Kawasaki King Kong (hybrid feather shuttles)

Discussion in 'Shuttlecock' started by LenaicM, Apr 2, 2018.

  1. kulidone

    kulidone Regular Member

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    1. Injuries - playing with plastic shuttles increases injures, because people who are playing with them are mostly amateurs with bad technique which leads to injures.... while feather shuttles are more serious players who are willing to pay with them so they are usually trained and have better technique

    But as someone who plays with Plastic and Feather as well the main reason is that Plastic shuttles are more heavy on impact. So your shoulder and arm absorbs more damage. I can smash with feather as much as I want, but I am pretty ok next day while with Plastic I am K.O.

    Friends of mine noticed right away that King Kong is noticeably lighter than plastic shuttles which means while it still bit heavier than feathers... it still better than plastic shuttles in terms of injures. If 1/10 is plastic and 10/10 is feather... the king kong is like 7-8/10 in terms of lightness.

    2. Damage to the strings - this everything depends on the weight of the shuttle... like the injures... so it will wear the stringbed bit more than feathers since its bit heavier....

    Dont forget that these King Kong shuttles are great subtitute for plastic shuttles for the same or similar money. If you are serious player you should still stick to feathers unless you dont have $ for the shutlles.
     
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  2. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

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    I agree with this. Also players using plastic shuttles have often little to no ideas regarding shuttle speed and play with speed 77/76 shuttles in conditions where a faster shuttle would be required. So this parameter combined with the wrong technique for clears and smash can definitely lead to shoulder injuries. Not so much the fact it’s a plastic shuttle only.
     
  3. kulidone

    kulidone Regular Member

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    I tried the 77 today and it was noticeably faster. Its because the shuttle is bit heavier so at same speed as feathers it lands further.

    To be honest I would prefer something between the 76 and 77 to have the perfect speed. I think I will end up using the 77s for now, because after a while it slows down and wont be that fast.... the 76 slows down already after a game although it will last easily 3 sets... its slower and we felt that we should change it.

    Note that its November atm... so the 77s are ok during the winter etc, but otherwise I would definitely use the 76.
     
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  4. Xiaoyu Li

    Xiaoyu Li New Member

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    Thanks for your review. Can you tell me what is the difference in durability between K300, K500 and K700? I am a beginner, and K300 will be cheaper than K700 in China. It might be using different feather, so the 700 may be better than 300
     
    #44 Xiaoyu Li, Nov 5, 2018
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2018
  5. mater

    mater Regular Member

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    Played with the Kawasaki K700 for several weeks and didn't find them any more lasting than regular quality birdies. The cage being made of plastic don't really influence the durability in my opinion. It only makes the birdies cheaper to produce. Same issues as far as breakage. It's usually the stem after the cage that breaks and the K700 breaks the same. In fact maybe worse because the feather isn't higher tier quality.
     
  6. Xiaoyu Li

    Xiaoyu Li New Member

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    Has anyone tried new K-508 or K-708?
     
  7. mater

    mater Regular Member

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    Whats the specs on the 508 and 708?
     
  8. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

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    I agree with you but what shuttles (and what price) are you comparing it too? Personally I have access to babolat #4 at 19 euros for example and a tube of king kong at 13.50 euros. The babolat #4 are really poor in term of durability while the King Kong last longer. For practice purposes it’s still interesting I think. Tonight I just tried a tube of RSL tourney #1 I bought for competitions and yes one shuttle lasted a good set but well it’s not the same price...
     
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  9. mater

    mater Regular Member

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    I play with higher goose birds, of course they come with higher initial cost but in the long run, they really are cheaper because they serve multiple duties, first, competitive matches, then after, birds that have slowed down are good for beginner/social games, and then slightly damaged ones are good also for training/drills/practice.

    The Kawasaki will break in either a competitive match real fast, or even in beginner/social games and training/drllls.

    Your RSL Tourney's after used in a hard match will more likely still have use in the social games and training. So in the long run, the RSL are cheaper.

    If anything, I like the Victor CS better, perfect and great durability for low level play and training, practice and drills. Some days I've brought it out and played and coached 4 plus hours, not a single one got destroyed. How many Kawasakis would I have gone through that same day?

    I hope my explanation and reasoning is clearer.
     
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  10. Xiaoyu Li

    Xiaoyu Li New Member

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    I fund these on Chinese Taobao site, and it states "improved version", the specs are same with 500 & 700. I already contacted to Kawasaki to confirm that they are really their model number. You know Chinese seller that they can create something from nothing.
     
  11. Xiaoyu Li

    Xiaoyu Li New Member

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    I bought a tube K-700, and will receive this weekend. I also saw the repair instruction online. I am a very good handy man, and definitely will try the repair. We are just a little better than the beginners. I will give my report for durability and repair next week.
     
  12. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

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    Got your point and somehow agree with it. I have to admit the price of the King Kong is just so low though and we do re-use each shuttle after 2-3 sets for drills or warm up but after having played for 6 months with the KK I start to feel a lack of rigidity in the skirt of the shuttle compared to higher quality ones such as babolat #1 or #2, yonex AS30/40 and recently the RSL #1. It is indeed very pleasant to feel the precision of a more rigid shuttle being played but well again I find the price of the KK very friendly for its durability which is still pretty high. Personally I stick with the KK for practice and drills and the higher quality shuttles ones which are at least twice the price (32 euros a dozen of AS30) of the KK for preparation matches/serious friendly matches at my clubs and during tournaments.
     
  13. mater

    mater Regular Member

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    Yes, the KK cage is flexible to medium flexible. The Victor CS if you get a chance to try out is stiff, similar to higher grade shuttles but flight is different, noticably on soft net shots. Even the cheap Kevenz shuttles I see is med flexible but after a few hits, drops to flexible.
     
  14. Xiaoyu Li

    Xiaoyu Li New Member

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    Sorry, I removed my message
     
    #54 Xiaoyu Li, Nov 9, 2018
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2018
  15. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

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    Just for fun, I felt like recycling a few KKs’ with other used feather shuttlecocks. Took me 45 minutes to make 4 birdies so I don’t think I can make the time to do that but it is definitely do-able. I flew them outside quickly and they seems to be flying alright. Obviously they are not calibrated and I used different brands of shuttle to assemble one new shuttle so it cannot be optimal.

    C1B52F4F-C219-45A6-936A-1B32D7256984.jpeg
     
  16. mater

    mater Regular Member

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    @LeniacM, pretty cool. How did you do it? Aren't the feather stems glued in the plastic cage?
     
  17. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

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    The glue is not that strong. I plucked each feather with a pair of pliers, they came off easily and when they didn’t, which is not often, I twisted a bit the feather left and right and it eventually came off. That’s the easy part. The tough one is to carefully cut the feathers coming from the regular feather shuttles and remove the glue from the stem without bending or damaging the actual stem. This can be long and I try to leave just the right amount of glue so the stem of the feather is a bit hard to insert in the hole of the plastic skirt of the KK. Obviously you don’t want the feather to be inserted too loose as they would come off when hitting the birdie. You could also glue them back but I didn’t have any glue at home and was just experimenting.

    Well for one who has the will and the time, it can be interesting economically and ecologically. I did 4 decent shuttles using may be 6/7 old ones.
     
  18. mater

    mater Regular Member

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    Interesting, I may have to look around to see if I have any more used KK left. If anything, I may attempt one but just replace the often 1 broken stem, while leaving the rest of the ruffled feathers alone.
     
  19. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

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    That would definitely be faster, I couldn’t do that because I don’t really break any stems when playing with the KKs’, instead they fray and shatter pretty uniformly. That’s when I discard them for good. But I don’t remember breaking one stem which is what I do every single time when playing low quality shuttles such as the Babolat #4 for example. You can be sure one feather will just break at mid set and that’s the end of the shuttle, cannot even be used for drills. Economically talking those are not worth it. However higher grades shuttles do not break easily, it happens though, but generally they last and like the KKs’ just get worned off uniformly and therefore can be used for drills. Except they are much more rigid and pleasant to play than the KKs’.
     
  20. mater

    mater Regular Member

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    My experience with these shuttles are similar to lower end birdies, in that always a stem or two that break. We're not getting your type of just overall fraying that you have experienced.
     

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