REVIEW: American Hinoki Bald Cypress 1-Ply Blade

In this review I am reviewing two single ply blades from American Hinoki: A western red cedar blade at 9 mm (90 g in weight) and a bald cypress blade at approximately 9.1 or 9.2 mm (105 g in weight). Each will have identical rubber (Butterfly Tackifire C 2.1 mm) so that the comparison can be as accurate as possible. If you wish more information, you can find their website at: http://www.americanhinoki.com/

Kevin is also a member of this forum with a user ID of 'ahinoki', so you can shoot him a PM too. If you do contact him, tell him Glueless sent 'ya! :)

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The final playing weights of these two blades are almost the same as the difference in the blades: The western red cedar blade weighs 183 g and the bald cypress blade weighs 198 g. The latter is noticeably heavier when swinging the blade and for those who do not like blades that are nearly 200 g in weight, ultralight rubbers or a thinner, lighter version from American Hinoki might be in order.

For the somewhat significant difference in their weights however, their performances were extremely close. In fact, I had to run through most of my tests TWICE just to be sure that the differences I was detecting weren't all in my head! They were so subtle that it took me two to three times the number of swings with any given stroke to really be able to come up with a conclusive difference between the two.

Owing to the higher density of the cypress wood, the bald cypress blade in general offered less vibration/feeling than the western red cedar blade, but in the long run seemed to do a better job of what single ply blades are supposed to do: Be softer and slower over the table and yet play extremely fast when standing back off the table and swinging away.

To whit:

Counter Drive

The bald cypress blade was a little bit slower and offered a little less vibration/feel than the western red cedar. This is a pattern that seemed pretty darn consistent with this blade: In slow over the table shots the cypress blade was a bit slower and offered a little bit more control even though it had less vibration/feel. This is even though the blade is heavier and denser than the western red cedar.

Light Loop Drive

Again the bald cypress blade offered less vibration than the western red cedar, however because the loop drive (even though it was light) did involve a bit more swinging than the simple counter drive, the added density of the cypress wood brought the speed of the blades up to about equal.

Swinging Away

Once you really start to swing, the density of the bald cypress blade surpasses the speed of the lighter, less dense western red cedar. At the harder swinging levels, the cypress blade still offers less vibration but now begins to overtake the western red cedar in terms of speed. I also experienced what appeared to be slightly less control with the cypress blade. This could simply have been the extra weight of the cypress blade causing it to feel a bit more club-like. Again, however, this was extremely close as the difference in control was barely significant.

Backhand

Like the light loop drive, the backhand offered less vibration but about the same level of speed as the western red cedar blade. Here I wasn't swinging very hard but I wasn't exactly swinging lightly either so the density of the cypress blade caused the speed of both blades to be about equivalent.

Blocking

Here again the cypress blade was slower. It seemed to offer a bit more control and because I was only blocking and not swinging away the blade slowed down more than the western red cedar did.

Wrist Lift

This is a shot that I often find myself doing whenever an opponent places a drop shot at a steep angle off the side of the table on my forehand side. I often respond by simply doing a soft brush loop using only wrist to put the ball back up on the table. I thought it would be something good to analyze for the purpose of this review since it is a very low impact stroke that involves mostly spin. I thought it might be valuable because one of the strengths that I often hear about single ply blades is that when you hit very gently with them they behave like all-around blades but when you hit harder they behave like very fast blades. I am finding this to be pretty accurate.

Here again the cypress blade offered less vibration/feeling but, unlike in the other light hitting situations, the speed factor was extremely difficult to discern here. It's possible that it did have a bit less speed but they were so close as to almost not be worth mentioning.

Push

Here the cypress blade was once again a bit slower offering less vibration and feeling.

Looping Underspin

Now the cypress blade really began to shine. Again, in a light hitting/brushing situation the cypress blade offered a bit less speed than the western red cedar. It resulted in a feeling of significantly higher control. This is one of the few places where there seemed to be an actual significant difference between the two blades. The slightly faster speed of the western red cedar had the ball catapulting off the blade just a little bit faster than the cypress. This caused me to feel that I had to really focus on my control with the western red cedar much more so than I did with the cypress blade to keep the very spinny brush loop on the table.

Service Return

In keeping with most of the other soft strokes, the cypress blade offered less feeling/vibration, was slower and offered a bit more control when returning services. Again, the western red cedar was just a little bit faster and caused the ball to spring off the rubber with just a little more speed.

In conclusion, these blades were extremely close! However, as I alluded to in my introduction, the bald cypress blade did an ever so slightly better job of being a single ply blade. For light over the table shots it offer just a little less speed, although it also had a bit less feel. When swinging away, the added density of the cypress wood as compared to the cedar offer just a bit more speed at the top end.

P.S. I would like to make clear that I have no financial ties with Kevin or American Hinoki of any kind and will not make a penny off this review.

Thanks, as usual, for your kind words, Jim.

Native american blades... I like it! And it is a great idea to support TT manufacturers in North America.