NPNT

Decided to do another shot of my collection since it's changed since I started this whole buying craze...

(From left to right) Dunlop Aerogel Tour 4D, RSL M10 Heat 700, Prince Black Pearl XP, Prince Oversize Black, Yonex ArcSabre Z-Slash TH, APACS WREX Punch, Carlton Airblade 30, Carlton Fireblade FX8, Carlton Vapour Trail Vanquish, Carlton Vapour Trail S-Lite and Carlton Air Rage Tour.

Roll Call

Here's a list of the rackets I currently have in possession:

Yonex ArcSabre Z-Slash TH

Prince Black Pearl XP

Prince Oversize Black

RSL M10 Heat 700

Dunlop Aerogel 4D Tour

Carlton Fireblade FX8

Carlton Airblade 30

Carlton Air Rage Tour

Carlton Vapour Trail Vanquish

Carlton Vapour Trail S-Lite

No more... please! Reviews coming as I use them more often.

Big Carlton fan here

Nothing new, but I got me 2 more Carltons.

The Airblade 30 is a mid-priced Carlton that I found in the back of some old store in the middle of town. After I dusted it off and asked the grumpy about the price I bought it right off.

The Vapour Trail Vanquish, apart from having a really cool name, was shown to me by my regular stringer and racket pimp... It was too good to resist, and believe me when I said I tried (for the whole of 2 minutes).

AND if all goes well tomorrow, I'll trade my Victor Spira 21 for a Dunlop Aerogel 4D Tour. Did some research and discovered that Carlton is actually the subsidiary of Dunlop; the website confirms it as I caught glimpse of identical Carlton technology used in the Dunlop rackets.

Seems I just can't escape the allure of them Carlton rackets. Best in the world by my books.

Reviews soon.

25 arrested in police sweep

BREAKING NEWS: 25 people were arrested for slow walking speeds due to smartphone use in an islandwide operation by the police to curb congestion along crowded walkways.

The police operation follows an increasing number of smartphone thefts and vandalism due to frustration caused by inconsiderate smartphone users.

Smartphones are portable devices that require a higher level of intellect and attention span to operate.

"When such requirements are not met, the usual situation would be the slowing of movement as the user tries to operate their smartphone while walking," said Professor Stating Obviously from the University of Life Science.

In a society known for it's hotheadedness, inpatience and total lack of respect, the new police ruling may be a godsend.

But the close to 80% of the populace with smartphones, of which 60% have been guilty of being stupid and stopping abruptly while using their smartphones in transit, saw red with the new ruling.

Perhaps if a school child was hit by a car while looking at her smartphone, the sentiments would be different.

For now, the police advises all singaporeans to be considerate while using smartphones, or face a jail sentence.

Let this be the last!

New toy.

Specs

4UG5 (85g unstrung)

Head Light, Flexible

675mm in length

Max Tension 28lbs

Badminton Racket Review: Carlton Air Rage Tour

I got a morning of singles play with this racket and feel like it's enough to write up about it.

Let me first state that I'm no pro, and this is just my evaluation of the racket to my playing style and experiences with it. If anything, I'm a high-beginner level player looking to improve myself by playing more often with people of higher skill level than I am.

I would say this racket is suitable for both doubles and singles play.

Carlton Air Rage Tour Specs

Dry weight: 87g (3U)

Balance: Even

Max String Tension: 28lbs

Flex: Medium

Strings: BG6 (in black coz it looks better) @ 28lbs

Carlton Air Rage Tour Technology

(I won't go into detail coz you can go read on the website)

- Xtreme Tension Frame

- Stabilisor Top Cap

- Pro V12 Grommets

Defense

I have good things to say about the even weight balance of the Air Rage Tour, and I might as well start with the defense capabilities. Even though I found the handle of the racket a little longer than the usual ones I have, it soon because an afterthought with the good defense that this racket gave.

Shorter, lighter swings definitely gave better returns from smashes. The flex of the racket also gave the long straight drives some amount of threat.

I still found myself wishing the handle was a little shorter (I tend to hold upwards on defense and that kinda reduces the reach of this racket in particular), but overall good!

Attack

I gave this racket the nickname of Tiger due to the dominantly yellow design and vicious sounding smash. I credit the strings a little (28lbs!) but I guess a bulk of the credit has to go to the engineers at Carlton for making such a powerful racket.

A visit to the Carlton website will see that they gave the Air Rage Tour a high power rating. I can vouch for that one!

Control

I was surprised that I could clear better with the racket than with my Yonex ArcSaber Z-Slash. Although I had a little control loss on the distance occasionally, the power to sent the shuttle back was certainly there.

I also posted a few days back that even-balanced rackets suffered from a little control loss, and it felt that way with the Air Rage Tour. It took awhile to place the shots around the court, and even then I couldn't get a good fix on the distance and direction towards the end of the sessions.

Drops from the back were sometimes missed as well, hitting short of the net at times. I'd say my netplay suffered a significant decrease in accuracy. Service with this racket was also noticeably harder.

I'll put this down to my lack of skills, but then again this review is based on my experience and I found that this racket gave me less control than the others I own.

Looks

Tiger comes with yellow with black and grey markings down the sides of the head. The shaft breaks into a nice grey/yellow/black patterning that ends off with the chrome cap en-lined with yellow paint down the four sides.

Added the black strings and a black grip to complete the look.

Comparison

I don't feel quite as comfortable with this racket than with some of the others I have, and I think it's mainly because of the control issue. I asked my stringer for his advise and he shrugs it off a just a matter of getting used to an even-balanced racket.

I've been on the heavy heads from the start, so I'll be giving this aspect of the Air Rage Tour a little more time for development and maturity.

Hopefully in time I can fully harness the potential of this lovely piece of engineering.

Carlton Air Rage Tour

Defense: 8

Attack: 9

Control: 6

Looks: 10

Time to roar

After tomorrow's game I hope to be able to write a review for the Carlton Air Rage Tour.

It'll be its third use, and I hope to be able to tame it.

Thus far the smashes are remarkable, loud and fast. I've had trouble with the shifter shots though, on particular the net play.

What potential does this medium-balanced racket have for my game play? I'll find out tomorrow hopefully.

Airballs

Here's something I experienced today and is definately worth testing out.

I was using the Carlton Air Rage Tour today and saw a lot of my drop shots miss the mark. Then a lot of my serves start hitting net.

So I wonder - does a lighter head make you lose control in exchange for faster swings? It sure does to me tonight!

Will continue to test out the racket and find out for myself.

Yellow Hotness

It's one of those rackets that you know you just have to get coz it's just so well-designed!

Carlton Air Rage Tour! First impressions soon.

Specs:

3UG5 (87g unstrung)

Even Balanced, Medium Flex

670mm in length

Max Tension 28lbs

The Monster

The VT5 is no longer my lightest racket.

Following the fervor of receiving the lead tape, and the assumption that my APACS racket is really light, I've added wayyy too much weight to it.

The result being a 2U racket head on a 4U shaft.

Test drive's on Saturday, stay tuned.

Sheesh

Here's something that I'd never thought I'd say - I am jealous of Harry Potter.

The power of lead

I had a go with the Zelm Ultimate 700 today and it was phenomenal! So much power from such a light racket!

Am going to give the old WREX lead tape project another shot to try and replicate the effect. I've ordered a roll of lead tape from Australia and will apply it to the APACS racket when it arrives.

Fingers' crossed!

Size matters

I measure the size of the heads on my rackets -

Prince Oversize Black: 195mm x 247mm
Yonex Voltric 5: 190mm x 241mm
Victor Spira: 190mm x 240mm
RSL M10 Heat 700: 190mm x 240mm
Carlton Air Rage Tour: 189mm x 240mm

Carlton Vapour Trail S-Lite: 189mm x 236mm

Carlton Fireblade: 187mm x 238mm
Yonex ArcSaber Z-Slash: 180mm x 238mm

Shifts

The ground opened,
And it swallowed me whole.
Into the darkness,
I fall, awaiting the end
Where a deep splatter keeps
Dreams in check.
Reality hurts, and I'm to feel it
Falling between the light
And the darkness of the ceiling.
Faster and faster, the crevice narrows
Into a pipe dream I once knew
As cruel reality that creeps up
Like the end of my fall,
As the floor opens to swallow me
Near the end of the decent.

Sitting

The room is dark, save for the faint glowing warmth of the orange night light I have in the corner.

It was late. I want to walk over and switch it off, but that would mean the end of my day. I didn't want that to happen yet.

Not after the day I've had.

Sure, it ended with my saying something stupid, but it sure as hell a memory worth saving.

The Collection

Well, I've got most of what I wanted to try out. Still giving some last thoughts about the Bravesword Series from Victor, but for now here's the whole deal:

From left to right: Carlton Fireblade FX8, Yonex Voltric 5, Victor Spira 21, Yonex ArcSaber Z-Slash TH, Prince Oversize Black, RSL M10 Heat 700, and APACS WREX Punch