Using 18G poly with Gut Mains

[Rjtennis]

Does using an 18G smooth poly cross decrease the durability of the natural natural gut mains compared to using a 16G or 17G poly cross. I tried using Pro-Line II 18G with VS Gut mains once and for some reason mains notched and broke much quicker than usual? Is this common or was it more of an anomaly? I want to try an 18G cross again, but if its going to significantly decrease the longevity of the string bed maybe I should pass. Hopefully my experience was an outlier. Thanks for your insight and help!

 

[ChicagoJack]

Hi RJ -

I've never noticed increased notching or premature snapping with any of the 18 or 17L polys I've tried. But then again I stick with 16 or 15L gut, so perhaps I experience longer life than most. One of my favorite crosses for gut is 18g Weiss Cannon Mosquito Bite. Plays like buttah. Really sweet and plush impact feel.

-Jack

 

[McLovin]

I used Pacific Classic 17g mains w/ the afore mentioned Mosquito Bite as well as Co. Focus 1.18 crosses and had absolutely no problems.

What racquet/tension? Were the conditions humid? On clay? And was this your 1st time doing a gut mains/ poly cross combo?

 

[Rabbit]

I use an 18G cross with natural gut and don't have any issues with durability.

 

[Sander001]

I tried using Pro-Line II 18G with VS Gut mains once and for some reason mains notched and broke much quicker than usual?

The way to know that is to compare the time it took to break with 18g strings vs the time it took to break with thicker strings.

 

[Rjtennis]

Thanks for everyone's feedback. I'm definetly going to give it another shot with YPTP 1.20 this week. I can't remember the exact conditions but chances are that is was humid. I've strung gut mains and poly crosses many times in my Head Extreme Pro. I guess it was just bad luck of the draw the last time I used ProLine II 18 with VS 16 mains.

 

[Rjtennis]

The way to know that is to compare the time it took to break with 18g strings vs the time it took to break with thicker strings.

Agreed. I was just hoping to avoid the experiment if others had durability issues. It sounds like others people have had success with 18g poly's so I'm going to give it another try.

 

[Maui19]

Agreed. I was just hoping to avoid the experiment if others had durability issues. It sounds like others people have had success with 18g poly's so I'm going to give it another try.

I tried a gut poly hybrid with 18g poly crosses and the crosses snapped very quickly (after something like 1.5 hours of hitting). It is hard to imagine 18g working for me--and I am not a string breaker--but some people obviously have success with it.

 

[maxpotapov]

I tried a gut poly hybrid with 18g poly crosses and the crosses snapped very quickly (after something like 1.5 hours of hitting). It is hard to imagine 18g working for me--and I am not a string breaker--but some people obviously have success with it.

This is not a representative case. There are many other reasons for a string to snap besides thin gauge.
Mosquito Bite seems to outlive natural gut mains in 95% cases (including mine)

 

[bsiegel]

18 ga Solinco Outlast in cross with Babolat VS Gut in Main or Wilson Nat Gut in Main. Works well. I don't use any shaped poly just round in the crosses with the gut. Humid outdoor playing conditions with notch the gut more it seems.

 

[rdis10093]

as long it is a good name gut you should be fine.

 

[10smonkey]

I use vs natural team 17 in the mains and pro line 2 18 in the crosses on my new prince graphite longbody and it lasts fine and has amazing ball pocketing and control. I get some fraying in the gut but just use babolat elastocross string savers.

 

[illuminotti]

If you want to decrease the risk of cutting into the mains, use string savers or a lubricant spray in the sweet spot.

Also, you could try a thicker cross string.