Has anyone tried these shuttles before? They're goose feather shuttles and they're only $11.50 a tube. Do you think they are any good? Can be found here from mybadmintonstore: http://www.mybadmintonstore.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=25_58_59_83&products_id=693 Can anyone suggest any better alternatives at a similar price? Thanks.
I usually have Hi Qua Red and decided to order some of these Special Editions to see if they are good enough. I will get to try them tomorrow. Here are some initial observations. The Reds have foil lined tubes but the SE are just white paper. The SE feathers are slightly less white "clean" looking. The Reds' feathers seem to be less translucent. The finishing on the SE shuttles are not as consistently clean for things such as glue, tape, and thread. Here are some photos.
If the SE last anywhere close to the Reds and play decently, for nearly half the price, that's really special.
I've had a chance to use up a couple of tubes of the Special Editions. My conclusion is that the quality is roughly 6 or 7 out of 10 if Reds are 10. - Flight - 6/10 In each tube there has been about 2 shuttles that don't fly quite right. For these odd ones there isn't enough spin and the shuttle's trajectory is a bit too linear. The drop at the end of the flight is not right. Most of the other shuttles in the tubes fly fine. Sometimes there is a very slight wobble but not enough to be a nuisance. - Durability - 8/10 These last nearly as long as the Reds before the flight degrades significantly. When they wear out they loose most of their spin. They lasted us roughly one game each. Reds usually do the same. Victor blue and light green (recent batches) last us less than one game. These are good enough for practice and for playing amongst friends that you know well. However, I wouldn't recommend them if you are doing final practice for tournaments, spares for tournaments or if you can't have the risk of a few bad ones.
This is the reply I got when asked from MBS about SE " They are goose feathers, so quite durable. Only thing is they are thin feathers, so they wobble a bit during flight. Excellent choice for leisure play and training. " Regards, Shashi
Ordered 6 tubes of Hi qua SE and MBS delivered in 6 days to India !! . After dispatch i took only 4 days and no duty was levied too . Feather stems are dead strong but feathers are very thin . Seems like a combo of stem from AS50 and feathers from cheapest duck feather LOL