TW Comfort Ranking II, medium tension version

JT_2eighty

Hall of Fame
Can anyone confirm whether the pacific tough gut plays as softly as the data suggests at high tension?

It does. I use it at 61 lbs and it is like butter, if I can use such a nebulous descriptor in this thread.

Seems the harder I swing, the better it feels. I used it once at 50 lbs expecting to be even softer, and it actually felt boardy until I really broke it in over some hours on court.

At 61, control is amazing and the comfort is heavenly. Worth every $ to me, as it is durable when in an 18x20 flexy stick, while the playability doesn't bottom out like synthetics inevitably do. This speaks to its resilience, i.e. the way a string retains its elasticity. Resilience is a key property of a string, something not measured by any lab tests I've seen, and this, if ever quantified by experiments, will tell us more about a string than stiffness and tension loss combined. If you aren't a big string breaker, it last long and plays great for months.
 

mikeler

Moderator
I'm a string breaker playing in an environment with high humidity, so natty gut is not for me. Tried it once and it busted in the 2nd set on me. $50 down the toilet...
 

CP3

Banned
Thanks, centered and jt 2eighty for excellent info.

Here are my top 3 choices for natural gut strings:

1. pacific tough gut
2. pacific classic natural gut
3. babolat tonic


If any of you think one is superior to another in either comfort or playability, let me know.

Also, I have heard that you can get factory blemished sets at substantial discount. Urban myth?
 

Mongolmike

Hall of Fame
Thank you for posting this. Took some effort, and it is appreciated. (Tho the petty arguing does make for more entertaining reading... for a little bit... then its just that... petty.)

By the way, I see there are no Pro Supex strings (BAM in particular)... is that because TW doesn't stock Pro Supex? Too bad, because I'd consider it one of the best "soft" polys available.

Again, thanks for the posting.... the numbers confirm much of what many feel on the court, with a few surprises... but that might be partly due to the stringing tension difference between the testing and the individual's usage.
 

Centered

Hall of Fame
1. pacific tough gut
2. pacific classic natural gut
3. babolat tonic

If any of you think one is superior to another in either comfort or playability, let me know.
My favorite gut is VS Team 17, but I haven't tried Tough Gut or Prime. I'd love to but my budget for gut has disappeared. I have used Tonic 16 and 15L Longevity. I've also used Pacific Classic.

Classic and Tonic are variable "reject" strings where some mains and crosses will be quite different from one another in terms of string width; sometimes even within the same cross or main there is a noticeable thinning/fattening.

Pacific Classic is softer than Babolat Tonic (especially the 15L longevity) in my experience, but Longevity lived up to its name. It does last a long time.
 

Centered

Hall of Fame
Thank you for posting this. Took some effort, and it is appreciated.
You're welcome.
By the way, I see there are no Pro Supex strings (BAM in particular)... is that because TW doesn't stock Pro Supex? Too bad, because I'd consider it one of the best "soft" polys available.
TW doesn't carry Pro Supex.

Here are RSI testing results. They include two of their strings, if you're interested.
 

Centered

Hall of Fame
Hard data is needed because our brains are so malleable. You should use a table like to make sure that what you feel is real and not something that you are hoping/imagining.
It's also nice to have hard idea to support soft evidence, like testimonial. Testimonial that can be readily proven to some degree is generally going to be viewed as being stronger than that which has no hard evidence available to back it up.
 

Centered

Hall of Fame
Since the TW Prof was nice enough to test Dynamite Soft at my request, I have updated my comfort guides.
 
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