Have you seen the new Stealth ads on Sports Center? Carbon Nanotube Technology is where it's at this year with Easton's new Stealth lineup. Introduced as an ultra-premium line, Easton has raised the bar for high end performance. I had the chance to swing the new Stealth COMP CNT and I was definately impressed, but let's take a look behind the abbreviations and hype to see if a Stealth Composite is right for you.

First off, any discussion of the Stealth COMP has to begin with this whole "composite" business. Basically the advantage to using composite materials over aluminum alloys is that you're able to better control the barrel flex. Aluminum has the same strength and stiffness in all directions, but composite materials have very high strength and stiffness in the direction of the fibers with much lower strength and stiffness across the fibers. You can compare it with a nice, juicy ribeye steak (forgive the mouthwatering example, but it's prime grillin' time here in Texas!). If you cut your steak across the grain, you'll have a very tender piece of meat, but if you cut it with the grain, it'll be a tough son of a gun. While tender is a good quality in a steak, it's not so desirable in your bat! So it's out with aluminum and in with composite fibers.

Now what Easton's R&D guys have done is taken those composite fibers and injected them with CNT Carbon Nanotube Technology. Carbon nanotubes have been the study of intensive research by physicists thoughout the world in the past decade since their discovery in 1991. As one of the strongest materials now known to exist, they have a variety of exciting applications. One of which is now in a high-performance baseball bat. [More information about carbon nanotubes from Wikipedia.]

Okay, so you might be wondering, if carbon nanotubes are so great, why not make a whole bat out of them and be done with it? Well it turns out that while carbon nanotubes are super strong, they don't do so well under pressure (much like the Spurs?). Because they're hollow (the "tubes" part), they "tend to undergo buckling when placed under compressive, torsional or bending stress." Exactly the kind of stress that your bat is exposed to with every monster swing! Anyway, that's why Easton uses CNT technology as an additive to the carbon fibers. Between these two space age materials, you're left with a really strong bat with a nice sweet spot.

The Stealth Composite comes in Adult, Senior Youth and Youth sizes. The BCN4 -3 Adult bat is BESR certified with a 2 5/8" barrel. The BCN14 Senior Youth model features the same 2 5/8" barrel with a -9 drop. For the younger players, the LCN4 Youth -11 model has an easy to swing 2 1/4" barrel.

If you're looking for a top-of-the-line premium swing to add to your bag, the Stealth is definately worth a look. The addition of all-composite materials is a welcome development and allows for a wider sweet spot, making those marginal hits a playable option on the field. While the Stealth Composite isn't cheap, it's durable construction should allow you a long life of service smashing out the HRs (and the Easton 400 day warranty certainly doesn't hurt!).