Price it like Blue Diamond, and I will use it!
Off the top of my head I can think of five claims I've heard for the benefits of Kamui chalk. At least four of those four claims are scams in one way or another, and the jury is still out on the fifth. Explanations below.
Claimed benefit #1 is that due to reduced slippage, you get more spin. This is nonsense. When you are hitting a round, smooth object with a deflecting off center blow at the relatively high speeds of most pool shots, you either have no slippage, or full slippage (miscue). Once the tip starts slipping off the cue ball it isn't going to magically grab back onto the cue ball and hold. It just keeps on slipping until it slips right off the edge of the cue ball, resulting in a miscue. It either slips and miscues, or it doesn't slip and doesn't miscue, period. There is no in between. With the same stroke, same hit point on the cue ball, and same tip, you will get the exact same spin regardless of what chalk is used.
Claimed benefit #2 is that due to reduced slippage, your shots are straighter. See #1 above. There is no reduced slippage, so therefore there is no effect on the "straightness" of your shots.
Claimed benefit #3 is that you chalk far less often. This appears to be true, but offers no real benefit, and in fact actually has several down sides. For starters, ten shots is about the high end average of what most people claim to be able to do before needing to re-chalk with Kamui. So if Kamui was less that ten times the cost of another chalk, then it would be more cost effective. Unfortunately this isn't the case. Kamui does "last" ten times longer, but it costs 30 times as much as say masters. This means that on a per shot basis, Kamui still costs three times as much! So it certainly is not cost effective.
Secondly, there are very real benefits to chalking on every single shot that you will lose with Kamui chalk. Chalking every shot is a part of your pre-shot routine, and we all know the importance of doing the same things on every shot and having a routine. Chalking also gives you a defined moment to mentally collect and prepare yourself for the next shot, to get back relaxed, focused, etc. On the other hand, with Kamui on some shots you are actually chalking, and on some shots you are just checking your tip but not chalking, and on some shots your are doing nothing at all, so there is no routine whatsoever. And since with Kamui you still have to check your tip after many of your shots anyway to see if the tip needs chalk yet, you might as well just be chalking since that takes little if any more time and effort, and gives you the added benefits mentioned above.
Claimed benefit #4 is that it grips better which enables you to hit closer to the edge of cue ball before a miscue. With a good stroke and masters chalk, you can already hit near the edge of the cue ball and get absolutely massive amounts of spin. Highly unlikely that you can get any closer to the edge with something else, as there just isn't much edge left. And even if it was possible, when would you ever need to get more spin than the absolutely massive amounts you can already get with the masters if you have a good stroke?
Claimed benefit #5 is that it grips slightly better on those shots that were hit with a crappy stroke or with a glazed tip near the edge of miscue land and therefore will save you a few miscues. The jury is still out on this one. It may help with this a little bit over say masters chalk, or maybe not. And if it does save the occasional miscue is it worth all the additional cost? That might be a yes for one person, and no for another. And one always has the option to work on improving your tip maintenance or stroke...
I want to hear from people who have actually got a cube of chalk, used it and thought they were scammed out of their money. It seems everyone wants to chime in on how its a "scam" but none of them have actually used it. I've been using the chalk since December and I personally think its worth every penny. My accuracy while using english has greatly improved which means my game has improved. I've cashed in more tournaments since starting to use the chalk then ever before and won more gambling. Anyone in my area that knows me can tell you my game has went up a lot (nearly right away) since December. I'm wondering which part of this 'scam' I'm not going to like????
I wish I could explain it, but I'm really not sure what exactly happens. All I know is it feels like, when I use English, the tip grabs the cueball and the cueball travels in a straighter, more consistently straight line. I don't know the science behind it, but I see the proof when I use it.
I don't mean to be devils advocate but your opinion is biased if you spent the $30. I mean if I dropped $30 on a cube of chalk I could swear up and down that pigs are flying![]()
To believe without research that a specific chalk does is also foolish.The purpose of any chalk is to increase the friction between the tip and the cue ball. ...to say that one product cannot do this better than another because of research and technological advances is foolish.
I have a cube of Kamuii that I haven't tried yet but will break out the next time I play. That being said, here is my two cents. The purpose of any chalk is to increase the friction between the tip and the cue ball. Cost aside, to say that one product cannot do this better than another because of research and technological advances is foolish. Even though I haven't used mine yet, I did swipe it onto one of my fingertips and noticed a difference immediately in the consistency and feel compared to other chalks (I have tried Blue Diamond, Masters, Silver Cup, and others). I am glad to see that a company is trying to make advances in an area of the sport that has long been stagnant. I don't understand why pool players are so critical of new products and resistant to change. They should be happy that someone is trying to innovate. It happens all the time in other sports. For example, tennis strings are constantly changing designs due to technological advances.
To believe without research that a specific chalk does is also foolish.
pj
chgo
Yes, but not at 20x the price of the others.
There is always a problem when the pricing of any product in any industry gives the appearance that the company is taking unreasonable advantage of their customers. Most times it has a longer term, negative effect on the entire company and it's product(s).
J
In a free market customers cannot be taken advantage of. No one forces people to buy Kamuii chalk. It is a choice. If their product is good and people find it desirable, then it will sell and the company will succeed. If someone is dumb enough to continually buy it because of what they are told through advertising without evaluating it and deciding its worth then shame on them.
Placebo effect
You people are crazy with the placebo effect.. If that were the case, I would have fallen in love with the new kamui 1.21 chalk. I didn't. It doesn't grip as well. I wish it did, I bought 4 cubes of it... just didn't. Glad I could trade off the 1.21 for .98 pretty easy.
Anyone who tries this chalk for an hour and doesn't see a difference, either is using the wrong end of the cue or just simply is thick headed. I've yet to see one person try it in person that didn't automatically see the difference.
I don't care if you people like it or not or if you're too cheap to try it or not... Doesn't matter to me. The point of this thread is the people who think its a scam are the people who haven't tried it.. its pretty obvious.
Dude you really need to chill on the Kamui chalk. How can anyone have a decent conversation on this subject with your ****ing stupid posts. Seriously some people are going to have a different opinion than you. That doesn't make them thick headed. It almost seems like you are trolling everybody who isn't a big fan of Kamui.