Hi guys, I'm curious will shuttlecocks breaks easily if they're kept in aircond storage for a long time? Reason I'm asking is because i notice that the shuttles which I bought feels very crisps & the feathers breaks very easily just after a few hits. You see, I'm from Malaysia & I doubt that our weather is that dry till it affect the shuttlecocks. Could it be that the shuttle has been kept inside storage with aircond before I purchased it? I'll try to use the steaming trick on the other unopen tubes & see if there's any improvement on the durability.
I don't think a/c storage will affect the durability. Most likely the length of time the shuttle has been in storage. The older the shuttles, the more brittle because of moisture loss. Re-hydration via steaming may help, but it will not be like a fresh tube of shuttles shipped from the factory.
checkout https://shuttlecocks4badminton.blogspot.com/2018/06/storing-shuttlecocks-properly-in-tropics.html
Yes, I asked a similar question, and only got vague answers about steaming, but the reality is there probably is an ideal temp that keeps them stable for storage without mold growth, and without drying out too much, and another that could be best to be ready to use. I would just figure out your indoor humidity, and let them slowly acclimatize to it if it is higher than the shop might be, or use something like a large boveda humidipak in a sealed container to raise the humidity if necessary. About 65-70% usually doesn’t cause any mold growth, about 70-75% is probably a bit better when getting ready for immediate playing, but it will take time for the shuttles to actually absorb that humidity, beyond just steaming, which is mostly going to affect the cork and feathers (though also not as effective as slowly raising humidity either), but not the brittle bone portion. 70% is a really good medium relative humidity that can do both, but you have to find out for yourself. It is still better to have fresh shuttles, but alas buy more is cheaper esp if on sale and necessitates storage. I only store 4 tubes, and I have a humidifier on the end of my tub for shuttles in my bag. Los Angeles can be very dry. When I take on tube out of the box I add another, and always take the furthest to the right out to use, so they always have time to rise in humidity level.
