OOAK Table Tennis Forum

In this thread I want to summarize my impressions about various blades from Darker. In another thread of OOAK I found the following diagram which nicely illustrates features of the Darker blades



7p-2a.df

My first Darker was the 7p-2a.df. It has an overseize blade of 165x154mm. Although a 7ply hinoki blade its speed range is def+ to all-. The main characteristic is a fantastic spin generation. I never before and thereafter had a blade generating more spin than the 7p-2a.df. Due to the moderate speed this spin comes along with a superb control. It is a modern defenders dream for looping from mid distance. It is also great for the use of LP sponge rubbers in chop defense on the backhand side. However it is a bit tricky to figure out the right LP/OX rubbers for a disruptive game close to the table.

Legato 2a

I tested this blade parallel to the 7p-2a.df. It is a typical all blade. My coach said "Superb control. Difficult to make something wrong with this blade." However due to the overwhelming impression of the 7p-2a.df I did not start to play with this blade.

5p-2a

This was the next station. The blade has a much harder touch than the 7p-2a.df and is really fast. Here the ranking of Darker seems to be wrong not only for me. It is definitely not slower than the 7p-2a which is ranked off- . Again the control is great. This attribute seems to fit for all Darker blades which I have tested so far. In contrast to the 7p-2a(.df) it gives you a very direct feeling upon hitting the ball. Good for smashes and powerspins. At the time I tried the blade I was adjusted to slow speed with my LP/OX and had some control problems so I gave up with this blade. Looking back from nowadays it would be worth to give it a second chance. However at least for me it is psychologically difficult to buy a blade again which I sold before.

At this point I stopped my first journey through the empire of Darkness and went back to slow def+ - all- blades preferably from TT-Manufaktur (Definition Safe, Definition Progress, Hammer & Sichel). In January I had a series of frustrating losses and I decided to give me some solace by buying the 7p-2a because I had been looking at this blade all the time.

7p-2a

This blade is the faster brother of the 7p-2a.df. It shows the same soft touch and great control however at a higher speed. However the spin was greater with the def-version. On the other hand LP/OX are much easier to handle on the 7p-2a. This was a real surprise as I assumed greater problems.

7p-2a.7t

Now I tasted blood and ordered the 7p-2a.7t. The blade was claimed to be faster as the 7p-2a and with a somewhat harder touch. Here Darker's description is absolutely correct. Now I have to make some comments about the BTY T05 rubber. Of course I had tried this rubber before but had always great problems with it. Blocks upon topspin were placed behind the table to often and the opponent's blocks of my topspins generated great problems for my second ball. Nevertheless after several years I decided to try again the 1.7mm version. In a sudden attack of megalomania I mounted it first on the new 7p-2a.7t. To my very big surprise this idea was a direct hit. Without any assimilation I could right away handle this combination in a convincing manner. Blocks were precise and easy to perform and I could attack by a series of topspins. On the backhand I started with the 755/OX and then switched to my usual Desperado/OX. Both LP rubbers were satisfying. I am playing this racket now for 2 weeks and 6 training sessions. From the results against my usual partners I realize an increase in performance.

Preliminary conclusion: I found my blade.
However: validation of this keen hypothesis is already going on. Next week an Esteem (borrowed by a friend) will arrive as well as 7p-2a.Carbon. I asume the Esteem being too fast and maybe the Carbon version will add even some more control.

p.s. I should also mention two potential disadvantages of all Darker blades
- the handles are a bit too thin (in my opinion)
- the blades are head-weighted

Wow, that is a fantastic summary, thank you cogito!

What sort of rubber (on the forehand) were you using to test these blades that resulted in so much spin?

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
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Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

On the 7p-2a.df I played the Giant Dragon Topenergy Soft in 1.8mm. A German 3rd league modern defender played it with a Vega Pro 1.8mm. The last LP/OX was the Dornenglanz. A friend of mine still plays the blade now with Desperado.

The 5p-2a was with Dornenglanz and Topenergy Soft, too. The 7p-2a works nicely with a Tibhar 5q 1.7mm and Desperado or FS755; another attempt was this blade with the Toni Hold dampening sponge (not the foil !) and Meteorite, Desperado or Bomb Talent. Although this looked very promising I returned to OX LP. The 7p-2a.7t with Tenergy 05 1.7 and Desperado.

The forthcoming Darker blades will first be tested with the Tibhar 5Q and Desperado. Perhaps later on then with the Tenergy.

So at the moment I am busy with the Esteem (=> kind item on loan) and my new 7p-2a.Carbon.

Just from the jump of balls on the blades I cannot realize the difference in speed displayed by the graph. Sometimes the ball bounces longer on the one then on the other. Bouncing a ball with the blade in hand the Carbon gives a more lively response whereas the Esteem feels more solid. In contrast to the graph the touch of the Carbon feels softer than the Esteem. However real life is behind the table and so I have to wait until I will have played both blades.

Both blades are labeled "5 ply plus 2 carbon". There is some confusion about the Esteem: some dealers as for example OOAK claim 2 outer hinoki and in the center kiri and yanagi whereas in the tabletennisdb.com "5 layers of cypress wood plywood 2-layer carbon fiber" is given as the manufacturer's description. As the Esteem is a used blade with some darkening of the wood I cannot decide by direct comparision of the two blades if its core is composed of hinoki or not. Although I prefer the idea of a pure hinoki carbon composition for the Esteem. If this holds true then the difference would be that the Carbon shows a "modern" Innershield-like construction with the carbon around the center layer whereas in the Esteem the carbon is directly beneath the thinner outer hinoki layer.

Yesterday I tested the blades:
7p-2a.7t
7p-2a.Carbon
Esteem
FH T05 (Esteem T64) 1.7mm
BH Desperado/OX

Speed: Esteem>7p-2a.*
Spin: Carbon>7p-2a.7t=Esteem
Control: 7p-2a.7t>Esteem>7p-2a.Carbon

The Esteem was the stiffest blade with the "hardest" touch (=> concerning this the graph is wrong) and it was the fastest. The Carbon was slower then the Esteem and may be a littel slower then the 7t (=> concerning this the graph is right). The Carbon showed the greatest elasticity leading to the best spin generation but also leading to a greater sensitivity to incoming spin. So often blocks upon topspin went off to high and long. Overall the arc of the ball was the highest with the Carbon. The feedback was greates with Carbon and lowest with the Esteem.

Agianst the same opponent I switched between the various blades and did this with two different opponents.

I prefer a disruptive game close at the table but also defend from distance if necessary. My German TTR ranking is about 1400 which corresponds to an US ranking of about 1800-1850.

I will take a closeup picture of a new Esteem and will post it here. From the naked eye the inner layers do not look like hinoki to me, as the distinct lines of the grain are not present.

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

That is what I coud not see either however the whole edge of the blade was darkened (and dirty ?) so I was not sure.

Just after I took a few more pictures, I realised that I had already taken the closeup picture and put them on the shop page

Here they are again (click to zoom in):






I can post the new ones to, if you need more convincing

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

That darker esteem looks truely majestic, wonder how it compared to butterly alc blades.

Interesting that the 7p-2a is listed as "soft" whereas the one-ply Hinoki is listed as "hard"! As hard as the carbon blades.

By the way, the last photo - a good way to take these end-of-handle photos is with a flatbed scanner.

Darker 7p-2a


Nittaku Septear


Yinhe Kiso 7




Yanagi, by the way, is willow.

Iskandar

That looks awesome isk! do u still have your darker blade still?

Yes, and the Septear. And three Kiso 7s. Bloody expensive!

Iskandar

How do u rate speed among those 3 ? There's 7p 2a with and without carbon right?

And a Defense version. Mine doesn't have carbon, and it's the slowest (and lightest) of the three. The Kiso 7 is the fastest, about the same speed as a N11. The Septear was surprisingly slow. There were two 7p-2as in stock, I chose the lighter of the two (and it was a lot lighter than the other one).

Looks like no one's mentioned the Alba and Serio. Wonder if they've been discontinued - I wanted to get a Serio but the one in the shop weighed too much.

viewtopic.php?f=43&t=25919&p=275946

Iskandar

Yeah this thread need reviving , show darker some loveeeeee.