Babolat Hybrid RPM Blast 17g + Touch VS 16g Tennis String Set
About Puno
This highland city stands on the western shore of Lake Titicaca, more than 3,800 meters above sea level. It began as a colonial settlement tied to nearby silver mines and later became a lake port on routes toward Bolivia. Today it is the capital of Puno Department and a center for Aymara and Quechua communities around the lake.
THE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW
A hybrid string set pairing two of Babolat’s own strings: RPM Blast in 17 gauge and Touch VS natural gut in 16. It is sold as one packet holding enough of each to string a single racquet.
A hybrid exists because no single string does everything.
RPM Blast is a co-polyester monofilament at 1.25 mm — stiff, control-oriented, and the most widely used spin string in professional tennis. Touch VS is natural gut at 1.30 mm, the softest and most elastic string material available and the one that holds tension best. Polyester alone is firm on the arm; gut alone is expensive and moves too freely under heavy spin.
Put one in the mains and the other in the crosses and the bed takes some of each.
The usual arrangement is RPM Blast in the mains and Touch VS in the crosses.
The mains do most of the work of gripping and releasing the ball, so the polyester supplies the spin and the control while the gut crosses soften the impact and restore the feel a full polyester bed loses.
Puno sits on the shore of Lake Titicaca at over 3,800 metres, where the air is thin enough that the ball flies noticeably longer — conditions in which a control-oriented main string earns its place.
Specifications
| Type | Hybrid string set |
|---|---|
| Mains | Babolat RPM Blast, co-polyester monofilament |
| Mains gauge | 17 / 1.25 mm |
| Crosses | Babolat Touch VS, natural gut |
| Crosses gauge | 16 / 1.30 mm |
| Quantity | One set, sufficient for one racquet |
| Best for | Spin and control with added comfort and tension retention |
A hybrid is normally strung with the two materials at different tensions, the polyester a few pounds below the gut, and the stringer’s recommendation should be followed over one number for the whole bed.
LET Babolat Hybrid RPM Blast 17g + Touch VS 16g Tennis String Set SHOW YOU Puno
String: Built in the 18th century and took over a hundred years to finish. That's the kind of timeline that makes a detective nervous. The carved facade has a Baroque style locals call Mestizo — somebody mixed influences and nobody's talking. I've seen less suspicious stonework at crime scenes.
String: Every Peruvian city has one of these plazas. Colonial grid planning — the Spanish wanted to know where everyone was at all times. Smart. The fountain at the center dates to the 19th century and I'd wager it's seen a few conversations that weren't meant to be overheard.
String: Built in 1847 to honor the heroes of Junín and Ayacucho — the battles that sealed Peruvian independence. An arch commemorating a fight. Classic deflection. The stonework is solid, no cracks, no alibi problems. I almost trust it.
String: Kuntur Wasi means House of the Condor in Quechua. The condor is the national bird of Peru and in Andean cosmology it represents the upper world. I've surveilled worse vantage points. Whoever picked this overlook knew exactly what they were doing — you can see everything from up here. Everything.
Jackson Phillips here. Owner of TTT. We are working hard every day to bring you the most useful product reviews in the business. Our goal is putting the right product in every hand. If you have time, shoot me an email at jacksonphillips@thetennistactician.com and tell me exactly what you think of your purchase. The more feedback we get, the better we can serve. Thank you for your patronage. And Burn, Laugh, and Learn.