OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I got the Red Tide blade in from Ross a short time back and I have to say it is probably the nicest looking blade I have seen. Ross seems to put time and care into making his blades. I also want to thank Ross for allowing me test this blade. It is a 5 ply combi with a thick Balsa layer in the center, another thin Balsa layer on BH side with Bloodwood as the outer layer. On the FH side is Western Red Cedar with Limba as the outer layer. The weight is 75 grams (lighter than my current blade, Gambler OS Kevlar). This is the oversize 3 option on Ross' website 158mm(W) x 162mm(L). I requested a larger handle (28 x 23) which seems to fit well in my hand.

FH - The speed on FH isn't super fast (not slow either). I wish it were a little faster for my looping game on FH, but for purely control oriented looping it is great. Don't misunderstand me here, if you put some power into it you can get enough speed to do the job. I was surprised how easily the FH side chopped compared to my Gambler OS Kevlar blade. The ball could be placed where ever you want it with ease imo. I should note that I am using Avalox Pronte Soft 2.0 black on FH side which isn't the fastest rubber, so more speed could easily be there with a faster rubber.

BH - The speed on BH is fairly slow. Kind of odd though. It seems with slower shots (from opponent) that I lightly push back, to have faster speed than when I block a really fast loop. Blocking from a speed looper with this blade was cake. I could get the ball to land short which really threw off opponents game. I think this is the result of such a thick Balsa layer in the blade. The BH side is better for reversal (spin continuation) with ox LP) than Gambler OS KV according to my opponents. One of the top levels guys said he had a harder time then usual when playing me. I have the same LP on BH as my normal blade, SL Dornenglanz ox red. I could also chop with decent accuracy using BH side and my BH chopping isn't the best shot I have by far.

Control - This blade seems to have very good control. Both FH and BH shots can be made with accuracy.

Sound - This blade has a destinct sound, like none of the others I have used. Like a fairly loud corky sound.

I am still testing this blade, and this is my impression so far.

Maybe Ross has a picture of the ply's, if not I can take one so you can see how it looks .

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"Success is on the same road as failure; success is just a little farther down the road."

Donic Defplay Senso | Yasaka Mark V 2.0 | SL Dornenglanz OX

Donic Defplay Senso | Butterfly Sriver | Testing

Dawg, I may have my Def II up for sale just so you now. I'm probably not going to use it for a while, and maybe never...

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SPW/Solo

Glad that it fits with your style, Dawg!!!

I do like the name "Red Wave" though.

I still have dibs on "Unix"

And I agree with you about the pronte soft.

Is the handle cocobolo with yellowheart and purpleheart?

Looks nice!

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Blade: American Hinoki 1-ply NWC 69 grams - Stiga Tube Carbo
FH: Juic 999 Turbo MAX - Andro Hexer HD 1.7
BH: Butterfly Spin Art 2.1 - Donic Acuda S1 Turbo 1.8

Another great looking blade by Ross I should have my own soon, he is in the process of finishing it at the moment

I should probably start thinking of a name

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Main: Butterfly Timo Boll Spirit ST | FH: Andro Hexer HD 2.1mm | BH: Donic Bluefire MAX

You do mean, Red Tide, don't you?

Beautiful blade, as always!

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Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
Club1: Daylesford - since 2010
Club2: Ballarat - since 2011
Blog: A Naked Bear

The big difference in speeds sound very intriguing! I would love to see a closeup of the plies too.

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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

haggisv, I am so impressed with your will-power. You know how much you really want a blade from Ross and yet you still resist!

But resistance is useless...

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"So long, and thanks for all the fish
So sad that it should come to this" Sung by the dolphins in The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

Yes, I meant tide!

Easy to put in the wrong word in swype!

Still a good name!

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Blade: American Hinoki 1-ply NWC 69 grams - Stiga Tube Carbo
FH: Juic 999 Turbo MAX - Andro Hexer HD 1.7
BH: Butterfly Spin Art 2.1 - Donic Acuda S1 Turbo 1.8

Is that a table tennis blade or a work of art?

the way I scrape up the edges i would be almost afraid to play with it. wow.

You know me so well... it scares me

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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

Do not be afraid, little one. Give yourself up to the power of the Leidy side.

Others have their light sabres, but you shall hold the true force in your hands. Come to the Leidy side and all shall fall before you. Resistance ... is ... useless.

Btw, nice blade, Master. Erm, I mean Ross.

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"So long, and thanks for all the fish
So sad that it should come to this" Sung by the dolphins in The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

You guys are funny with your blade banter.

First, thanks Dawg for giving the blade a spin around the block and for posting your findings. I appreciate you taking the time to do an evaluation. For the FH speed, I expected it to be something like ALL+ or maybe just squeaking into OFF-. Would you say that agrees with your findings? If not, how would you rate the FH speed? I'm glad to hear that the BH was indeed slower. As you recall, I reduced the thickness of the bloodwood outer ply to about 0.4mm to retain the hard outer, but to allow the cushioning effect of the soft balsa to be more evident on passive shots. It sounds as if this was the case - would you agree? Again, thanks for the review, and I look forward to any updates you have during your testing.

The handle on this blade is East Indian Rosewood with a Purpleheart stripe, with fine light stripes of Limba.

The plies are the same as in the first Red Tide blade posted here, with the exception of the thinner bloodwood on the BH of the blade Dawg is using. Here's the photo from the other thread:

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Ross
Handcrafted Table Tennis Blades

It is both...

As for the edges... Ross puts a thick but light ply (I can't recall what type of wood it is) around the edge of the blade, as you can see in the pics above, that protects it from damages . I requested that the bottom of the handle be left exposed so I could see the plies. Looks nice .

_________________
"Success is on the same road as failure; success is just a little farther down the road."

Donic Defplay Senso | Yasaka Mark V 2.0 | SL Dornenglanz OX

Donic Defplay Senso | Butterfly Sriver | Testing

Ross, it was my pleasure and thank you for giving me the chance to test out one of your blades. As for the FH side, I would say ALL+ is pretty close. It's not super fast, but there is some speed there. I could slow things down (with a slower shot from opponent) and load up the spin in a slow loop or put some power into it and try to put it past opponent.

The thickness of the bloodwood seems to work well. I still have to get used to it some since it seems to have two gears, one for fast shots and one for slower shots. I think I mentioned in original post, but I have had a few remarks about the reversal using this blade. One guy asked if I was using a different LP . I should be able to get a few more hours of play in tomorrow .

_________________
"Success is on the same road as failure; success is just a little farther down the road."

Donic Defplay Senso | Yasaka Mark V 2.0 | SL Dornenglanz OX

Donic Defplay Senso | Butterfly Sriver | Testing

Got to use Red Tide a little more yesterday for a couple of hours. Not much to add at this point except I practiced chop blocking with it and it does well, good reversal. I didn't get to play any high level guys yesterday, hopefully Tuesday I will. This is where I can really test it out the best. I did, however, knock myself in the head with it while looping one back... don't worry the blade is fine .

_________________
"Success is on the same road as failure; success is just a little farther down the road."

Donic Defplay Senso | Yasaka Mark V 2.0 | SL Dornenglanz OX

Donic Defplay Senso | Butterfly Sriver | Testing