Head to head

Klip K-Boom 18 (1.20) vs Tourna Black Zone 17

Black Zone 17 leads on 3 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is string friction, where K-Boom 18 (1.20) is 10 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Klip

K-Boom 18 (1.20)

Polyester · 18 ga

Tourna

Black Zone 17

Polyester · 17 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
19057th pct
18754th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
3251st pct
3251st pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8737th pct
8846th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
6.282nd pct
6.079th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.46362nd pct
0.47769th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.07514th pct
0.08024th pct

Bars are percentile against all 791 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 K-Boom 18 (1.20) at 52 lb

String Black Zone 17 at 52.9 lb 24.0 kg

Coming from Black Zone 17 at 52 lb

String K-Boom 18 (1.20) at 51.1 lb 23.2 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.

K-Boom 18 (1.20) mains / Black Zone 17 crosses

Stiffness56th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss51st pct · 1 measured
Energy return41st pct · 1 measured
Spin potential81st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite64th pct · 1 measured
String friction16th pct · 1 measured

Black Zone 17 mains / K-Boom 18 (1.20) crosses

Stiffness55th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss51st pct · 1 measured
Energy return43rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential80th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite67th pct · 1 measured
String friction20th 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.

K-Boom 18 (1.20)

~25 hours of play

Black Zone 17

~25 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Klip K-Boom 18 (1.20) Polyester18find19032876.20.4630.075
Tourna Black Zone 17 Polyester17find18732886.00.4770.080

Add a third string K-Boom 18 (1.20) in full Black Zone 17 in full