I had heard about these new cats quietly making a name for themselves in the string world with several introductions making their presents known.
HAPPY MOUNTAIN STRINGS
If you have not heard of them before, you have now. Their shop is a humble store front on Etsy.
mod edit: Store link removed
-jhb8426-
I got the assortment pack which comes with 3 boxes of 5 each of the three signature series of string line. The combo pack comes with (pictured above - Left) 5 of Colton Mcneely’s Strings in Yeti Fur, 5 of Hayden Daniels’s Strings in (pictured above - Center) Pink Lemonade, and 5 of Dan Yustana’s Strings in (pictured above - Right) Yellow Snow. Ill use these names from here on out.
After shipping, it cost me right at 15 bucks. 15 dollars for 15 strings. The cost was the first thing that caught my eye, but I dont really see that as a negative, just something to take into consideration. Is paying a dollar a string worth it to you? Ill let you decide. For me, the way I see it is like this: I used to own a Harley and when I did, I always put premium gas in it. Why? Its a high performance engine, and should be treated like one. I see my yoyos the exact same way. I pay alot for some of my throws, why would I cheap out on the single most important thing keeping your precious metal from becoming scrap against the perils of the earth’s wicked skin or man’s answer to easy transportation and travel (sidewalks and asphalt.) So if they hold up right ill be more than happy to buy more.
First up in the review is YETI FUR
BG1 Yellow Jackets from Toxic are one of my top picks in the string world. Before these landed in my mailbox the BG1 Yellow Jackets were considered my favorite. Did Happy Mountain take the throne? Stay Tuned!
The soft blue of the Yeti Fur was the first thing I noticed as I first opened the box. I was expecting a deeper blue but was not disappointed. At closer inspection there is no blue in it all actually but rather a pale mint green mixed in mostly white threads. Strange but I like the trickery-ness of green pretending to be blue, successfully mind you.
It SOFT. Had decent resistant to thermal build up. With Toxic Dragons being the best of the best for thermal resistance, they are my basis of comparison. You can move the strings fast before they start to threaten to burn you. They become slicker the more you play with them, making them even better. They did seem to get slightly thinner as they broke in. This could work to your advantage if your looking for the least response possible. They move through the air slowly, but stays open decent during slacks and suicides. Not amazing but not disappointing either. Seemed like a good all around string.
Next up is the tasty PINK LEMONADE
MMMM mm this looks delicious! This second entry is also very soft from the first second. A bit fluffier feel, light and airy. Not very visible when moving around, but if you wear dark clothes it will show up in contrast. Moves kinda slow in the air, it seemed like I needed to give a big more “umph” to get the strings to slack over in say something like Kamikaze Slack. Very similar to Kitty regular. Break in happen rather fast and does smooth up a bit. Thermal buildup is noticeable but not enough to slow me down, again a bit better that Kitty in that regard. The color holds up well. I noticed that there is some really hot pink threads used in this. I would personally like to see a solid, eye blistering hot pink string produced, but thats just a thought. Of the three I found the Pink Lemonades to be the least outstanding of the three. Nothing I can put my finger on, and nothing I can say there is nothing wrong with them, just not my favorite of the three. Which leads me to . . . .
the last but not least, YELLOW SNOW
Yellow Snow is something else. Yellow Snow is also like the other two, very soft from the first throw. The color is unique, it almost looks like a Slime Green (used in Heady Glass) so I naturally was partial right off the bat. Again its a color pretending, successfully, as another color entirely. The few yellow strands with mostly white makes a ghostly pale green when it moves. I like this alot.
Its fatter than the other two, and feels heavier as well. It carries better in the air, a bit faster. Not quiet as fast as the BG1’s, but faster than kitty fats. About the same thickness as BG1s. The Happy Mountain seem to hold color and thickness better than kitties. As the Yellow Snow breaks in it gets slicker and better the more time goes on. Thermal buildup is minimal. Binds are tight and consistent.
Holds tension GREAT. Some other string crap out and starts eating itself after a few throws once they get fully broken in, but this one somehow seems to fight it better. Not sure how, but it just feels better than most stings ive used. Im VERY impressed with what they are doing, and plan on making another purchase to stock up on Yellow Snows.
So How do they Stack Up?? ???
Ill go ahead make make a list of many of the strings Ive used and how Happy Mountain holds up (imho of course)
1- BG1 Yellow Jackets - Toxic
2- YELLOW SNOW - HAPPY MOUNTAIN
3- MarkMont Dragon - Toxic
4- High End - ■■■■■■■■■■
5- YETI FUR - HAPPY MOUNTAIN
6- Kitty Fat - Kitty
7- Venom - Yoyo StringLab
8- PINK LEMONADE - HAPPY MOUNTAIN
9- Type X - Yoyo StringLab
10- Kitty Reg - Kitty
As you can see the Yellow Snows really impressed me. Ill be buying more of these since the BG1 Yellow Jackets are not get-able at the moment, Ill happily use Yellow Snow instead. Availability is key. Keep it in stock, and we will buy it!
