Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Equipment => Bats => Topic started by: Sitonit on August 08, 2017, 01:09:01 AM
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Perhaps sometimes I stereotype, but I just never get on with Kookaburra and BAS bats.
I know many of you must have some great experience and feedback with these two but I am wondering if anyone else has the same reaction to any other brand?
I mean, I simply pass whenever any of these two bats are up for sale, regardless of the price and how does the bat look?
Is it weird or some of you guys hold the same feeling for any brand name?
I think I will also throw MSR in the list.
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CA always found they go but I always find the handles to be terrible thus avoid them, also dislike kook as you mentioned and never personally got on with gray nics
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Kook are ok - seen some decent ones and some poor ones.
BAS? Had a couple and used a few from other people - easily one of the best brands i have used!!
Slazenger have been hit or miss, as are one or two other brands i could mention!
Not sure there are any i would avoid as there is always good and bad in all brands.
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I have the same feeling for Spartan. I know they are just a Sticker company like Kook amd NB but never got attracted to them.
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Ive always hated kookaburra, so , even though I've seen a few i like , I've never considered s.g either . Never liked spartan , slazenger , and have disliked puma for years now . I won't touch any of these brands . I'm also increasingly put off by s.f .
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I have an irrational aversiom to GM and Gray Nics. Probably because as a kid, before i could afford to buy my own gear, my dad would always buy me those brands at rock bottom prices, when all i ever wanted was a Kook like allan lamb, greenidge and the aussies!
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Kook, Slazenger and CA for Me.
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Similar to others, always been Kook & Spartan for me.
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Lekka
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I don't mind the traditional brands personally, only because they've been around so long - I, like most of us, grew up with the likes of Kook/GM/GN/Hunts/Fearnley which is probably why!
For me it's clichéd brand names, but then that goes for all industries not just cricket! The generic 'animal' or 'historic event' names.
@WalkingWicket37 also knows my thoughts on claiming to be 'innovative' and 'market leading' whilst selling the same gears as everyone else... ;)
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Lekka
Agree with this, some of the bats have looked alright over the years that ive seen pics of on here, its the owner rather than the equipment!
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I avoid brands that have held no affinity for me growing up. For better or for worse, that would include Indian, Pakistani and Aussie brands! So the likes of TON, SAF, CA, along with Kook. They don't get me excited at all. (Scat being an exception, obvs.) Why buy an overpriced Kook anyway? The enemy! I don't understand why you'd buy one (as a Brit) when there are so many top class home-grown brands to choose from. Additionally, I avoid naff sticker-up brands, too. (But proper handmade, boutique brands I'm all for.)
As well as GN, GM, Newbery, etc. and our terrific forum sponsors, I've a particular soft spot for Duncan Fearnley and Slazenger, based on their dominance thanks to the legends that wielded them through the 70s and 80s.
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For me Chase, horrible shapes and everyone if picked up has just been not very nice, also CA due ti thinner blades and very thin handles, 2 brands in never used in any way.
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cant believe i forgot to mention g.m. absolutely hate their bats . i guess the fact i forgot them shows just how not-an-option they are for me..... i might hate kooks , but i at least remembered them.
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Bats look better without stickers, in my opinion.
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Just to say first I don't think that uk made bats are better than bats made elsewhere. But I would never buy a bat that was not made in England. I believe it is too important to maintain these skills in this country.
Furthermore, I would Not buy a CNC made bat for the same reason.
Lastly, I avoid all 'major' brands because they fall foul of at least one of the above and I don't like the idea of my bat being mass produced.
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@Gurujames what do you mean by CNC made?
If you mean 100% shaped by CNC machine fair enough, but ruling out any bat that has ever been on a CNC during the manufacturing process would be incredibly limiting!
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Shaped by cnc. For me this rules out GM and B3.
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I was never very keen on 'Bumshitz Crikit' - I don't know, I guess I just felt it sent out the wrong message.
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How is your opinion of the South African cricket bat manufacturer based in Cape Town? I never see the "&" in the logo and it ruins it for me...
Same is true of the other popular SA manufacturer... no-one wants a Bull Sh..t bat :)
At least Bellingham & Smith actually use the '&' ;)
http://www.bs-sports.com.pk/ (http://www.bs-sports.com.pk/)
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This thread is all a bit odd.
A quality bat is a quality bat. If you don't like the handle shape or the shape of the bat that is one thing, but most of this seems to be subjective based on myths, rumours and a dislike of some bats branding.
If you pick up a bat and it feels good in the hands and bounce a ball on it and it has a good middle nothing else matters.
Yes quality of handle and the pressing is vital bit most of the rest can be changed...
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Add in their an appreciation of the podshavers' craft and support of 'made in Britain'.
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This thread is all a bit odd.
A quality bat is a quality bat. If you don't like the handle shape or the shape if the bat that is one thing, but most of this seems to be subjective based on myths, rumours and a dislike of some bats branding.
If you pick up a bat and it feels good in the hands and bounce a ball on it and it has a good middle nothing else matters.
Yes quality of handle and the pressing is vital bit most of the rest can be changed...
Yes, we see it all the time. A customer arrives to buy a bat, i ask a few questions and suggest a few bats accordingly. I'll start to pick out some bats from brand x and they'll go 'oh no i had one of them and it broke/was a plank.' Sometimes it's even 'my friend had one and didn't like it'
OK then we'll send back all this stock from a market leading international business with decades of experience in the industry because your mate couldn't use one at some point in the past.... Was it a Kashmir from sports direct? Was it his dads 20 year old hand me down stored in a damp shed? Is your mate **** at cricket? Lots of variables.
Most brands are capable of making very good bats, they are all capable of making not so good bats. This is where i feel hand selecting a bat is reasonably important, though not exactly a hill to die on, GM being a good example of bats i'm quite happy to be sent without having an input on what we will be getting. For hand selecting to actually work i do feel the person choosing them has to know what they are talking about, and some level of cricket ability also helps. I wouldn't buy my golf clubs anywhere but a PGA Pro Shop for example.
I usually qualify my statement about choosing the bats myself when talking to a customer with 'of course, you have to trust my judgement when it comes to choosing bats i feel are the best' - just because a bat is hand picked doesn't automatically make it good, or 'better'
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Anyway back to the topic, i've always had an aversion to anything that uses the word 'sport' or 'sports' in the brand name. Don't know why, it just doesn't sound very 'cricket'
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Shaped by cnc. For me this rules out GM and B3.
And any newbury made before 2016? Or TK bat, and any other TK bat stickered up by another company........ Not that many left that make in the UK......
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Interesting Kook come up for nearly everyone here yet these seem to be the most popular brand among people I play with/ against. Kind of interesting to see how this niche forum interprets bats vs the wider cricketing public...
Think there's a simple reason for this - I used to love Kook, and they were very popular early 2000s through big sponsorships and making superb bats, but then personally went off them when they decided all their bats should be high middled and concaved with a thin round handle. What does your average club cricketer rate above all else when picking a bat up for the first time though? Light pickups and big edges! Hence mighty bat sales, despite what always seemed like a lot of them breaking.
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Think there's a simple reason for this - I used to love Kook, and they were very popular early 2000s through big sponsorships and making superb bats, but then personally went off them when they decided all their bats should be high middled and concaved with a thin round handle. What does your average club cricketer rate above all else when picking a bat up for the first time though? Light pickups and big edges! Hence mighty bat sales, despite what always seemed like a lot of them breaking.
The old shape biggest Kahuna's were beautiful! Nice long middle and incredibly full.
I know @smilley792 used to despair that the only heavy options Kook did were the quirky "power bulge" models
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The old shape biggest Kahuna's were beautiful! Nice long middle and incredibly full.
I know @smilley792 used to despair that the only heavy options Kook did were the quirky "power bulge" models
Best bat I've ever had and I reckon ever will have was an old Big Kahuna, god they were good. Genuinely tried to nurdle a single and put the ball out of the ground on more than one occasion, I don't know how it did it.
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I'm the complete opposite to virtually everyone on here as I love my Kookaburra kit. The Blaze bats yes had a relatively thin handle (which I personally quite like) but the middle is fairly low and there is almost no concaving yet the edges are a decent size and te bat picks up surprisingly light and most importantly it pings. From the first ball I hit with it I knew is was a gun bat.
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Screaming Cat ... the thread does ask which brand NAME put you off, and this one certainly does. The bats are obviously stunning, but as someone who's grown up having pets, I never ever liked the name chosen by JM.
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B3
Lekka
Spartan
Nike
Reebok
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KIPPAX. I know they make great bats, but I just can't get Francis Lee and his toilet paper company out of my mind
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Just to say first I don't think that uk made bats are better than bats made elsewhere. But I would never buy a bat that was not made in England. I believe it is too important to maintain these skills in this country.
Furthermore, I would Not buy a CNC made bat for the same reason.
Lastly, I avoid all 'major' brands because they fall foul of at least one of the above and I don't like the idea of my bat being mass produced.
what about copy-lathe are you against them too because I can guarantee you have a few of them...
I love this thread.
Not many make in the uk and even less don't use a copy lathe -CNC.
(http://i.cubeupload.com/RRCJqu.jpg) (http://cubeupload.com/im/RRCJqu.jpg)
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your telling me there all hand made no lathe no machines!!!
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Witch hunt alert... Pretty sure @Gurujames means something along the lines of he likes his bats to be shaped by hand, rather than that he doesn't want any machinery whatsoever to have been used in their making?
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no witch hunt here just a interested party as somebody who has been involved with the Cnc side of things, just like copy lathe do the exact same job. (not sure he new that.)
Just a enquiry really I personally don't care who or what make a bat as long as there decent, as for keeping the trade bats don't drop off a machine finished.
In many respects they allow you to hire more people keeping people in work.
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A copy lathe is not CNC. It is more like a jig. Copy lathes have been used donkeys years to make things like spindles. A CNC lathe is a totally different thing.
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A copy lathe is not CNC. It is more like a jig. Copy lathes have been used donkeys years to make things like spindles. A CNC lathe is a totally different thing.
they do the same job they take the back shape out allowing for greater volume and less effort. (the less effort is a flippant remark of course there much more effort going on).
Please tell me how there different copy lathe does the rough shaping as does a CNC but with a little more precision.
Most people use them..
I think a video of the process of both copy lathe and cnc goes through to show the talent and ability people working in the industry have.
Machines copy and CnC allows the UK bat market to stay alive and competitive.
here you go
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecXJLhyrbpc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecXJLhyrbpc)
But I respect your opinion mate...
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They do. And I spend a fair amount of time teaching my students the benefits and drawbacks of different construction methods but At the end of the day I personally prefer a more traditional and hands on approach. It is a personal preference and not a statement that one method is better than another.
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Never understood the attraction with gray nichols. As a kid they sidnt sponsor my favourite players and there stickers were quite grown up. Im sure someone somone will correct me but when i was young my perception was it always blockers and hard workers used GN. Thats stayed with me really.
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Nike
Reebok
Puma
Adidas
Looks like all shoe manufacturers.
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Bad customer service puts me off.
You lie, fob me off or ignore my messages, I will no liner give you as a company my money(doesn't just work for bat's)
Anything else doesn't bother me, I'll use anything as long as it feels good in my hand and pings
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Best bat I've ever had and I reckon ever will have was an old Big Kahuna, god they were good. Genuinely tried to nurdle a single and put the ball out of the ground on more than one occasion, I don't know how it did it.
One of my match bats is 2011 Kook Biggest kahuna. I love the bat so much that i got it refurbished & copied by Laver recently. Kook for UK market are better than the ones issued for Indian market (Both are made in India).
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One of my match bats is 2011 Kook Biggest kahuna. I love the bat so much that i got it refurbished & copied by Laver recently. Kook for UK market are better than the ones issued for Indian market (Both are made in India).
Oh I feel sorry for you, you have no idea haha ;) It had all gone wrong by 2011 and the biggest Kahuna! I'm talking about the 2005ish original big Kahunas which were a whole different ball game and not Indian made I think. That original run of bats were pure magic, I'd love to know where they were made.
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Oh I feel sorry for you, you have no idea haha ;) It had all gone wrong by 2011 and the biggest Kahuna! I'm talking about the 2005ish original big Kahunas which were a whole different ball game and not Indian made I think. That original run of bats were pure magic, I'd love to know where they were made.
My 2011 biggest kahuna was one of the best bat's Ive owned.
My 2017 kahuna extreme was so good, I've just ordered a obscene as there on sale.......
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My 2011 biggest kahuna was one of the best bat's Ive owned.
My 2017 kahuna extreme was so good, I've just ordered a obscene as there on sale.......
obscene??
What weight were these bats? Did they open up quickly?
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My 2011 biggest kahuna was one of the best bat's Ive owned.
My 2017 kahuna extreme was so good, I've just ordered a obscene as there on sale.......
^ Cant agree more on Kook Obscene & Xtreme. I also got the 2nd one from Vitas. The last one got 48mm edge & on discount too :-)
Obscene & Xtreme are 2-13 and above.. Out of the box performance is really good.
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obscene??
What weight were these bats? Did they open up quickly?
My extreme came knocked in by Jake but it pinged from the off. Was ridiculous.
The obscene is on route, but it was the last 2.15 in the kook warehouse, they apparently only have 3lb plus left.
But at 150(considerably cheaper than my grade 2 extreme cost) I really couldn't say no.
Apparently has huge bow to.
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I agree about the Big Kahunas! And even some of the newer ones are seriously decent!
I seem to remember @simonmay5 picking one up and purchasing it! Too heavy for him but actually it didn't pick up too badly and it certainly tapped up really well!
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A copy lathe is not CNC. It is more like a jig. Copy lathes have been used donkeys years to make things like spindles. A CNC lathe is a totally different thing.
The chainsaw replaced the axe and crosscut saw.
Willow was once split using a wedge and sledgehammer, now hydraulic splitters are used.
Shaping a cricket bat was once completed using drawknife, spokeshave and block plane which then moved to router and Rye cutter and then onto cnc machine.
Machinery is used in any method chosen to make a bat.
The Cnc does not make handcrafting redundant in our business, in fact helps us get to the important part a lot quicker. We can , and still do for some customers ,make bats from the clefts using the traditional methods. It makes no difference to the final product, just takes a hell of a lot longer .
It is very easy to criticise a method used when you cannot use that method yourself.
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The chainsaw replaced the axe and crosscut saw.
Willow was once split using a wedge and sledgehammer, now hydraulic splitters are used.
Shaping a cricket bat was once completed using drawknife, spokeshave and block plane which then moved to router and Rye cutter and then onto cnc machine.
Machinery is used in any method chosen to make a bat.
The Cnc does not make handcrafting redundant in our business, in fact helps us get to the important part a lot quicker. We can , and still do for some customers ,make bats from the clefts using the traditional methods. It makes no difference to the final product, just takes a hell of a lot longer .
It is very easy to criticise a method used when you cannot use that method yourself.
True but still prefer a bat that's been handcrafted
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Millichamp and Hall
I lusted after one for years
Bought one for myself and one for my son,(more than twice what I'd ever paid for a bat before)
Both snapped in half before the season had ended
Shocking prices and shocking quality
And the aftersales service is appalling
Unfortunately idiots trading on past glories
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True but still prefer a bat that's been handcrafted
What does handcrafted mean to you?
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I prefer bats that are "hand pressed" :D the evil pressing machines have ruined the industry...
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What does handcrafted mean to you?
The bat is handmade from cleft to completion inc handle.
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The bat is handmade from cleft to completion inc handle.
The reason I asked is because Newbery for years have still considered themselves handmade, despite the heavy use of CNC machines.
No batmakers out there does exactly what you're asking for. Pretty much every single batmaker makes use of electric tools whether that's lathes, spindle moulders, planers, electrically operated presses, copy-lathes. They've all been added to make a batmakers life easier. CNC is an extension of that.
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The reason I asked is because Newbery for years have still considered themselves handmade, despite the heavy use of CNC machines.
No batmakers out there does exactly what you're asking for. Pretty much every single batmaker makes use of electric tools whether that's lathes, spindle moulders, planers, electrically operated presses, copy-lathes. They've all been added to make a batmakers life easier. CNC is an extension of that.
As far as I aware there's batmaker who does it apart from the pressing the press is electric but each cleft is individually pressed initial belt sanding and binding the handle between centres the rest is done by hand
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As far as I aware there's batmaker who does it apart from the pressing the press is electric but each cleft is individually pressed initial belt sanding and binding the handle between centres the rest is done by hand
What about Hawk?
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slazenger
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I thought this was thread about brand names, "who's got the worst name in your opinion", and not what they make...if that's the case i would have never purchased hits hard, especially their gloves that said the brand name at finger joints of the gloves.
if we are talking about one brand i would stay away from nothing comes close to SAF Bats, nothing lol...
All the folks talking abt UK made, what about if a bat was pressed in UK, shaped in India and then sent back to the UK for stickering?
I also thought the CNC machines being used to make bats were a UK first, why not support them, it is made in the UK, leading tech and industry leadership!! should you not be supporting your own!! btw some of you missed GN in the CNC category, aren't they mostly machine made now too?
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I would like to throw in SF and SG in my "walk away" list.
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Gray Nicolls (non AUS ones)
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Oh I feel sorry for you, you have no idea haha ;) It had all gone wrong by 2011 and the biggest Kahuna! I'm talking about the 2005ish original big Kahunas which were a whole different ball game and not Indian made I think. That original run of bats were pure magic, I'd love to know where they were made.
Does anyone know who made the 2005/06 big Kahunas? Was Rob Pack with Kokaburra back then?
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A bit of a side note , but... if I could 'brand' some bats for my own personal use ive always wanted to get 'wonderbat' engraved on the front and back of a blade ( the reference is of an episode of the simpsons where they make a spoof of the movie The Natural. ... in both the movie and the Simpsons episode the hero , robert redford and homer simpson , respectively, find a piece of wood that has fallen from a tree after the branch has been struck by lightning , and use it to carve a baseball bat ). In the Simpsons homer engraves 'wonderbat' onto his chosen weapon . I'd love to do the same thing using laser engraving or burnt in stamping .
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Kook.
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A bit of a side note , but... if I could 'brand' some bats for my own personal use ive always wanted to get 'wonderbat' engraved on the front and back of a blade ( the reference is of an episode of the simpsons where they make a spoof of the movie The Natural. ... in both the movie and the Simpsons episode the hero , robert redford and homer simpson , respectively, find a piece of wood that has fallen from a tree after the branch has been struck by lightning , and use it to carve a baseball bat ). In the Simpsons homer engraves 'wonderbat' onto his chosen weapon . I'd love to do the same thing using laser engraving or burnt in stamping .
AdCal can probably do this for you, they do laser engraving as a one-off. You'll just need to supply a blank bat.
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A bit of a side note , but... if I could 'brand' some bats for my own personal use ive always wanted to get 'wonderbat' engraved on the front and back of a blade ( the reference is of an episode of the simpsons where they make a spoof of the movie The Natural. ... in both the movie and the Simpsons episode the hero , robert redford and homer simpson , respectively, find a piece of wood that has fallen from a tree after the branch has been struck by lightning , and use it to carve a baseball bat ). In the Simpsons homer engraves 'wonderbat' onto his chosen weapon . I'd love to do the same thing using laser engraving or burnt in stamping .
Always love the dark brown laser engraving on some special Edition Slaz bats, like, "The Don" model.
A few years ago, this was sold out and I called the Slaz Australia head office to source me one (just because of my love with that laser engraving).
They searched all of their official retail dealers and finally sourced one last piece available at some little store in some small Australian city.
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Always love the dark brown laser engraving on some special Edition Slaz bats, like, "The Don" model.
A few years ago, this was sold out and I called the Slaz Australia head office to source me one (just because of my love with that laser engraving).
They searched all of their official retail dealers and finally sourced one last piece available at some little store in some small Australian city.
Yeah ... those were the first laser engraved bats i ever saw , and still the best engraving I've seen . I still remember the maroon colourway of the first 'the don' bat that came out too ! Oh , the days when i still liked slazenger , how i miss you !
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Never liked Hunts County stuff or SF
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Never liked Hunts County stuff or SF
@WalkingWicket37 is going to be after your blood!! :o ;)
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Never liked Hunts County stuff or SF
Clearly never used a Hunts have you?
Come for a net with me and you'll be converted; ;)
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Never liked Hunts County stuff or SF
That might not be just a coincidence
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Don't like them, plain and simple!
A man knows what he likes and what he doesn't ;)
CA is another brand I avoid...
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I think I am not a great big fan of MRF and Spartans either.
Sometimes I wonder how Slaz is still in the bat market? There bats are hardly popular anymore.
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I live cricket, eat cricket, dream cricket. For me pointing
Out on any brand or bat may not be good. Though I have
In my opinion to only unlike a brand due to quality issues,
Else for me every bat is good, if it performs then very good.
Will just rate from poorest to poor from what I have seen
or used :
1) Slazenger
2) Nike
3) Reebok
4) Spartan
5) Addidas
6) Puma
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There are problems with a list like the above due to the outsourced nature if the cricket industry.
If you don't like slazenger, but like New Balance or Protos then it feels a bit odd to me (not saying that is the case here, but making a generalisation)
I don't know where Nike, Reebok and Puma bats are made, but they may also be made in a similar place, or made by SF.
You also don't like Spartan or Adidas, but Ton isn't on your list.
It comes down to the perception of stickers. Which is sad.
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Sometimes there's good reasons even with brands made by the same manufacturer to be fair - I don't like SS bats because of the thin round handles, whereas I do like Pumas (also made by SS iirc) because they put nice oval handles in!
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Hunts, used to play at a club where everyone used them from Martin berrill (sp) in Gloucester - the willowstix factory?- it was the wicket that did it as it never got above shin high!! Saw so many old reflex bats break (the ones with those weird toes) so would never pay money for a hunts - even the name reflex brings me out in a cold sweat!!