King

Have not played with the following and found the sample in one of the badminton halls I frequent.

Not seen the brand in the local shops in my area.

Enclosure for documentation purposes.

FlyMax 50 (multiple logo)

Found the following in the hall. Was curious to discover the same model had multiple logo(s) for the brand?

Have not used the brand or shuttle before.

Multiple logos -#1, #2 and #3 (LHS->RHS)

#3, #2 and #1 (LHS->RHS)

Possible workaround for shuttles which seem slower than before or with "softer" (cork) head

Recently came across an unexpected issue with our defacto standard shuttles - some members advised they tend to slow down after crossing the net during a smash. Another symptom was the ribcage structure of the shuttles tend to deform (aka start wobbling) after a few above average smashes. I previously had my suspicions as shots coming towards myself which I reckon to be out, lands within the court (but received no other feedback then).

I suspect the cork used was softer than it should have been as there has been an increase in the number of  ribcage structure disformity in the past couple months or so.

Hence I experimented with leaving the shuttles in an aircond room overnight, as oppose to humidifying them. After several attempts, the process seem to have resolved the issue (so far ... touch wood)

The steps are as per below. I would do so, say a few days before the game.

1. Empty out the shuttles from the tube(s) in a air-cond room
2. Stack the shuttles on the side of the room where the aircond is blowing towards
3. Next morning, collect and reinsert the shuttles back into the tube and reseal the tube
4. Repeat steps 1-3 again another time before you intend to use these shuttles.

Wonder if above would resolve recent issues for a different brand of shuttles in North America???? After all, most of the available shuttlecocks in the market are from China.

Yonex AS-2

Another Yonex shuttle which I have not played with before.

Adding for documentation purposes.

Protech Championship

Used the Championship when I was playing with a another group over the weekend.

In my opinion, the Championship is an OK shuttlecock which provides good value for money if you do not require tournament grade shuttlecocks. It is more than adequate (reasonable weight, reasonable flight characteristics) for most games unless you are playing a smashing game ( more than 50% of the time). If so, will need atleast 2 for the game.

ProAce AT-75

Previously we purchased 4 tubes to try out the shuttles, as some of my regulars had used the birdie elsewhere and were happy with it.

We discovered quality of the shuttles were extremely dependant on the batch. The good were Superb whilst the bad was TRULY BAD!

On the bad night, we ended up using both tubes - a record for us! We normally use 14-16 shuttles for 16 players playing on 2 courts, each court for 2 hrs.

Hence we will not be purchasing any more of these shuttles in the future.

Fleet Gold

A few years ago, I 1st came across the Fleet Gold shuttle when the group playing next to us were using them.

Since then we have adopted it as one of our backup choices if stocks of our de facto standard are not available at the shops.

The Fleet Gold is quite durable with predictable flight characteristics. It provides a nice feel when hit. The shuttle is a bit heavier than norm. For instance when I placed 8 shuttles on a non-digital weighting scale, it was heavier than the same number of our de facto standard by an estimated 5-6g.

Protech Platinum Edition

Joined a group who bought a tube of the the Protech Platinum Edition for their weekly game.

This is suppose to be the primo model  (since most expensive from Protech??)

I do not have a pix of the shuttle cork structure but the pix of this model are as per below - pix from internet.

From holding it, the weight of the shuttle seem closer to the Fleet Platinum, than say the Fleet Gold.

Comments from the group I joined today includes good for smashing and not durable for rallies. The tail feathers of the shuttle seems half-snap after a few hits e.g tip at feather ends break closer to the end of a feather. However one of my regulars advises this model of shuttlecock lasts long for his games with another group.