Tibhar Rapid Carbon Light & Red Cypress Blades

Got to review these 2 new blades from Tibhar last week but never finished my write ups earlier because of tropical storm haiyan. These came out along with the white sword, furious and curious blades but I got them later than the 3. 

The Rapid Carbon Light is an improvement over the older Rapid Carbon blade. Both have balsa middle cores but it seems the Rapid Carbon Light has an ayous top ply while the older Rapid carbon looks like it has a koto outer layer by comparing both. There are minute squarish wood pattern on the older rapid while the rapid light has an obvious ayous top ply. The 2^nd layer is also ayous. Both rapid blades have the carbon layer on the 3^rd layer before the thick balsa core. Putting the 2 rapid blades side by side, the rapid carbon light seems to have a bigger blade head. The rapid light is longer by approximately 0.5 cm. it is still a compact blade in terms of size and both blades have the same thickness.

When I used an FX-P and EL-P evolution on each side of the rapid light it was even better. I think the rapid light goes well with medium soft to hard tensor rubbers. I haven’t tried the MX-P evolution on the rapid light but it seems it is still a compatible pair because of the good feel of the blade. The rapid light doesn’t seem to vibrate much and looping or countering away from the table seems easy. The EL-P being a favorite evolution rubber of mine felt wonderful with the rapid light because the rubber and blade felt very easy to spin with. It didn’t feel too stiff like the triple carbon or the t-11. All in all an above average performance for this blade. 

The Red Cypress is the thinnest blade among the 2013 blades released by tibhar. The 2 dark 3^rd layers from the outer plies give an illusion that it looks like a thick blade but it is only 5.4-5.5mm thickness. I am not sure if these 2 dark layers are tanne or spruce layers. The outer layer is cypress which almost can be mistaken as hinoki but with bigger grains or lines compared to the hinoki outer layer of other known hinoki blades. The 2^nd layer and center core looks like they are made of ayous layers.

Unlike the Rapid light, the Red Cypress felt a little better with the skyline 3. Although the Red Cypress is a stiff blade, using a hard Chinese rubber on it seems good but I still find it a bit slow. The 1q sound paired well with the red cypress. You can feel the power of the blade with every drive and this blade is good until middle distance. Although it is a stiff blade, it is a balanced blade that you can loop well with it at the same time counter drive or smash middle distance.

This blade is made for players who want stiff blades or blades that give a hard feeling but still can loop with it. The hard outer cypress plies give an extra kick to your shots, I would not consider this an all around blade but rather an offensive blade with above average control. Despite the red cypress being stiff, it still offers some feel for the ball upon impact. Actually this is my most favorite blade among the 2013 Tibhar blades. I like its good feel and response. It is a whacking machine when you glue  medium to medium hard rubbers at the same time it can still loop well. Maybe rubbers with medium or medium hard sponges with soft topsheets will pair well with the red cypress. I am greatly inclined with this blade among its batch of blade that came out of this year.