Hozuki's Rubber Ratings
Back to hozuki's ProfileHere are Hozuki's ratings and reviews. These ratings are useful because Hozuki has his/her own standard and will rate and review the ping pong equipment accordingly, giving you accurate and useful ratings and reviews to aid you in your next online purchase.
999 (1) 
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999 Super 999T
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Review of 999 Super 999TA cheap, consistent control rubber for allround playstyle, suitable for both wings.Super 999T is not a flashy rubber at 5$ price point as it's basically an easy to play version of a classic chinese rubber, because of the medium sponge. This makes spin generation easier, but caps maximum speed and spin. It does do all strokes decently, but throw angle when looping is much higher than throw angle when hitting or blocking, where it is very low. Due to these reasons it can be good for both BH and FH. On BH it will give you good control in blocks and decent openings, on FH it will give you very consistent loops. Sadly, there is no high gear so especially with the poly ball you will struggle to finish a point. It is still good for training though. All in all this rubber reminds me of a slower soft sponge version of TG2. Makes sense as Ma Lin was using this topsheet with harder sponge before switching to TG2. Red sheets seem to be tackier and better quality. Speed can slightly be increased by boosting. Oct 14, 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DHS (6)
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DHS NEO Hurricane 3
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Review of DHS NEO Hurricane 3Modern Chinese rubber for variable attackers. It excels in continuous loop from mid distance with varying arc due to high throw topsheet and low throw sponge. Can do everything, spins well on most shots, but best on power loops. However, I find control to be lacking. It is not easy to properly judge swinging speed and topsheet to sponge engagement ratio when making the desired stroke. Neither intuitive nor easily adaptable for me, so I don't use it.Pair it with at least medium stiff and medium hard blades or you control will suffer even more. EDIT: So much better on medium hard stiff blade, high throw balances low throw of blade and control becomes intuitive. Great rubber, boosted 39 deg is very suitable for me. Oct 10, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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DHS NEO Skyline 2 TG2
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Review of DHS NEO Skyline 2 TG2Most has been said already. To sum up, spin and control close to the table is where this rubber shines. One of the spinniest ever. Although developed for penholders in mind, shakehanders who employ more physical action and naturally swing more upward than forward can greatly benefit from this. FH only. Comes in 39 and 40 deg hardness.Needs some time breaking in the sponge. You might find you will lack either speed or recovery time using it but that can be easily resolved by boosting, which I recommend as it has an absolutely amazing effect, the performance increase is the best compared to all chinese rubbers I have ever boosted. Lasts forever. I have a 3 year old sheet which is outperforming a fresh battle 2 sheet and is still tackier. Give this rubber a try if you can. Tip: 39 degree is much more playable, I recently got 40 degree, despite boosting too hard, and not much tack either. QC might be problematic. Update: It turned out the 40 deg version needed a LOT of breaking in, specificly around 10-20 hours of play and two seperate boosting procedures. I also treated the topsheet with olive oil to soften it a bit / make it more elastic and increase tack a bit. So you need to be patient with this bad boy. Jul 02, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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DHS PF4 40+
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Review of DHS PF4 40+A true classic, upgraded for poly ball. Perfect for beginners trying to learn chinese loop.Very Spinny with proper stroke, easy short game and medium-high throw from the half grippy, half tacky topsheet. Comes in hardness 40 deg and above, thus very hard sponge. To make this rubber work on higher level, you need to pair it with a medium flexible, hard blade, and boost the sponge with at least two layers tuner. That way the sponge will become more playable and the low speed issue can be resolved. I would call it a cheap training version of H3. But it really needs tuning. May 02, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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DHS Skyline 3-60 Mid Hard
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Review of DHS Skyline 3-60 Mid HardControl rubber for blockers/hitters occasionally using quick loop.This rubber is not for two winged loopers. It just lacks the high gear and the spin for that. If you are still developing and need more control on BH side than maybe this is for you. BH flick is super easy. Blocks are a breeze. And hits are absolute perfection - precise and super fast. Chops are OK, but not really spinny. If you prefer control over spin, go for it. If you prefer spin, stay away. My red sheet was completely untacky. May 03, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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DHS NEO Hurricane 2
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Review of DHS NEO Hurricane 2All out offensive rubber for close to table players.This rubber can be very dangerous in the right hands - very fast for chinese standards, and very, very spinny yet with low arc, resulting in huge kick off the table. However, control is really bad... Low margin for error due to low throw angle, and your loops will be blocked back really low, which makes it hard to continously loop. Also, looping backspin is not easy. Only for super aggressive attackers. I would rather recommend the original non neo version, which is less bouncy and overall has much better control. Jun 07, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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DHS Hurricane 3 Provincial (No. 22 Blue Sponge)
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Review of DHS Hurricane 3 Provincial (No. 22 Blue Sponge)39 prov blue compared to neo 39 has better quality topsheet and no tuning.It's also faster and has lower throw, resulting in less control. That's about it. Performance is very similar. IMO, orange sponge is better at low power close to table while blue sponge excels more at counterloops from mid distance. Tuning is recommended, to draw out the better potential of bs, else low gear is severely lacking. OS commercial is 85% as good (for advanced players!), whether that justifies 3x price, you be the judge. If your control and technique isn't advanced, stick with OS. Sep 01, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Donic (1)
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Donic Baracuda
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Review of Donic BaracudaSpinniest non factory boosted esn rubber with high throw and moderate speed.Excells at looping. Speed comes through on high impact shots. Suitable for both fh and bh. Topsheet grips the ball well. Sponge is lacking something compared to factory boosted rubbers. This cannot be resolved by boosting, which does not improve performance a lot. Still super solid rubber. Aug 15, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Friendship/729 (2)
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Friendship/729 Battle II
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Review of Friendship/729 Battle IIBattle 2 is a wannabe NEO Skyline TG2, but with less speed and spin. It has the same tackiness and throw angle. It has the same advantages in the close table game and disadvantages away from table. There is just one significant difference. Battle comes in 45, 47, and 49 degree, which is softer than TG2, which is over 50 degree. So if you liked TG2 but it was too hard for you, maybe this will make you happy. There is also provincial Battle 2, which has same hardness as TG2. But that one is much more expensive than TG2, so why bother?May 03, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Friendship/729 GeoSpin Tacky
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Review of Friendship/729 GeoSpin TackyVery slow rubber, and I mean REALLY slow. Especially with poly ball.So what purpose does it still have in modern tt? Well, it actually works very well as a chopping rubber! I have made the heaviest chops ever with this thing. Looping is okay, but needs a LOT of effort. However if your chop gets pushed back and you attack that backspin with a loopdrive, it works quite well. Somewhat similar to the Victas VS>401, but not as versatile maybe, as its offensive capabilities aren't as good. But chops really are LOADED! Jun 07, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Globe (1)
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Globe 999 National
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Review of Globe 999 NationalOldschool rubber. Too slow and undynamic for 40+ era. Still spinny enough, but too demanding. Control was not good for me, rubber has some unusual throw characteristics, as low power loops and drives are low throw and then throw increases rapidly as you increase power. This is exactly opposite to the DHS NEO rubbers.Spin generation needs a lot of effort. Tuning seems mandatory. But then it still feels like a direct downgrade of TG2. Seemed better on koto and walnut outer ply than on limba. Quality of rubber is exceptional. Never seen such a pristine topsheet and sponge. It saddens me to say this, but this rubber's glory days have long gone past... :( Aug 15, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Nittaku (1)
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Nittaku Hurricane Pro III Turbo Orange
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Review of Nittaku Hurricane Pro III Turbo Orangepeople here are very, very dumb, sponge hardness is actually 45 degrees as disclosed by a german tt shop.(https://www.spinfactory.de/belaege/hurricane-pro-iii-turbo-orange.html) According to the ratings here, one could assume a porous stone is used instead of a sponge. Sad. Aug 15, 2018 | |||||
Palio (1)
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Palio HK1997 Gold
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Review of Palio HK1997 GoldQuite fast and very elastic rubber, great mid gears with very good spin.Performs best in counter looping due to elasticity. Throw angle is a bit low, so looping underspin needs a change of technique (more open angle and wrist movement). Short game is ok but not as good as traditional chinese rubbers. Top gear is a bit lacking. Hitting, blocking and serving are ok. -Absolutlely- has to be used on high throw soft flexy blades. I recommend 5ply with double limba and ayous core, e.g. primorac. It will compensate for the bounciness and lower throw of the rubber and improve its high spin, overall making it much easier to control. Aug 08, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Tibhar (2)
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Tibhar Genius
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Review of Tibhar GeniusVery spinny tensor rubber. Works well on either FH or BH. Throw is quite high. Catapult effect is quite strong, most noticeable on medium impact strokes, thus mid distance looping is a breeze. However, it is not as versatile. Topsheet isn't so grippy, making flicks and pushes a bit iffy, but also making the rubber less sensitive to spin, so passive play is quite easy. Boosting will increase both advantages and disadvantages, resulting in very few gears and huge catapult but also wicked spin on shots with sponge engaged. Overall, this rubber is like MX-P with worse topsheet, less booster and higher throw. Intermediate players can use this and later upgrade to MX-P.Sep 01, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tibhar Evolution MX-P
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Review of Tibhar Evolution MX-PNice rubber, basically an upgraded Genius. Topsheet is much better than that of previous generations. Throw is medium. Same throw as TG2, hence complements it very well on the BH. Good spin, but needs quite a bit of sponge engagement to get to it. Topsheet grab is good but still falls short compared to the likes of T05. For such an fast, offensive rubber this is suprisingly linear on the low end and has good control. There are just two problems, first is that it is sometimes difficult to estimate when catapult kicks in (especially as factory booster dissipates). Second is that you need a very good blocker to actually train with this rubber because intermediate players can't block full strokes with this, or at least not consistently. Other than that, surely one of the best ESN rubbers so far.Sep 01, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Xiom (3)
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Xiom Vega Pro
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Review of Xiom Vega ProCheap T05 replacement, for FH only.Vega Pro is a surprisingly linear rubber for ESN standards. It has many gears which make short game easy but power looping far from the table a breeze, too. Catapult kicks in only on big strokes. Hence, I cannot recommend it on BH. It just feels to dead and hard there. Compared to newer generation rubbers, or T05, this rubber is much more linear, but also needs more physical effort. Looping is very pleasant, with high arc and good balance of speed and spin. Combine with stiff blades only and use hard outer ply, for example BTY Timo Boll series (with fiber). Best T05 replacement on FH. Sep 01, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Xiom Vega Def
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Review of Xiom Vega DefGood rubber! It is elastic despite the ultra-hard sponge, which makes it very playable.I would definetly play this if it were not for the high price and the fact that the topsheet still isn't grippy enough. If they change topsheet or lower price it will be my new FH weapon. The funny thing about this is that the harder you hit, the more spin it will make. Technique is only secondary. Even smashes arc down significantly. Due to the elastic hardness, this is actually the fastest and most powerful rubber I have ever played. Ma long loops are now easy again, even with 40+ trash balls in humid conditions. But serving and brushing is not so very good, so I am skeptical for now. Oh yeah, just don't try to play oldschool chopping defense with it, only maybe far away from table. Just play a drive against enemy hard loop, it will be returned with more spin that the incoming ball haha. More of a powerful allround rubber, or straight up attacking rubber. Update: I can get this rubber now cheaper, so I will try to play with it permanently. I call this rubber now Mega Death, because of the massive damage it causes to my opponents. This rubber is no joke. With proper form and good physique, it's gonna completely obliterate your opponents block by the third loop drive. But did you know it can play defense, too? Well, I already forgot about that while loop driving my opponents insane. Anyways, it can do everything, and most of that really well. If I can get 4 months of good performance out of it I will remain loyal to this beast. Mar 11, 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Xiom Omega VII Guang China
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Review of Xiom Omega VII Guang ChinaAfter Vega DEF seems to have been discontinued, this seemed to be a good replacement.Slightly softer now at 55 degree, but still plenty of power. Can do everything reasonably well, no real weaknesses apart from of course being pretty damn hard and imo requiring some mild boosting occasionally to reduce the physical demand, help with recovery, help against humidity and so on. In short, this rubber is not exciting at all, but it does what you would expect from it and basically causes me to not think about the rubber and instead about technique and positioning, which is good of course. Would recommend if you have enough technique and power, like to boost a bit and look for something stable, spinny and powerful. But there may be better alternatives among current gen that I have not tested (yet). Nov 27, 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Yinhe (Galaxy/Milkyway) (1)
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Yinhe Mercury II
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Review of Yinhe Mercury IIMy review is for soft and medium version.This is a very cheap, yet very spinny rubber for a controlled looping game. Mercury excells at close to the table looping. Especially suited for backhand, both medium and soft perform very well in push and flicks. While certainly not a speed monster, this rubber can offer enough speed reserves if you pick medium, while always giving you excellent spin, even without executing a perfect stroke. The throw angle is very pleasant, and helps developing proper BH loops. Hence, perfect on BH for developing juniors who prefer spin and safety, while not being overwhelmed by overly technical rubbers or held back by unspinny control rubbers - and all this without emptying their pockets. Price performace ratio is beyond excellent. May 03, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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