OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I just came across a Butterfly blade model Miyabi which claims to compose of only one ply of Japanese Hinoki wood :

( https://www.ebay.ca/itm/383413946622?ss ... 1555.l2649) .

All the blades I've been using so far have at least 5 plies or more . I am really curious about this blade. Please comment on its playability if you have had experience with this blade . Thanks.

If you hunt around the forum you'll find all sorts of posts about one ply hinoki blades, why people like them and their drawbacks. Quite a few companies make them (Darker, and Yinhe for instance). The place they excel is in Japanese-style penhold - the traditional no-RPB sort of Japanese penhold that is. Lots of the old Japanese Penhold players used them (I'm pretty sure Kim Taek Soo did). The main reason is - they're HEAVY, being 9-11 mm thick. And using one sheet of rubber makes the weight manageable. Check out the Armstrong catalog for a slew of different ones in different styles of blade shape and handles. Shakehands blades do exist, but they're rare. They're also fairly expensive, since nice, quarter-sawn, blemish-free slabs of hinoki are rare.

Here's a cheaper one, by the way:

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Nittaku-Miyabi- ... 4203061034

Iskandar