSP Spectol short pips. The quality of the short pips is much better compared to the RICT 802-40. The quality is for the RITC 802-40 is much rougher on its exterior part and pip structure. The Panamera feels very firm on both 47 and 50 degree and the sponge really resists your finger when you are pressing it. I have tested this short pip both as a forehand and backhand rubber. I used this also with the Xiom Hugo HAL/SAL. On the forehand, the Panamera is an amazing forehand hitting rubber. It is a fast whacking short pips in doing drives, smashes and even spin-drives against underspin balls. The Panamera is is a very grippy short pips. It is as grippy as a Stiga Royal or Butterfly Raystorm. It easily picks up or spin an underspin ball. When doing loop drives against underspin the Panamera grips the ball easily and the arc of the ball easily clears the net with a medium low arc. I will not be surprised if Cpen players will use this in the forehand. This low cost short pip is an amazing attacking rubber as well in the backhand. It felt like a high end brand short pip and it is very easy to use. Some short pips require more skill in using them but the Panamera is much more forgiving on your shots. It behaves almost like a less grippy inverted rubber. It easily flicks against underspin serves and amazing in opening loops in the backhand. For near the table rallies, the Panamera is good at punch blocking against topspin. It could also produce a near knuckleball effect when you are punching against the ball. This is a good alternative against expensive short pips in the market today.

 

AIR TigerS

Weight: 62 grams (uncut)

Speed: Off+

Hardness: 50 & 47 degrees sponge

 

The Air TigerS is actually my favorite rubber among the Air rubbers. I think this is for people who are actually using Hurricane 3 rubbers. The topsheet is a fine and smooth with a tacky exterior. It is  not as sticky as a commercial Hurricane 3 Neo but rather equivalent to a provincial Hurricane 3 Neo because the sponge is more responsive and the tackiness of the topsheet does not hold the ball much thereby having a higher amount of speed while maintaining the amount of spin. The topsheet is much more consistent in quality if I compare it to the Loki Rxton 3 which I have tried and tested before. It is faster than the Hurricane 3 commercial version out of the box with only factory boosting. The sponge is much livelier wherein you can feel the bounciness on every drive or loop. I used the Xiom 36.5 blade on this test for this rubber. The TigerS is very spinny. It produces tons of spin when you are looping against underspin ball. It is fairly easy to loop with and also very forgiving. What I love about the  TigerS is that it has somewhat a medium soft topsheet that easily grabs the ball when looping. It is soft enough to have the ball sink into the sponge thereby making you loop the ball easily and properly. This is a high performance Chinese rubber which can be easily used by players from intermediate to expert level. Players will enjoy looping with the TigerS if they have used other Chinese brand before because it offers more control and ease of usage. This is a cheap option for people who are looking for alternatives to Euro rubbers like MX-S, Vega China, Golden Tango, etc. provided that the TigerS is boosted.

 

AIR AssassinsS

Weight: 71 grams (uncut)

Speed: Off

Hardness: 47 degrees

 

The Air Assassin is another rubber I have tried from Air Originals. It is a firm tacky rubber ideally for looping and spinning. I believe it has some similarities with other Air rubbers. The topsheet has short pimpled structure with very sticky surface. It still carries the new red sponge that is firm but reactive. Compared to the Scirocco, the AssassinS topsheet is a bit more grainy. Scirocco has a smoother sticky topsheet. I tested this in a Xiom Stradivarius (new version) blade with the Scirocco on the other side. It is faster than Scirocco but slower than Illumina or TigerS. The Assassins has an above average speed for a Chinese rubber. If compared to other Chinese rubbers from other brands, the Assassins is your typical tacky, medium-speed looping rubber. It is very spinny to be fair but it does not have the speed of the Illumina even with the booster that I have applied to the sponge. I tested all the rubbers without and with booster. I used the Haifu Seamoon booster. It seems nowadays, despite Chinese rubbers having some sort of factory booster, you would still need booster for maximum performance.The AssassinS spins well. It is excellent in push chops, drops shots and serves really well. I would suggest this for beginners or intermediate levels. Other rubbers from Air are much suited for advanced and expert level players.

 

AIR DefenderS

Weight: 74 grams (uncut)

Speed: Off

Hardness: 47 & 50 degrees

 

Contrary to the name DefenderS, this rubber is no defensive rubber at 2.1mm sponge thickness. This has thinner versions upon special orders and can be actually used to defensively chop but the real purpose of the DefenderS is actually an offensive type of rubber. I would place this as a slower rubber compared to Illumina and TigerS but faster than AssassinS  and Scirocco. It is more or less in the speed level of Hurricane 3. The tackiness is lesser than Hurricane 3 or the AssassinS rubber. This is my 2^nd most liked rubber in the Air rubbers. I was surprised that it has good ball feed back when I was doing drills with it. The topsheet feels medium soft over medium-hard and hard rubbers. I really like it a lot since I did not need any adjustment on this rubber. I tested this with my Xiom Stradivarius (new version) and also placed it in my Adidas Strikewood 7. I boosted the 50 degree version and made it softer. It felt almost like a less tacky Hurricane 3 Neo Provincial version rubber. The rubber excels in almost all types of strokes. When looping, it produces a medium arc ball with a huge amount of spin. Of all the looping rubbers in Air Originals, the DefenderS is the easiest to loop with. On the area of chopping defensively, DefenderS can chop well if on a slower blade. I tried it on the Adidas Strikewood 7 and it has a possibility of being a good chopping rubber if I have tried it in an ALL+ blade instead of an Off blade. If this is at 2.0mm or 1.9mm, I am sure that it can do its job. For people who are not sure which rubber to choose with regards to their skills, this is the rubber that I would highly recommend because it has almost all the capabilities of a rubber that is affordable and easy to use.I could say when boosted this could replace Donic Baracuda when you are looking for a budget rubber but one that performs really good. 

Colestt.com has them. Some of Yogi's descriptions don't match Cole's, but when I played them DefenderS was very Japanese feeling and my favorite of all of them. Illumina was a blocking machine that ate up incoming spin. AssassinS was more aggressive and powerful with a harder top than Illumina. TigerS was one of the spinniest Hurricane-like rubbers I've tried with a less dense feel. The red sponge feels and plays great with all the topsheets. These rubbers are my favorite cheaper options.