gocchin Posted April 12, 2014 Report Share Posted April 12, 2014 It's been very busy so I have taken far to long to get around to writing about the Kamui Works Air. Today I snapped some photos and tomorrow will build the club.As many here now I have gamed all the Kamui Works drivers since we began carrying them from Asiri, to the 456 Silver and 420 Prototype to most recently the Ray.Those who play the drivers will share my view on the wonderful feel and great performance they provide. For others who do not know the background of Kamui Works and Kamui Pro, they were once all part of Kamui Works who have now been making drivers for over 15 years. Kamui Works popularity grew and several of their staff left to create a new brand Kamui Pro.In the past they have shared similar concepts and materials. But recently their philosophies have gone in separate ways. Kamui Works focuses on hand made and made for each specific customer while Kamui Pro is more mass produced. I have of course played both brands and while Kamui Pro certainly can perform, it's feel is not my liking (this is subjective of course) and I feel Kamui Pro is just not up to par with Kamui Works mainly because of the custom options Kamui Works provides. Kamui Works's new KM-200 Air, like all other Kamui Works drivers is made in Toyama Japan and assembled and finished by hand. The head is a multi piece design welded together by hand and hand finished. Because it is all done by hand, they can easily control real specs such as loft, lie, face angle and check the specs along the way as the driver is being built. While KW always sets spec ranges for what they can do, I have put in orders for specs way beyond their ranges ie 6* real loft and 55* lie angle etc with past models so I expect them to be able to do the same for the Air. My head is as follows: 10* Hi Cor 0.5* Closed 60* Lie 201g Black Metallic Crown Inject Air for 40m/s (170kpa) The KM-200 Air features what KW calls a Particular Titanium Face. It is a specially forged variable thickness Beta Ti face. Kamui works has also developed an all new crown and body for the Air which further increases the heads repulsion abilities. I photoshopped some descriptions below: There is not much on the Air so when I first saw the driver, I thought the crown was dented but that is it's design. This design along with the injected Air supposedly can create smash factors above 1.5 which theoretically is not possible but apparently has been done with the KP Nitro which uses a similar concept. KW touts the Air as their most forgiving and best distance driver ever and compared to previous models which were considered older more traditional designs, it certainly has the features to back that up. I love the way the Air sets up at address and I have always enjoyed the shape of its wonderful feeling face. Both Kamui's tout that their Conforming injected heads are as good distance wise as many NON conforming heads. USGA, which measures the spring effect of a driver's face apparently does not take into account the gases injected in the head. So top that off with the fact that KW's Air can also be made with a 0.88 COR face PLUS air injection, could we possibly be seeing a head equivalent to 0.92-0.93 COR in performance? That would be, excuse my language, friggin amazing. Tomorrow I will be shafting the Air up with the very reliable TRPX Messenger in SR flex. I'm very excited to see how it performs but even before that, I am always thrilled to be able to order the exact specs I want and have them hand made for me in Japan. Considering the cost of Kamui Works drivers and the options they provide, they can very much be considered great value with many other premium brands priced much higher. Stay tuned for more.... PS I am working on getting the head in the pro shop. Lots of options so please give me another day. (^_^) For those of you who have not seen it, here are some pics of Kamui Work's making a driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocchin Posted April 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2014 Reserved... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-500 Posted April 12, 2014 Report Share Posted April 12, 2014 Oh man. Love Kamui Works Ray. I've tried 2 slightly different versions and both had great feel. Would love one of these custom built. Can't wait for the update when you had chance to hit it Tario. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffer19 Posted April 12, 2014 Report Share Posted April 12, 2014 T, could or would the injected air in the head be released accidentally by builders when putting the club together? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmieboi Posted April 12, 2014 Report Share Posted April 12, 2014 I have the Ray and it's the most beautiful driver I have. Only if this driver has the Raijin engrave on it, I won't be hesitate to get it. How durable is the air inside the driver?? Leak over time?? Performance over the Ray?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocchin Posted April 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2014 T, could or would the injected air in the head be released accidentally by builders when putting the club together? R, that is not possible unless the gold port at the back is released. The air cannot come out the hosel side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocchin Posted April 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2014 I have the Ray and it's the most beautiful driver I have. Only if this driver has the Raijin engrave on it, I won't be hesitate to get it. How durable is the air inside the driver?? Leak over time?? Performance over the Ray?? T, I know you like Raijin. (^_^) This driver is even more forgiving than the Ray and hotter. But for your swing speed I would hesitate to go Hi Cor and I would have to check on the air pressure for you as you swing fast. The air inside is of course guaranteed. I need to double check but I think it's for 2 years? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffer19 Posted April 12, 2014 Report Share Posted April 12, 2014 I know this might be a silly question since most of us don't keep a driver for more than 2 years but how would the driver perform otherwise if air is released? Looking forward to your test review and built spec, T. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandee11 Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 What if the air released, would that affect the performance of the driver? What is the purpose of the air inside the driver head? Would it be dangerous if the head is heated because of the air inside? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocchin Posted April 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 If the air was released it would still perform like any other driver that did not have air in it. Heating the hosel area won't affect the air. The air is in the head to create pressure thus more rebound at impact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
300Yards Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 Interested in the Air Driver, but if the air is released and need to return for repair, will that be too cumbersome and costly since I live oversea? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmieboi Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 Air would most likely leak when it get shipped into the aircraft. At high altitude air expands and it might leak. Think of inflating a ballon but metal crown isn't elastic so it could leak. My curiousity is how durable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocchin Posted April 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 It should not leak even on an aircraft because the amount of pressure injected into the head is not at the max meaning there is still room to "breathe". If it were at the max then the impact of the ball on the head could literally cause leakage as well but this is not the case. I am trying to find out from Kamui how the air injection is actually done so we can understand more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmieboi Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 If the Air is sealed inside metal and welded closed then it can never leak. I think 2 year guaranteed is for the head, same as for any other head!?!? The Ray is the only driver I hit at 388 yards. If this Air performs better then I'll get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffer19 Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 388 yards? Didn't think you need to be so strong to be a pilot Jimmie. They are not making pushing a 747 are they? Still an additional 20' yards would be most welcomed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmieboi Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 The Ray I have is non-conform. And I think I might have crack the face already. I'll probably get the Air in conform face this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankThong Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 T, you know how big a fan I am of the Kamui Works drivers. For a while there, I thought the innovation comatosed! Please check your mail, I'll be hassling you soon ha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shankopotamus Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 T, we're anxiously awaiting the review. C'mon, brother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tokidoki1986 Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 KW Air and Maxima ST are the two non-conform driver on my 2014 most wanted driver so it'll be great if you give a little review and compare on this two T. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gian11 Posted April 26, 2014 Report Share Posted April 26, 2014 Yup, where is the review T? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
300Yards Posted April 28, 2014 Report Share Posted April 28, 2014 It will be nice if you can also compare the GEOTECH 2014 non-conforming head with Ryoma Maxima ST non-conforming and the KW air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocchin Posted April 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2014 I'm waiting for the ST still myself or can't make a proper comparison. (^_^) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankThong Posted May 1, 2014 Report Share Posted May 1, 2014 Hey T, did you get my email on the Air driver? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundowner Posted May 1, 2014 Report Share Posted May 1, 2014 Compared today the new Geotech alpha-spec. to Kamui Ray (n.c.) and Ryoma Maxima. The new Geotech is awesome and lightyears (for my swing) better then Ray and Maxima. First try of a Geotech head. As a big fan of Kamui Works...: Wow!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TourSpecGolfer Posted May 1, 2014 Report Share Posted May 1, 2014 There are many Geotech heads available are we talking about the Quelot A-Spec? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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