Hi
Made my second visit to work shop last week and picked up a NV and Hellfire. Thought i'd post an initial review as I've been on this forum for 4 years and never really contributed.
I've previously had two bats (roughly 4 years old) from Matt, a custom bat and a discarded stick with a chip on the handle (pink grip in the pics) which he gave to me for peanuts (its probably a grade 2 on looks). However, that Grade 2 has been my match bat for some time and its probably the best thing I've ever used. Goes to show how grading doesn't really matter! I've been raving on about H4ls ever since. A lot of my team mates have used the sticks to score runs and have been pleasantly surprised about how good they are. In fact, in some cases they have turned around some very poor seasons for people.
The two new sticks
NV = 2,10.5 edges crica 40-41mm edges
Hellfire = 2,9.5 circa 37mm edges
I've had some throw downs and a bit of a hit with both of these.
NV
I would say this picks up around 2,9.5. There doesn't seem to be much concaving. Ill let you guys be the judge of all this. I'm probably not the most technical person when it comes to bat specs. A good bat in my eyes, is something that goes of the middle and doesn't feel like a sledge hammer in my hands.
In terms of the middle, the NV is the best thing I have at the moment. It is like a trampoline and taps up on the mallet better than all of the other three i own (considering the other two have had four seasons, this is good going).
The middle is higher and i probably wont get much purchase of the toe end however it still does the job. I am relatively short and like to flick and cut the ball a fair bit so having a low middle probably doesn't suit me as much (it took me a season to figure this out) - I bought into all the hype about playing on slow low English pitches and needed a low middle a few years ago. Having said that, the middle is epic from more or less from just below the sticker to just above the toe. It feels like a very long middle!
I am very excited about this stick and looking forward to really testing it out in the league this year.
Hell fire
The lighter of the two (all four if you count the old ones). I was only going to buy one stick however, I saw this lying around in one of the boxes at the workshop and like many of you I could not resist the temptation to buy. Aesthetically it probably looks better than the NV. Its a big bat for its weight. Undressed it picked up at around 2.6. I think it picks up fully dressed at about 2.8.
Of the mallet, whilst it still pings it probably does not have that epic trampoline effect that the NV has. I am assuming that this due to the concaved nature of the profile and the fact that the NV is slightly fuller in terms of its shape. I have also noted that the wood is softer in comparison to the NV and can see indentations from when i tap this up unlike on the NV. I understand that this is quite normal. Any forum suggestion/knowledge would be appreciated.
That being said its not a bad stick. I've knocked this in for a further 2 hours and I'm hoping its a case of the stick taking slightly longer to reach its peak. As such, at the moment it is probably sitting behind the custom i had made 4 years ago (the one with the Hattori stickers) in the pecking order.
P.s for those that care about finer points, the new stickers are great!
All in all, I have to say these H4ls are real value for money. I used to spend silly money on the more popular brands. Whilst the pros are by no means cheap (but still much cheaper than the bigger brands), being able to go to a workshop and in essence have a custom experience is worth it. As mentioned on here before by various members, Matt is great and I genuinely hope these guys get bigger every year.
Happy to answer any questions etc!
Author
Topic: New Bats (Read 2965 times)