Head to head

Gamma Synthetic Gut 18 (1.18) vs Tourna Synthetic Gut Armor 16

Synthetic Gut Armor 16 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is stiffness, where Synthetic Gut 18 (1.18) is 8 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Gamma

Synthetic Gut 18 (1.18)

Nylon · 18 ga

Tourna

Synthetic Gut Armor 16

Nylon/Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
16532nd pct
17240th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
155th pct
143rd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9381st pct
9378th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
5.671st pct
5.978th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.46363rd pct
0.47568th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08228th pct
0.08126th pct

Bars are percentile against all 788 strings, and the marked side is the one that measures better, which is not always the one you want. A firmer bed is worse for your elbow and better for your control, and no measurement knows which of those you came for.

Which one wins, by problem

Each string's standing on the site's rankings, out of every measured string in the database. This is where a comparison stops being arithmetic and starts being a decision.

Swapping between them: what tension?

Bed stiffness is published at one reference tension, so the only honest conversion is to scale it. These are starting points from 52 lb, not prescriptions. The calculator takes your own tension.

Coming from Synthetic Gut 18 (1.18) at 52 lb

String Synthetic Gut Armor 16 at 49.8 lb 22.6 kg

Coming from Synthetic Gut Armor 16 at 52 lb

String Synthetic Gut 18 (1.18) at 54.3 lb 24.6 kg

Hybrid: what if you used both?

Estimated, not measured. No hybrid combination has been tested as a bed. These figures are the two strings' own lab measurements weighted by how much of the bed each one actually is. Treat them as a guide to which way a pairing moves, never as lab data.

Synthetic Gut 18 (1.18) mains / Synthetic Gut Armor 16 crosses

Stiffness36th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss4th pct · 1 measured
Energy return79th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential73rd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite63rd pct · 1 measured
String friction27th pct · 1 measured

Synthetic Gut Armor 16 mains / Synthetic Gut 18 (1.18) crosses

Stiffness37th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss4th pct · 1 measured
Energy return79th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential77th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite67th pct · 1 measured
String friction27th pct · 1 measured

Open this in the hybrid builder

Which goes dead first?

Estimated from tension loss, which is the only thing the database measures about ageing. This is when the bed stops playing the way you strung it, not when the string breaks.

Synthetic Gut 18 (1.18)

~38 hours of play

Synthetic Gut Armor 16

~39 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Gamma Synthetic Gut 18 (1.18) Nylon18find16515935.60.4630.082
Tourna Synthetic Gut Armor 16 Nylon/Polyester16find17214935.90.4750.081

Add a third string Synthetic Gut 18 (1.18) in full Synthetic Gut Armor 16 in full