Best DHS Rubbers — Complete Guide & Comparison

DHS (Double Happiness Shanghai) is the world's most used table tennis rubber brand at the professional level. Every Chinese national team player — including Ma Long, Fan Zhendong, Wang Chuqin, Sun Yingsha, and Chen Meng — competes with DHS rubbers. Despite this dominance, the DHS lineup is one of the most misunderstood product ranges in the sport: the same name can refer to rubbers with radically different characteristics depending on grade, sponge color, hardness, and whether or not they have been boosted.

This guide covers the DHS rubbers that actually matter for competitive players in 2026 — the Hurricane 3 family in all its variants, the Hurricane 8, and the Gold Arc series — with a complete explanation of how to choose between them based on your level, playing style, and whether you are willing to boost.

Understanding the DHS Rubber Ecosystem: A Map Before You Buy

Before comparing individual rubbers, it helps to understand that DHS produces two fundamentally different types of rubber — and most buyer confusion comes from treating them as part of the same family when they are not.

Chinese-style tacky rubbers — the Hurricane series (H2, H3, H8) and Skyline series — use a highly sticky topsheet combined with a dense, hard sponge. They require physical engagement to activate fully. Out of the box at commercial grade, most are relatively slow. Their strength is extraordinary spin and serve variation. They benefit significantly from boosting to reach their performance potential for intermediate and advanced players. All Chinese national team players use this type of rubber, typically with boosting applied.

European-style tensor rubbers — the Gold Arc series — are manufactured in Germany by ESN, the same factory that produces rubbers for Tibhar, Donic, and Gewo. They are not tacky, have built-in tension, and play more like Butterfly Tenergy or Tibhar MX-P than like Hurricane 3. They require no boosting and deliver their performance immediately out of the packaging.

Hurricane 3: The Most Important Rubber in Table Tennis

No rubber in professional table tennis history has been used on more championship points than the DHS Hurricane 3. Ma Long, Wang Chuqin, Fan Zhendong, Lin Gaoyuan, Wang Yidi, Chen Xingtong — the list of world-class players using Hurricane 3 on their forehand is essentially the Chinese national team lineup. It has won more World Championships, Olympic medals, and Grand Slam titles than any other single rubber model.

What makes Hurricane 3 so dominant is its unique combination of extreme tackiness and hard sponge density. The topsheet grips the ball with very high friction at contact, enabling devastating serve variation, powerful underspin opening loops, and deceptive low-arc straight attacks. The hard sponge forces the player to generate their own speed through technique — there is no built-in catapult effect at commercial grade — which means the rubber rewards correct stroke mechanics and penalizes shortcuts. This makes it simultaneously the hardest DHS rubber to master and, once mastered, the most dangerous weapon on the forehand side.

Crucially, PingSunday's comparison of Hurricane 3 versus Hurricane 8 emphasizes one critical point: Hurricane 3 at commercial grade, played unboosted, does not perform like what the Chinese national team uses. The commercial version must be boosted to approach pro-level performance — and the national and personal pro versions represent a meaningfully different product category.

The Hurricane 3 Grade Ladder: Which Version Is Right for You?

Commercial / Neo (Commercial) — The standard retail version available worldwide. Unboosted, it is hard, somewhat slow, and demands significant technique. The Neo version is factory-lightly-tuned (a fraction of the boosting effect), making it slightly more elastic and accessible for players starting with Chinese rubber.

Provincial Grade — Higher wood selection quality, more consistent sponge density, better topsheet uniformity. The provincial grade responds better to boosting than the commercial version — each booster layer has more effect and the effect lasts longer. For competitive club players who boost, the provincial grade represents excellent value.

National Grade — Issued to Chinese provincial and national team players. The sponge cell structure is denser and more homogeneous, the topsheet is thicker and more consistently tacky, and it performs significantly better even unboosted than the commercial version. Boosted, the national grade operates in a completely different performance class. This is precisely what the blue and orange sponge national versions at Ping Pong 3T represent.

Personal Pro Version — Produced to the exact specifications of a specific player. Ma Long's personal forehand rubber is manufactured to a specific hardness, sponge cell specification, and topsheet thickness matching his stroke mechanics. The DHS Personal Athletes Hurricane 3 available at Ping Pong 3T includes versions produced for Ma Long (42° and 43°), Wang Chuqin (42°), and Lin Shidong (41°) — a product that does not exist in commercial retail channels.

Blue Sponge vs Orange Sponge: What the Colors Actually Mean

The sponge color is not cosmetic — it indicates a different sponge formulation with measurably different playing properties. This is among the most misunderstood aspects of the Hurricane 3 range for players outside China.

👉 Hurricane 3 National — Blue Sponge (39° / 40° / 41°)

👉 Hurricane 3 National — Orange Sponge (39° / 40°)

👉 Hurricane 3 Neo National — Blue Sponge (pre-boosted)

👉 Hurricane 3 Neo National — Orange Sponge (pre-boosted)

👉 Hurricane 3 Neo Provincial — Blue Sponge

👉 DHS Personal Athletes Hurricane 3 — Ma Long / Wang Chuqin / Lin Shidong versions

Hurricane 3 Hardness Guide: Which Degree for Your Level?

DHS measures sponge hardness in their own scale, approximately 10–13 degrees softer than the ESN scale used by European brands. A 40° DHS rubber is roughly equivalent to a 50° ESN rubber — this is essential context when comparing DHS specs with Butterfly or Tibhar products.

Do You Need to Boost Hurricane 3?

For players using commercial or provincial grade Hurricane 3 who want to approach national team performance levels: yes, boosting is strongly recommended. Applying a volatile organic compound booster (common options: Haifu Sea Moon, DHS No.15) under the rubber before gluing expands the sponge cells, adds built-in tension, and transforms the rubber's character — longer dwell time, softer feel, more natural speed, and a more active catapult effect on brushing shots.

The blue sponge national grade absorbs booster fastest — one layer already produces a significant effect. The orange sponge national grade is faster unboosted but requires more layers to reach the same spin ceiling when boosted. Most Chinese national team players apply multiple booster layers, though the exact specifications are proprietary.

The Neo pre-boosted versions are the practical solution for players who want to skip the boosting process entirely. The pre-treatment provides a fraction of the full boosting effect, sufficient to make the rubber accessible for competitive club play without additional preparation. For players wanting maximum performance who are comfortable with the boosting process, the non-Neo national versions with manual boosting remain the reference.

Hurricane 8: The More Accessible Chinese Rubber for 40+ Ball Play

The Hurricane 8 was developed specifically for the 40+ plastic ball era. The harder plastic ball requires more sponge elasticity and natural rebound than the celluloid era demanded — Hurricane 8 addresses this by pairing a softer, more elastic sponge with a tacky topsheet, bridging Chinese and European playing styles in a way Hurricane 3 never attempted.

Chen Meng won the Tokyo Olympic women's singles gold medal using Hurricane 8 on her forehand with Tenergy 64 on the backhand — the clearest possible demonstration that Hurricane 8 is a world-class forehand weapon. For players who struggle to activate Hurricane 3's hard sponge, or who want a tacky rubber they can use productively without boosting, Hurricane 8 is the logical gateway into the Chinese rubber system.

Hurricane 3 vs Hurricane 8: The Complete Comparison

The practical conclusion: if you have strong forehand technique and want maximum spin, Hurricane 3 National at 39–40° is the higher-ceiling option. If you are transitioning from tensor rubbers, or want a Chinese-style rubber that is usable on the backhand without requiring extreme technique, Hurricane 8 is the more accessible and immediately playable option. The two rubbers are not competing — they address different needs within the same Chinese-style playing philosophy.

Gold Arc 5 & 8: DHS's European Answer

The Gold Arc series is DHS's most significant departure from Chinese rubber tradition. Developed in collaboration with German rubber experts at ESN — the same factory behind Tibhar Evolution, Donic Bluefire, and Gewo rubbers — the Gold Arc 5 and 8 are European-made, non-tacky tensor rubbers that carry the DHS brand but play fundamentally differently from any Hurricane rubber.

For players who have tried Hurricane rubbers and found the boosting process, physical demand, or slow initial speed prohibitive, the Gold Arc provides a DHS rubber experience that is immediately accessible: no preparation required, consistent performance from the first session, and a playing character closer to what players familiar with Butterfly or Tibhar products expect. As detailed reviews on RevSpin consistently note, the Gold Arc 8 performs above what its price suggests and competes directly with rubbers like MX-P and Fastarc G-1 on overall quality.

The Gold Arc 8 at 47.5° is the clear recommendation for most players choosing between the two series. Its softer, more elastic topsheet provides better dwell time and a more intuitive playing experience than Gold Arc 5's harder topsheet. The 50° version adds speed but sacrifices control — 47.5° delivers the better balance for both forehand and backhand use at advanced club level. For players transitioning from Hurricane rubbers to a European setup, or vice versa, the Gold Arc 8 is the most coherent midpoint available in the DHS lineup.

Special Mention: Hurricane 9

The Hurricane 9 is DHS's most recent entry in the Hurricane family and represents a unique multi-variant approach: it comes in four sponge colors, each with a distinct composition optimized for a different playing requirement. Blue (22# sponge) emphasizes power and speed for aggressive attackers. Pink (20# sponge) prioritizes spin variation and high-arc looping. Green (80# soft elastic macroporous sponge) focuses on rapid deformation recovery for continuous mid-table attacks. Each variant targets a specific playing need rather than offering a single universal character — making the Hurricane 9 a particularly interesting choice for players who know exactly what performance quality they are optimizing for.

👉 DHS Hurricane 9 — All Four Color Variants

Decision Framework: Which DHS Rubber for Your Profile?

Why Buying Source Matters: The Counterfeit Problem

The DHS Hurricane 3 market is one of the most heavily counterfeited segments in table tennis. National grade versions are most affected — they command a premium price, so counterfeits appear with national-grade labeling but play at poor commercial-grade level. They are widespread on platforms like Amazon and AliExpress, and even some specialist retailers stock them unknowingly.

Every DHS Hurricane rubber sold at Ping Pong 3T carries a unique serial code verifiable directly on the official DHS authentication portal. If you are paying national grade price for Hurricane 3, serial code verification is the only reliable confirmation of authenticity — and it is a non-negotiable standard we apply to every DHS product in our catalog. If you have any doubts about a rubber you have already purchased from another source, we are happy to help you check — contact us.