Stringer’s Shack’s G3 ultralight mesh is their highest end performance mesh. It comes in at a very low price point compared to other performance meshes on the market. When Stringer’s Shack challenged me to try out their mesh I was a bit skeptical of how good a mesh would perform that’s a fraction of the cost that I’m used to. I was pleasantly surprised.
For my test, I strung up a piece of the white G3 Ultralight into a Maverik Metrik U. When I first took the mesh out of the packaging it had a bit of a rough texture to it and felt a little stiffer than other semi-soft performance meshes, but a bit softer than semi-hard. It stretched out very nicely at the top, with very little effort needed in making sure the tension on the top was all even (I used my usual nine diamond triangle top string). When I stretched it out and strung it up, it did soften a bit. One thing I noticed while stringing it up was how responsive it was to the pattern I was using. Right away I knew if a specific knot placement or type of knot was or wasn’t working correctly, something I’ve had issues with while using other meshes (even on the same head). This made stringing it up and coming up with the right pattern for the head/mesh very easy. My one small pet peeve I had with the mesh was that the pieces are a bit shorter than I like, since i usually like to have a “tail” of four to five rows past my bottom string.
Once I was happy with my pattern and put in my shooters (went with one tightly rolled straight, a five diamond U and three diamond U), I grabbed a few balls, cradled a bit and the ball felt nice in the head. The texture of the mesh gives it a nice grip on the ball, giving it a decent amount of hold without adding much whip, while still feeling nice and soft. I played wall ball a bit (in the very cold Buffalo weather) and the mesh still felt very smooth, and still stayed quite soft. When shooting with it, I noticed a little more of the G3 Ultralight’s semi-hard qualities, and the mesh was very consistent. I was hitting corners with no problems with this setup and didn’t need any adjustments. I put the stick in some snow for a little bit and then shot with it again and it was still just as consistent, didn’t bag out with the moisture or harden up due to the cold.
There are several different flat colors of the G3 Ultralight so its easy to match with any stick. Another nice feature of the G3 Ultralight Mesh is the limited edition color ways that it comes in. Stringer’s Shack sent me a piece of their red and gold Maryland version which looks very nice.
Overall, I liked the mesh a lot and was pretty happy with it. If you’re looking for a semi-soft mesh that’s a little bit stiffer than some other semi-softs on the market it would be a good choice for you. I would especially recommend it to kids and players on a budget. There’s no other mesh in the price range of this stuff that performs nearly as well, as I would compare this to mesh ranging from $20-$30. If you’re looking to save some money on mesh, G3 Ultralight is a fantastic offering from Stringer’s Shack, giving very good performance at an even better price.
