Mystery Sliding Tube Bridge Thing

[RedEyeJedi]

I'm here watching a pool room in Japan @ http://www.ustream.tv/channel/powerspace-live

There's a guy playing doubles with a pink shirt on as of 10:23AM EST, and he's got this little tube on his shaft, near the joint, that he grabs and slides up with his bridge hand as he bridges in front of a ball.

Looks pretty nifty, was wondering if anyone knew of a product like it in the US, apart from the "Slug Bug" which looks much clunkier than the one this guy is using in the stream.

Edit: As of 11:20 they're still playing. It looks like a slip on, but not a cloth-like fabric, because it doesn't seem to bunch up. I've been doing some researching, closest I've heard of is "some sort of" plastic tube Earl Strickland sometimes breaks with. Probably for zero friction or something.

Anybody?

 

[jrhendy]

I'm here watching a pool room in Japan @ http://www.ustream.tv/channel/powerspace-live

There's a guy playing doubles with a pink shirt on as of 10:23AM EST, and he's got this little tube on his shaft, near the joint, that he grabs and slides up with his bridge hand as he bridges in front of a ball.

Looks pretty nifty, was wondering if anyone knew of a product like it in the US, apart from the "Slug Bug" which looks much clunkier than the one this guy is using in the stream.

Edit: As of 11:20 they're still playing. It looks like a slip on, but not a cloth-like fabric, because it doesn't seem to bunch up. I've been doing some researching, closest I've heard of is "some sort of" plastic tube Earl Strickland sometimes breaks with. Probably for zero friction or something.

Anybody?

I also noticed this and hope somebody responds that is familiar with this.

 

[victorl]

It's just a small loop of soft fabric that helps the cue slide through the bridge, basically the same function as a glove. It gets quite humid here in Japan, especially in the summer and powder isn't really an option becuase most places want to keep the tables clean.

I personally think it looks goofy and would never use it, but I've been to pool halls where virtually every player has one on their cue...

 

[RedEyeJedi]

Thanks very much, Victor, I suppose that could be it, and I'll take your word for it. I just figured they may sell all sorts of odds-and-ends gizmos for pool in Japan that we don't see stateside.

I'm gonna' try it today at the hall. Personally, I think it looks awesome, since I hate the damp, smothering, nasty feeling of gloves, even fingerless ones.

Step two, how to make one! The fingers on the only glove I have seem a little bit too wide. It's taught near the joint, but when it's down near my usual bridge position there's a bit of loose fabric that looks like it'll be quite distracting.

Ever get any tips on making one?

 

[Pushout]

The video won't play for me but it sounds like a thing I bought years ago after I moved to SC, mine says The Pertector on it and is like plastic mesh. That is not a misspelling, that's the way it's spelled. I googled it and couldn't find it. I place it on the shaft in a humid situation and it works kinda like a glove and keeps the shaft moving smoothly. I bought it at one of the Viking Tour tournaments from Mike Janis, if I remember right. Mine is 6 inches long.

Edit: Here's a picture, I hope

 

[Scott Lee]

Pushout...The plastic mesh slipover was invented by a black fellow in Chicago almost 20 years ago. I gave him a lesson, and he had a bunch of them...a few of which he gave to me. He was, at that time, looking for an investor, so he could mass produce them. I never heard any more from him, but I don't think he found what he was looking for. He might have sold the patent to somebody else, which is why you might have bought one at a Viking tour event.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

The video won't play for me but it sounds like a thing I bought years ago after I moved to SC, mine says The Pertector on it and is like plastic mesh. That is not a misspelling, that's the way it's spelled. I googled it and couldn't find it. I place it on the shaft in a humid situation and it works kinda like a glove and keeps the shaft moving smoothly. I bought it at one of the Viking Tour tournaments from Mike Janis, if I remember right. Mine is 6 inches long.

 

[RedEyeJedi]

Oh, man! What a bummer. I can't find anything like it anywhere on the internet. Looks like I'm gonna' have to put my sweet old lady to work for me

Any idea what fabrics might work best?

 

[Pushout]

Pushout...The plastic mesh slipover was invented by a black fellow in Chicago almost 20 years ago. I gave him a lesson, and he had a bunch of them...a few of which he gave to me. He was, at that time, looking for an investor, so he could mass produce them. I never heard any more from him, but I don't think he found what he was looking for. He might have sold the patent to somebody else, which is why you might have bought one at a Viking tour event.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

See above:grin:

 

[RogerO]

This may be what you're looking for

Go to USPTO.gov and look up patent number 5,478,282. Bob Hayward is one of the inventors. He was selling them many years ago. Required a matching shaft as the tube is necessarily a close fit.

A quick search in Anywho for the inventor, in Manchester, CT, will yield a contact.

regards,
Roger

 

[Scott Lee]

RogerO...That name sounds familiar, but the product did not require a special shaft. It stretched over any size shaft (but still allowed the shaft to move easily through the sleeve). The pic in Pushout's post looks exactly like what I saw, and it was available in many colors.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Go to USPTO.gov and look up patent number 5,478,282. Bob Hayward is one of the inventors. He was selling them many years ago. Required a matching shaft as the tube is necessarily a close fit.

A quick search in Anywho for the inventor, in Manchester, CT, will yield a contact.

regards,
Roger

 

[RogerO]

RogerO...That name sounds familiar, but the product did not require a special shaft. It stretched over any size shaft (but still allowed the shaft to move easily through the sleeve). The pic in Pushout's post looks exactly like what I saw, and it was available in many colors.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Scott:
Sorry for the confusion, but I was responding to the OP. I assumed that when he referred to a plastic tube, he was talking about a hard plastic tube, not the mesh thingy.
Roger

 

[Roy Vadas]

The sleeve is a product called "The Perfector." It is definitely a woven plastic sheath that forms to the shaft size. I'm holding 2 in my hand right now. They almost remind me of a "Chinese Finger Locking Sheath" thingy

These were mentioned in the Joe Tucker Racking Secrets DVD (the 1st one.) I came across mine years ago at the Smokey Mountain 9 Ball Shootout in North Carolina. Not wanting to sell mine. Just wanted to add to the description of them.

I found an article on the net a long time ago that said they had went out of business. Couldn't believe my luck finding them when I did as I had given up hope of ever seeing one after reading that. They came in a package of 2, at least mine did.

Hope you find yourself one.
~Roy

 

[fathomblue]

I've really been looking for a pair of these as well. Ditto on seeing it on Joe Tucker's Racking Secrets. I emailed Joe and he told me that he didn't know where you could get these anymore.

If anyone comes up with a source, please let me know.

 

[Chopdoc]

Just google "woven tube" choose your material...and make your own in the length you want. EXAMPLES


Also, my wife has a hand held device that will weave a tube.......





.

 

[JoeW]

Similar to Chopdoc, you can make your own.

http://www.etsy.com/search?includes%5B0%5D=tags&q=woven+tube+maker

Looks like the machine costs $30.00.

If you look at the device, you could make it yourself for a couple of bucks.

 

[Chopdoc]

Similar to Chopdoc, you can make your own.

http://www.etsy.com/search?includes%5B0%5D=tags&q=woven+tube+maker

Looks like the machine costs $30.00.

If you look at the device, you could make it yourself for a couple of bucks.

That's like what my wife has...in three different sizes in fact. They are easy to make yourself too. I have used one to weave leather lacing and it worked great.


.

 

[Guapo]

An older gentleman at the hall I shoot at shoots with something similar although it's not like the ones pictured. I'll ask him about it next time I see him.

 

[PaulieB]

I know a guy at the bar that basically just cuts the end off one of the fingers of a glove and then cuts the entire finger off the glove and puts that around his cue shaft. When I asked him about it he said it was because he liked the feel of a glove but people in a bar setting make too much fun of him for wearing a glove.

If you have an old spare glove around, just try that ... it works for him. Don't know if it would be long enough for you (it is nowhere near the 6 inches mentioned in this thread), but it is for him.

 

[RedEyeJedi]

Just tried the finger of a glove for 3 hours at the pool hall. It definitely wasn't because of that, but I played like a God. The only thing it didn't really work for were open bridges, it kind've slides around too much for it to be stable, probably because it's 2 inches long, if that. But man does it work on a closed bridge!

 

[mattalli]

Perfector

I just purchased one on eBay. Works better than a glove. I just want to know if it is legal.