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greenbeanmachine wrote: on Monday, December 08 at 4:39 AM #1
I even made a hardbat with OX short pips on both sides and beat several of my teammates with it. It's a really fun style so I'm wondering why it's so uncommon to play with them.

You talk as if you made some revolutionary invention LOL
Before sponge arrived on the scene in 1951-1952 , hardbat (wide pips with no sponge both sides) was the ONLY approved rubber / racket in ITTF
It sounds like you are a beginner playing with lots of other beginners. Nothing wrong with that. But when you say you beat several teammates that only says they do not know how to play against certain styles

It is uncommon now mostly because sponge domain table tennis has become the ITTF standard.
Yes there are a few very good hardbat players (almost all of them play sponge as well)
But generally speaking, playing using hardbat against a common law illegally boosted looper is like challenging an incoming nuclear missile with a knife.
You live in USA & if you look at the US Open website , they have a few Hardbat & Sandpaper events
Scroll all the way to the bottom in the link below
https://omnipong.com/T-tourney.asp?t=102&r=3912&h=

More details at the webpage below
https://omnipong.com/EntryForms/1091-98.pdf

You need to learn a lot about the (sad) history of table tennis

greenbeanmachine wrote: on Monday, December 08 at 4:39 AM #1
It feels like OX short pips can be very disruptive,

Wide (or stiff) pips are probably the least deceptive rubber there is.
You need to learn a lot about the concepts of Click link > spin contrast and spin continuum

Also take a look at the webpage below
https://tacticaltabletennis.blogspot.com/p/sc.html

greenbeanmachine wrote: on Monday, December 08 at 4:39 AM #1
they have a good amount of spin reversal,

Wrong again.
Traditional wide (or stiff) pips have the least amount of spin reversal.
And that is because the basic nature of wide pips as compared to slim pips is that wide pips are stiffer than slim pips. Slim pips are lot more flexible.
However neo wide pips have been developed by manufacturers to have wide pips behane like slim pips as marketing gimmick.

You need to clearly understand
(click link >) the pip design parameter and playing characteristics

greenbeanmachine wrote: on Monday, December 08 at 4:39 AM #1
and you can play very offensively with them

Finally you are correct.
Wide pips (with sponge) are probably the most offensive rubber there is but only if you are talented enough to use them
Also as I explained in webpages I linked above, wide pips are strictly a forehand rubber & the worst backhand rubber
quote=greenbeanmachine] Monday at 4:39 AM #1
so why are they so hard to find
[/quote]
They are not hard to find, There are about 247 wide pips on current (click link >) ITTF LARC .
And lot more outside ITTF LARC that are both approved & de-approved
Most come with sponge but you can remove the sponge from any one them and use the OX rubber. But this may change in 2026 & may not be allowed in ITTF play

greenbeanmachine wrote: on Monday, December 08 at 4:39 AM #1
why don't people play with them?

It was explained as to why by the previous poster in this thread

greenbeanmachine wrote: on Monday, December 08 at 4:39 AM #1
but in close-to-table play I feel much more confident with OX short pips compared to OX long pips.

That is because wide pips are much much easier to learn to play than slim pips
But the problem is that any rubber that is easy for you to use is usually also easy for your opponent to play against.
Your friends lost against you because they do not know how to play against OX short pips
Why do you think slim & long pips are most hated & why do you think
ITTF has passed (click link >) 14 rule and regulation changes since 1977 by the ITTF to severely limit the choppers in the current 40+ mm plastic ball only era