OOAK Table Tennis Forum

5-6mm (thinner preferred)
5 ply wood only (NO BALSA)
less than 85g (lighter preferred)
Straight handle, MUST NOT BE HOLLOWED OUT - (more rectangular like Butterfly handles preferred)
softer out plies for example (hinoki or limba ply 1 & 5) open to suggestion but not some cheap wood without definite wood grain feeling. Must not be painted.
cheaper the better including shipping (max $120 aud)

My current blade is Grubba Variant ST handled and meets all the above criteria. It's 80ish limba Anegre ayous 5.4ish.

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I am currently eyeing off the Donic appelgren https://tabletennisshop.com.au/index.ph ... cts_id=926
Yasaka Extra 3D 5 85 6mm Anegre Limba Ayous Limba Anegre
These are probably closes to the grubba variant but in reversed top plies.

Can't find many blades I know the spec of that I most want to try. Such as
Hinotec = hinoki limba kiri (sounds awesome to try both my favs sandwiched)
Xiom Magellan 5 76 0.0 Hinoki Limba Ayous Limba Hinoki

Any thoughts ideas?

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If you can look at some copies in a shop Stiga allround classic is 4.9mm ,the weight of these varies between 70-85g,the lighter ones are thinner

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Tsp Black Balsa 3.0 Tenergy 05 1.9 388d ox black

I own a Stiga off classic, and I am put off by the WRB hollow thingo.

But I think I have found the blade I am looking for:



$60
blade weight grams:~80
blade type: ALL
blade thickness mm: 5.4

And to me it looks cool as too!

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Gewo Zoom Pro, basically a Butterfly Primorac replica for cheaper. Large squared straight handle, bigger than Yasaka. Faster and more solid than Allround Classic/Allround Evolution but a tad slower and more flexible than Offensive S or Stratus Powerwood. I believe mine weighed in the low 80's

I don't believe that the Magellan is manufactured anymore.

thanks!


85g 5.7mm $50 at 'affordable'

I was umming and ahring to go that tad heavier and thicker.... maybe in future.

I did look through gewo blades, sadly I didn't look specifically for pics of every blade, but yes the handle does look more flat on the top. Looks a bit like the addidas blade I ordered but was out of stock.

Yep Magellan is gone, and the corneleaus are only in Europe so more expensive... (new superficial designs too)

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Yep cool blade and cool performance. Looks and plays similar (though not as good as) the Stellan Bengtsson Stiga Allround Classic (my No.1 blade). These two blades are "The Business" (at least for me!) for playing and enjoying recreational TT with no concern for level, standard or results

I'll also throw in a vote for the TSP Swat, it is a seven ply but it is on the thinner side at ~5.8mm and the weights generally range from high 70's to low 80's. It has a soft mild feeling with high flex, limba outer ply. The straight handle is a bit similar to STIGA straight handle but a bit wider. On the downside it is a bit more expensive for a simple wood blade but it is a very well made product with a fine finish.

On the other hand it may be in your scope to try out a defensive style blade such as the Donic Defplay Senso or Tibhar Stratus Powerdefence, the headsizes are bigger but it is possible to cut them down to an acceptable size, and most defensive blades are both rather light and thin/flexible. Both the Defplay Senso and Stratus PD have anigre outer plies giving them good feeling. The Defplay is quite flexible but that gives it a nasty snap effect when you hit hard, the downside is that the straight handle is very thin and skinny, and the Powerdefence is a bit harder and stiffer with a much larger handle, a tad larger than Stiga and Yasaka but not quite on the level of the Zoom Pro. Looking at AffordableTT the Stratus is a bit more spendy than the Donic.

My personal favorite and daily driver is the Xiom Offensive S, though within Xiom blades you might be more interested in the Allround S with its thinner composition (~5.4mm for the Allround vs the ~5.9mm for the Offensive)

On the topic of defending blades... (yes I did look at them for sure...)

I had my heart set on the andro defenders blade (paid up for it) but 'affordable' didn't have the ST handle. Had limba + walnut veneer under = 4.9mm

check out how 'sexy' this blade is. Love the sound. https://www.andro.de/en/timber-5-def

I HAVE A THIN BLADE FETISH...

Once going thin I would say very hard wood under the limber will be essential... No way I could handle Neubauer kind of softwood + softer wood and feather light and etc.

Somehow the ball has to go forward eventually!

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On the topic of essential weight. I found recently that my FH improved after I put a heavier BH rubber on the blade as the only change. There's a kind of essential amount of 'dead' weight that feels right, and then there's 'dead' weight that feels like your arm is tiring and lagging on strokes too much.

Probably why I love ST handles is their solid feeling to balance out the head heaviness that comes with MAX x2.

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God I love to ramble!

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Dam that looks fine. See that is what I mean about the rectangular handle in ST. The Stiga ones I usually see are all rounded now. At least it looks flatter...

Wonder if it's quality wood to start with then does it age and play better like a musical instrument does? I have read somewhere that limba does darken so something must be changing in its composition...

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The blade had a darker top ply in the Offensive version and lighter top ply in the AR version (photo attached). The handle is very comfortable to hold with good grip. I love the shape. The blade's performance is outstanding with moderate speed and exceptional feel and control. A true no.1 gem for me