Head to head

Pacific Power Line 16L vs Prince Lightning XX 16

Lightning XX 16 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is energy return, where Lightning XX 16 is 7 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Pacific

Power Line 16L

Nylon · 16L ga

Prince

Lightning XX 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
18148th pct
18147th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
1916th pct
1915th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9274th pct
9381st pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.416th pct
3.416th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.40929th pct
0.39822nd pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.12183rd pct
0.11781st 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 Power Line 16L at 52 lb

String Lightning XX 16 at 51.2 lb 23.2 kg

Coming from Lightning XX 16 at 52 lb

String Power Line 16L at 52.9 lb 24.0 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.

Power Line 16L mains / Lightning XX 16 crosses

Stiffness47th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss15th pct · 1 measured
Energy return76th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential16th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite28th pct · 1 measured
String friction83rd pct · 1 measured

Lightning XX 16 mains / Power Line 16L crosses

Stiffness47th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss15th pct · 1 measured
Energy return78th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential16th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite23rd pct · 1 measured
String friction82nd 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.

Power Line 16L

~35 hours of play

Lightning XX 16

~35 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Pacific Power Line 16L Nylon16Lfind18119923.40.4090.121
Prince Lightning XX 16 Nylon16find18119933.40.3980.117

Add a third string Power Line 16L in full Lightning XX 16 in full