Looking to get a natty dama, wondering what everyones first natty was, wood type and how it played? Were you stoked on it?
My first natty was an active natty. It's made out of beech, and I can definitely recommend it. It has a huge big cup, which helps with a lot of things. I was super stoked on it. And it still slays
First natty was a discontinued Cereal Morning Oats. Its an ash complete kendama, really great clack. Deep cups and wide deep bevel. Breaks it really great for stalls. Due to it being made of ash, it chipped alot . Really liked that ken tho.
A maple natty from DWI is just $25, an ash or zebrano natty from DWI is on sale for $30, they also sell natty ozoras. DWIs are good. Mine slays for slings and kenflip and things like that. If you want a good kendama but don't want to spend that much, kendama syndicate is selling a BLK ash with a tama that's ash and walnut halfsplit and a BLK maple with a maple tama with two walnut stripes. Both $10 which add up to 15 after shipping. BLKs are pretty good. These kens are all great but the one I recommend the most is a natty tk-16. Tk-16s are really durable because they are birch. The tama like always starts off slippery but gets grip as you play. All in all a great kendama because it can take a beating and is a God for slings
The tama was super heavy the spike was way to short and It feels like sawdust was glued to the ken. The ken also has a one peace design and the lunar balance is the worst ever.
I'm not sure if its still an issue but I tried making a purchase on kendama syndicate and a lot of products are listed as in stock but out of stock when you attempt to checkout. really bummed because I was able to pick up a natty zen stripe last year from them and i was hoping to pick up a couple more.
First natty was a 1st gen green raw stripe (pictured in the middle of my profile pic) jammed it for about 6 months and it became super prime/grippy. Overall, I would say any natty maple or beech would be totally worth it as long as you are willing to put in the time. Ash can be super prime done right as well. With an ash you have to rub sweat all over and be gentle with(in terms of dropping), but still shred.
My first natty was a walnut stripe homegrown on and ash HG ken(my friend gifted it to me), and so far, it's played pretty well, but the maple tama was a slight bit heavy for my liking. It still broke in pretty well.
First natty was a KRAES full Cherry. Heavy as all hell, with the ken and tama being dead on at 90g. Also super slick, so never really played it a lot. I bought a RWB Classic hickory ken with an ash tama back in january, and it's the one I play everyday now - REALLY like it, though I don't understand why a lot of people think that ash is grippy. It looks nice, but I think I would have liked a birch tama on it instead.