[Built to Last a Lifetime] Reviewing the Ultimate Metal Mouse Pad [NINJA RATMAT SHA]

Good morning/afternoon/evening! It’s me, lately completely hooked on Valorant! I bought and tried the metal mouse pad that has been getting talked about lately, so here is my review!

Table of Contents

I Tried It at TGS and Fell in Love

The first time I touched a metal mouse pad was September 13 of last year. Through work, I had a chance to attend Tokyo Game Show 2019 Business Day, and I fell in love at first touch at one of the company booths. Still, I held off on buying one at the time because it cost more than 80,000 yen and was incredibly expensive.

I came to the NINJARATMAT(

@NINJA_RATMAT

) booth!!

They said filming was OK, so I tried sliding a mouse on every product!

I also picked one up while I was there, and wow, it is heavy lol pic.twitter.com/GOghfdbZzQ

— K5N (@KagiJPN)

September 13, 2019

Finally Bought It

When I was playing Valorant, there were many moments where I thought I had moved the mouse, but friction kept it from moving. In a late-night rage impulse, I bought it.

It Arrived

It glides like crazy. Incredible.

I Tried Playing Valorant on a Metal Mouse Pad

After switching to a metal mouse pad, I made it to Immortal in Valorant. I could not have made it this far with a cloth pad!!

Update: Because this mouse pad has truly smooth initial movement, I can even score 27 HARD BOTs.

Aim practice by a Gundam Evolution NT Turn A main
HARD BOT 27

#VALORANT

#LookingForVALORANTFriends

pic.twitter.com/GyowCudom4

— K5N (@KagiJPN)

March 4, 2023

Impressions

Microsoft Pro IntelliMouse Logicool G Pro Wireless G-Wolves Hati Finalmouse I tried roughly four different mice in this order, from heavy to light. In general, the lighter the mouse, the better. (At least from how it feels.)

The SHA I bought has an extremely low coefficient of friction even compared with other metal mouse pads, so with heavier mice, inertia kicked in and I could not stop the mouse dead. (My hand would get pulled along by the weight.)

Pros

The Initial Movement Is Super Smooth

There is so little friction that it never catches when starting to glide, so it pairs well with ultra-light mice. Because there is no resistance at all even when you first start moving, tracking aim is much easier.

Consistent Performance Regardless of Season

With a cloth pad, performance can change even with the same mouse pad: it gets humid and does not glide in summer, then dries out and glides in winter. Metal is not affected by humidity, so it is really good!

You Can Use It for Life

More than anything, as long as you maintain it properly, you can use it for life, so you do not have to keep rebuying mouse pads. (So far.)

Cons

Hard to Stop

That said, as a downside, I think dead stops are difficult until you get used to it. In that sense, a cloth mouse pad with more friction might have the advantage.

It Gets Really Cold

In winter, it gets really cold. When I start using it for the day, it is so cold that my wrist hurts a little, so if you put a disposable hand warmer on it beforehand, you can play at a comfortable temperature from the start.

Static Electricity Happens

It also generates static electricity. In winter, there are times when I get zapped. The mouse pad itself is not storing static electricity, but it reacts to the static built up in your own body.

I think this is probably heavily affected by whether you are prone to building up static, your clothing, your environment, and so on. For me, I can get zapped even after just going to the bathroom and coming back, so I have no choice but to get used to it…

Maintenance Method

The official recommendation is silicone spray.

Apparently alcohol wipes are no good.

After wiping it with water and then applying silicone spray, it glides an absurd amount.

I use KURE silicone spray.

Update

At first I was using KURE silicone spray (the regular version), but after trying Super Silicone Spray and finding that it glides even more, this is the one I use now.