Just ordered two dozen of Kawasaki King Kong 500 hybrid shuttlecocks. For the ones who never heard about it yet (found very few information about it online and none on the forum) these are goose feather shuttles with plastic skirt and composite cork. Kawasaki announces a shorten and automated production cycle which result in a pretty low cost shuttle at 13 euros the dozen and what is claimed to be a very consistent and durable one. Apparently the shuttle would last up to 3 sets or until the feathers are worn off as the skirt of the shuttle doesn’t break easily. I’m pretty excited to try it out as I’m looking for a durable practice “feather” or at least feather-like shuttle for drills and exercices and I’ll leave a review here as soon as I received the order and finished the tubes. In the meanwhile, below are more details about these shuttles.
I have some big questions about this. 1) What issue is this fixing? I'm not sure I understand how this is a quicker process than conventional shuttle production. Are they counting inserting each feather into the cork as a separate step? 2) Why do they suddenly revert from goose to duck feathers between the 500 and 700? 3) I'm not sure how this would be more durable; I don't have issues with shuttles breaking below the glue line, really. It's usually just above that glued area if it's gonna break. I hope they're good but I really don't understand what good this does the market.
i've tried these, k500 specifically. the flight pattern is wobbly and the durability isn't any greater. combining the two issues with cost, and i'd much rather rally/warmup with a pretty good duck or non-game goose feather that flies correctly. and i agree, my experience is that shuttles become unusable either due to excessive fluffing or breaking of the feather shaft closer to the ends (furthest away from the cork)
1) For instance I believe the idea with this shuttle's production is to make a fully automated production line with less steps VS a very tedious, long and slow manual one in order to reduce the cost and eventually, according to the brand producing those, more durability so that would eventually fix a cost and time issue for the manufacturer. Feathers are inserted in a plastic skirt (skirt that is inserted in the cork) through a fully automated machine, not directly to the cork. More information from a reliable French badminton shop where I purchased those: "Production cycle is reduced from 30 days to 3 hours, 30% less irregularities in the shuttles' production and 80% more resistant than a classic feather's shuttle. Since the production is automated there are also less irregularities in a dozen". 2) I didn't find this information but it is strange indeed as the 700 is supposed to be more expensive... 3) From what I've read through the comments on the online shop I purchased those from and on a French forum with up to 30 posts discussing about this shuttle, these seem to have satisfied a fair share of users on the durability side. I believe that the feathers are a bit more protected than on a classic feather’s shuttle as they are inserted in the plastic skirt so it could be why they are supposed to be more durable. What good does it do to the market? Innovation and reduction of the cost through shorter automated production's cycle. It can lead to new upcoming products that could inspire other badminton brands or the brand producing these at the moment. And for us users and clubs; on the short term it could make an interesting alternative for small budgets (if the shuttle does last as long as it claims...) and on the long run lead to new technologies that could change the face of tomorrow's feather shuttle. I say why not? : ) Always fun to try new things.
It's usually and mainly the feather part of the birdie that's an issue in terms of durability, flight quality, etc, and I can't see much anything advantageous on this "innovative" and "hybrid" design by just having a skirt made of plastic but having the same goose feather, the grade of which wasn't even specified. I see more innovation on the carbosonic shuttle although I'm not saying that it's already the absolute alternative to feather or plastic.
I'm guessing the main innovation behind these is reducing the cost of manual labour. However I'm not actually seeing it being that much cheaper. There's a few more user pics on aliexpress and the feathers looks extremely crocked. It's probably the ones you get on the cheapest shuttles and it's no wonder they don't fly well. They probably be too out of shape if they used the whole stem. There's a few similar similar priced goose shuttles on aliexpress where it's the broad one sided type feathers. No idea how these fly. I'm interested to hear if the more expensive duck feather ones are actually better value for money. Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk
The goose feather looks like Lining A+60 goose feather, really thin feather. If the flight pattern is good, durability is not so much a concern as offset by the low price. I am ok to play double the amount of shuttles for the same price.
Yeah, if they switch back from goose to duck feather as they go up their range, that screams the goose feathers they used were really poor quality. I'm not particularly sold on these. If I wanted an ok duck feather, there are other options from Yehlex and RSL.
Goose feather grade 4. Managed to find the information at last. I’m receiving the shuttles tomorrow and will give it a try on Monday.
Shuttles received and they look and feel pretty good. Each feather is actually glued in the plastic skirt. The skirt is slightly more flexible when squeezed compared to a classic feather shuttle. First test on Monday. Below are two additional pictures. B5711D4C-7CED-4275-92FA-47780B82E93D by LenaicM posted Apr 6, 2018 at 2:18 PM 95EF90ED-E009-443E-A896-CF7B245893F4 by LenaicM posted Apr 6, 2018 at 2:17 PM
It looks ok but I didn’t play with it yet so I cannot really tell but I’ll post a little review at the beginning of the week with my impressions.
Finally had the chance to play with the King Kong 500 yesterday night. First of all I would like to point out I’m a beginner player and with the group of players I practice with, we just started playing with (cheap) feather shuttles only in January, so our experience with feather shuttle might not be strong and wide enough to be able to judge that one properly like some players would but eventually, I will try to give a little feedback of my experience with this shuttle. I played 3 single matches and two of them pushed through a third set. We used 3 shuttles, 1 per match and they still flew without wobbling too much by the end of each match. I decided to change every match, even if in appearance the shuttle was still flying decently, as I’ve read several comments on the website of the shop I purchased the shuttles from, saying the shuttles would slow down a lot before before breaking and the players would only realize the shuttle had become too slow after changing for a new one. I’ll use the matches’ leftovers that are still flying straight for drills. I’m already happy with one shuttle per match after experiencing using 2 to 3 shuttles per set with low grade shuttles from Wilson, Babolat and Artengo (Decathlon). So to sum it up: Kawasaki King Kong 500 (hybrid) speed 77. Price: 13.50 euros the dozen. Tested in the South of France in April. Temperature in the gymnasium is around 20 degrees at the moment so they could be a bit “slow” on the paper. We used speed 78 shuttles during winter but since warmer days are around the corner I got some speed 77 ones. Flight quality is ok. Speed is a little bit on the fast side as when we speed tested them against some speed 78 shuttles they landed around 15 cms shorter only and I believe they should land around 30 centimeters apart between each speed grade. Trajectory is good with straight flight. Feeling is good with netshots or when hitting the shuttle hard. The shuttle does not feel too heavy and the sound was just the one of a regular feather’s shuttle sound. Durability is what made me purchase this shuttle and I believe with 3 sets and still flying straight it is above average. Few tips of some feathers broke or started to fray after 3 sets and one of the three shuttle started to wobble at the middle of the third set but we still finished the set with it without it being too noticeable for us. In conclusion I liked playing with these shuttles and it is the best value I found for my needs which are the ones of a beginner wanting a cheap feather shuttle for practice and drills. I cannot comment further on the shuttles as I do not feel like my playing experience allow me to and we only played 3 shuttles but overall I would simply recommend players from my level to consider it over plastic (not that expensive if cost is shared between two players for single games and 4 for doubles) for a much higher game experience and players from a higher level to simply give it a try and see for themselves if it fills or not their expectations. The three shuttles after three matches of 2 or 3 sets. (1 shuttle per match)
https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.tokopedia.com/amp/olympic/shuttlecock-indocock-3-in-1 it's an OEM in China producing this hybrid shuttlecock for various brands the link above is local brand indocock sold through online store here in indonesia.... the shuttlecock itself is pretty much identical to this KawasakingkOng you're using at less than half the price when converted to Euro as for the shuttlecock itself i would say it has slightly different flight than normal feather shuttlecock.... however i can use this hybrid and normal feather interchangeably during game though requires slight adjustments... i probably wouldn't recommend this type of hybrid for official tournament plays but they are fine for intermediate or casual plays
Will it be possible to replace individual broken feather because each feather is attach to the frame not the cock?
The feathers are glued to the plastic skirt. Besides the plastic skirt get softer by the time the feathers are worn off. That being said their durability is amazing enough not to worry about individually replacing the feathers. I used 3 tubes in 3 months. (beginner player - 2 sessions of 2.5 hours per week)
