H3 Neo blue sponge

Finally, I have received three sheets of the H3 Neo blue sponge, which is arguably the most hyped rubber from DHS. I got two pieces in 39 deg hardness and one piece in 40 deg (although I ordered three in 40 deg hardness). The sponge (40 deg) feels softer and more flexible than the orange sponge of the regular H3 Neo (40 deg). The rubber seems a bit lighter to me, it weights 58 gr (16.7x16.7 cm^2).

Here some pictures (unfortunately not very good quality since my camera is at my girlfriends place since quite some time, so I took the pictures with my mobile phone):



I'll go and have a few hits with the new rubber in about an hour or so.

When just bouncing the ball, it feels a bit more dynamic than the orange sponge and seems to have a notably lower throw when I put some backspin on the ball and let it jump of again under some angle. Let's see how it performs when it is run in...






Edited by High_Arc - 09/03/2010 at 1:13pm

Beautiful! I'm very interested in how this plays!!!!

That blue sponge on H3 neo looks sexy. Where do you get those from? Are they commercials, provincial or national versions? Looking forward to your review.

Just played a few balls against a robot. I mostly find it hard to get a precise impression of the characteristics of a rubber when I play against a robot. I will try to give more detailed impression tomorrow evening. By then, i will have used it in competition (we have the first match in our league). It's a bit of a risk to play with the new rubber, in particular since it's most likely not fully run in by then (I'll have some more hits against the robot tomorrow morning), but I think that although there are distinct differences between the two H3 Neo's, they are still similar enough so that I don't get too confused.

So what are the differences between the blue and the orange sponge?

As I've said before, the blue sponge feels a tad softer and more elastic. It is more lively and has more catapult in that sense. Though it is still clearly a Chinese rubber. I think the blue sponge lies between the orange sponge and the Blue Whale II, but perhaps a bit more powerful than both.

I'll post a short video soon and more detailed impressions will follow by tomorrow evening as already said above.

The blue sponge can be purchased at http://prott.cc/. Personally, my one is untuned, because I have heard people say that you're feeling for the ball could get messed up if you play with it throughout it's whole 'tuned' state, because it will slowly degrade. The tuned NEO HAS to be purchased as the National Version, while the Provincial is untuned and is a bit cheaper. I might post some pics of my NEO's too, if High_Arc doesn't mind... This could be an official thread for Blue Sponge Hurricanes! 

glanden.zheng wrote: I might post some pics of my NEO's too, if High_Arc doesn't mind... This could be an official thread for Blue Sponge Hurricanes!

Go ahead! I'm always happy to see pictures ! And please feel free to add your detailed impressions of the rubber if possible, in particular in comparison with the 'regular' H3 Neo. I'm very interested in the opinions of other people who have tried this rubber. Let's make it an official thread for blue sponge hurricanes in that sense!

By the way, my video is still uploading on youtube... It's probably boring to watch anyway, so no big deal...

Will post mine here too.. this neo h3 blue sponge took to more then 10hours before I feel i can handle it. now the topsheet is softer and sponge is able to 'hit through'. better feeling then the orange sponge..

okay.... some blue sponges on TBS coming soon!!!

Edited by glanden.zheng - 09/04/2010 at 6:54am

chris.b40 wrote: Is this rubber  NEO provincial hurricane3 blue sponge  ?

Edited by hurrayhurray - 09/04/2010 at 8:19am

no covers? just the rubber?  that is MA LONG national H3 untuned version

Edited by hurrayhurray - 09/04/2010 at 8:42am

High_Arc wrote: hurrayhurray wrote: no covers? just the rubber? that is MA LONG national H3, Nice yes, no covers. (by the way, that's also what ttrubberman sells as National version of the H3 blue sponge. though this may not necessarily mean something.) kind of funny if it is the Ma Long version, since to the best of my knowledge he uses the orange sponge. However, great rubber anyway!

do u boost?

@hurrayhurray, since you seem to know, which rubber is this?

High_Arc wrote: @hurrayhurray, since you seem to know, which rubber is this?

 MA LONG Blue National H3  LOL And it is untuned rubber. Normally, Tuned H3 will start with P , eg . P0902011215

Edited by hurrayhurray - 09/04/2010 at 9:04am

High_Arc   The version of H3 you have is Pre-Neo.  It is one of the 2008 National versions designed for tuning.