Which natural gut should I order from TW?

[andirez]

Currently playing with Babolat VS Touch 1.30, but at a cost of 42.50 Euro (52 Dollar) a set, it is just too expensive. So I am planning to order some natural gut from TW and ship it to Belgium (which still is a lot cheaper than buying it in stores if you buy 6 or more sets at once).

The strings I am considering:
- Babolat Tonic+ Natural Gut 16 String, $24.99
- Babolat VS Natural ThermoGut 16 Touch String, $34.95
- BDE Performance 16 Natural Gut String, $26.75
- BDE Rally Natural Gut 16 String, $21.75
- Bow Brand Championship Natural Gut 16L String, $17.99
- KLIP Legend Natural Gut 16 String, $25.99

I would like to avoid 17 gauge (1.25 or lower) for durability unless you think it really makes a lot of difference compared to 1.30 (playability wise).
Is it really worth to go for anything else than the Bow Brand? Its price seems like a true bargain. Which string do you think has the best price / qualtity ratio?

 

[tarheelbornjohn]

I have been using Bow Brand 16 in my crosses for a while and have found it to be a good string. While it might not be as high a quality as Bab the price difference does not seem to justify it. I have never had a problem with Bow and it seem to be good quality.

 

[tnkGod4tns]

if you have the patience and luxury of time, i would say go with the cheapest one and work your way up, if you can't tell the difference between the cheap and expensive one then it doesn't make sense to use the expensive one otherwise keep going up and experiment.

 

[Rabbit]

I would recommend either mid-priced gut to start. You can't go wrong with Tonic or BDE Performance. The advantage Performance has it that you can get it in a 17 gauge which just feels better. But, there is nothing wrong with Tonic.

You could move in either direction price-wise, depending on your experience with these mid-priced guts. This may be the cheapest way to get what you eventually want, the best gut for you.

 

[andirez]

I would recommend either mid-priced gut to start. You can't go wrong with Tonic or BDE Performance. The advantage Performance has it that you can get it in a 17 gauge which just feels better. But, there is nothing wrong with Tonic.

You could move in either direction price-wise, depending on your experience with these mid-priced guts. This may be the cheapest way to get what you eventually want, the best gut for you.

Is a 17 gauge that much different? I only have played with 16 gauge gut (1.30), no-brand and VS Touch. The VS Touch being far superiour to the other one. Durability wise, is there a lot of difference between BDE Performance 16 and 17?

 

[bcaz]

I've used most of the ones listed ... I'm on my first set of Tonic Ball Feel, and it's great, feels great, very responsive ... I also strung a stick with VS Team 17, but I've only hit an hour with it ... BDE Performance 16g is excellent, a good value ... BDE 17g is very nice and reasonably durable ... haven't tried Rallye ... I haven't tried Klip in 16g, but 17g Legend is very good, crisper than some guts ... In Bow, I like the 16L ... I've hybrided it with good results ... The 18g is just too thin ... the 16L is as thin or thinner than many 17's ... Pacific is nice, very elastic, but no longer carried by TW.

 

[jings]

Bow 17, you can't go wrong, unless you want to stay closer to 1.30, in which case 16L or whatever is closer - can't recall right now. Used it for a while and unless you are a string animal and bust them regularly, this is a very reliable string and for the money, nothing else comes close I think.

 

[alan-n]

Bow brand 17 was just too thin and powerful for me. I would break these in a week with my hard serves. 16L has been perfect, its pretty much 17 of other brands. The only other gut I've tried was Klip gut, this gut had too much coating on it and was way too hard... it played well but soft fell of gut was all but lost.

 

[andreh]

I use Bow 17. For me they hold for quite a long time. Put some string savers on them and they last longer.

 

[Hal]

I prefer BDE Ralleye to Bow and Babolat Tonic.

 

[K!ck5w3rvE]

VS and Wilson are the best, but Bow is half the price, but better than half as good...