Re-stocked with shuttles today, asked for AS-30 and some equivalents. I got 2 tubes each of: Yonex AS-30 speed 3 (£12.50) Ashaway Black speed 78 (£9.99) RSL Tourney No.2 (£10.25) (RSL tube lettering and colour makes them look like 2 quite different batches I think the purple tube is the older style) Having a bit of time on my hands, I thought I would weigh them all. method: 1 tube at a time weigh shuttles 1-12 repeat repeat take averages, reset scales, go to next tube (Note: for the price of the AS-30 I could have got best RSL/Ashaway shuttles: RSL No.1 or Ashaway Gold ) (Note 2: each tube of RSL had 1 shuttle that averaged at 4.73g - this is outside the weight range specified by the laws: 4.74g - 5.50g) This might tell us something about the consistency of the shuttles, i.e. how similar each shuttle is to the others in the tube, but nothing about durabillity. I usually play with Yonex 30 or 40 and can often get most of a game of singles from 1 shuttle. I've played with some half price shuttles and used 4 per game - a false economy. Anyway, here's the data. Make of it what you will.
Hi Neil, Interesting data. What speed were the RSL shuttles? And, what kind of scale did you use to weigh them? Have you played w/ them yet, if so how was the speed relative to the weights you measured? Thx.
The RSL were speed 78 also. I haven't played with any yet. The scale is digital, a My Weigh 200-Z, 0-200g in 0.1g intervals
thanks for the survey neil. I got a low range dig. scale too (0-100g, +/- .01g) but haven't took the time to weighs shuttles. As i have mentioned before, yonex AS's is most consistent (lowest std dev.) for its respective grade but u do pay a bit more for them. In feather, consistency does not necessary equates to durability (as alluded by Neil as well), where as in plastic, it's usually does.
I happen to have 2 (half doz) tubes of unused mavis plastic Mavis 300 yellow SLOW speed (same unused tube) 4.81 4.84 4.86 4.87 4.85 4.89 AVG 4.8533 g mm range .08g std dev. 0.027325202 Mavis 350 white Slow speed (opened tube, not all came from the same tube, as i recall, some came from older tubes previously) 5.08 4.99 4.97 5.02 5.02 4.91 AVG 4.998333333g mm range 0.17g std dev. 0.057067212 (even from different vintage or batch, the standard deviation is still at or slightly lower than those seen in feather shuttles from the same tube) it seem mavis 350 (and 370) generally weigh more than mavis 300. This support my experience that mavis 350/370 flies faster than mavis 300 of the same SLOW speed grade, and why mavis 300 is more commonly used than mavis 350/370 beside price factor.
I also have some tubes of unused Mavis 370. Mavis 370 white Medium speed AVG 5.23g mm range 0.07g std dev. 0.0298 Mavis 370 white Slow speed AVG 5.01g mm range 0.10g std dev. 0.0390 Mavis 370 white Slow speed AVG 5.02g mm range 0.07g std dev. 0.0272
additions to the file as I found an old piece of paper with some measurements of AS-20, AS-40, Blue Bird (really nasty) and QangLi shuttles. From this small sample it seems Yonex try to keep fairly similar weights across different feather types and speeds. I'll try to remember to get RSl No.1 and Ashaway Gold next time to see if other manufacturers do also. But then, do all the shuttles come from the same place anyway? Do Yonex, Ashaway, etc. just buy different grades of shuttle from the same supplier or do they have their own processes?
Interesting read.. Maybe you could get a scale that measures more granulary than 0,1g as well, would make the comparisons even more accurate But I am abit puzzled why the Yonex speed 2 and speed 3 shuttles seem to have the same weight??? Cheers, Twobeer
Played with some today. Speed: When testing speed, RSL and Ashaway were similar, Yonex a little faster, but all were pretty close. In play, they were all fairly similar. There were differences but I can't quite put my finger on them. Durabillity: The Ashaway feathers were quite durable but the spines went a bit soft so the shuttle eventually lost it's round shape more often than feathers breaking. RSL spines were OK but the feathers seemed to break faster. Yonex tended to have spines breaking before feathers broke. Consistency: All about the same. Conclusion (from fairly small sample so far) I don't think the AS-30 are worth 25% more than the Ashaway Black Jury still out on the RSL, I didn't use enough of them.
I got 4 doz of kason feather shuttles, I opened 2 tubes. Kason 99 (their best) Speed 75 5.27 5.41 5.26 5.21 5.16 5.34 5.42 5.01 5.21 5.41 5.17 5.35 AVG 5.26833 mm range 0.41 std. dev = 0.1243 Kason 88 (their 2nd best) Speed 75 4.80 4.90 4.80 4.88 4.91 4.87 4.82 4.97 used four AVG 4.86875 mm range 0.17 std. dev = 0.0596 It seem kason's best isn't that consistent in weight. Even though they were labeled as speed 75, they sure don't fly like it. Kason 99 flew like speed 78 and kason 88 flew like speed 77.
Weight and mass aren't the best indicator of the feather shuttle's temperature range. Each has to be tested by a rotating squash racket. At a given temperature and humidity level, the distance and stability of the feather shuttle is then used to judge the temperature range. In short, I speculate a more accurate rating is the use of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 instead of grains and grams.
it does show the consistency of that manufacturer. it's still better to and have consistenct weight and speed together. 1 grain = .0648g since we measured in +/- .01g, gram measurement is better
natural material like feathers are of course slightly different, therefore rigourous testing is the only way to sort out which shuttles fly at right speed & spin. the overal weight is just a part of the equation. http://www.sosan.com/how.htm I am however quite disturbed by the variance and weight of Mavis 350... Spanning from 4,91 to 5.08 in the same batch, for an artifical shuttle doesnt seem to be a very precise manufacturing process. keep in mind there are no flight testing of these kind of shuttles for selected qualities. /Twobeer
a few more Yonex AS-40 speed 3 AVG 5.15g mm range 0.40g std dev. 0.1132 Yonex AS-40 speed 3 AVG 5.16g mm range 0.23g std dev. 0.0729 Ashaway Gold speed 78 AVG 5.08g mm range 0.23g std dev. 0.0793 Ashaway International (Platinum) speed 78 AVG 4.89g mm range 0.17g std dev. 0.0538
2 different tubes, so same name, different shuttles I decided to do some more measurements because I got hold of the Ashaway International at a reasonable price. Maybe see how good they are tomorrow night.
Yes - this will help me build an exact weight system for my shuttle launcher . Sounds cruel eh? - 3 dozen shuttles around my back fired after 5ish seconds - then repeat this 15 times. Legburner :O
no good. If I'd paid full retail price I would have been disgusted. As it is, just quite disappointed feathers broke too quick, and didn't seem to fly quite right. Not as good as AS-30
I don't think there needs to be a correlation between speed and weight. Though I do want the shuttles to fall within the weight range specification. So the RSLs are doing something not so right. A cheaper grade (not lower speed) shuttle might use not so great cork base (lower weight). So weight distribution across the shuttle will play somewhat into the nature of the flight. Our club plays with AS-30. When we steam them appropriately, they are quite a decent shuttle. But I still don't like to pay $20+ for a dozen. I think Yang Yang and Sosan make shuttles on par with AS-30 at a much lower price.
disturbed? i thot u would be delighted Yup, if they were speed tested, mavis can be very consistent No worries, mavis can be adjusted quite easily
