Case

JB Cases

www.jbcases.com
Silver Member
My cheap flip-open case has worked just fine in this Portland rain. As long as the tape holds, the ends shouldn't fall off. :thumbup:

:)

This reminds me of another story.

I had a booth for Instroke cases at the US Open one year and it was in the rotunda at the Chesapeake Convention Center for those who have been there.

Anyway I giving the sales pitch and telling the customers that the case was water resistant and would not allow water to go inside it nor would the leather be damaged if water got on it.

Outside it was pouring rain, very heavy. The customer was skeptical so I said pick any case off the wall and I will put my cues into it and set it outside in the rain.

They chose a 3x7 with nubuk leather, like a fine suede, cost $439.

I put my Schon and my Scruggs into the case and ran out to set it in the rain. We watched people running in and looking at the case being drenched and looking at us to ask if it was ours. Several times I had to stop people from picking it up. Anyway we left it out there for about ten minutes.

Then I brought it back in and wiped it down. Then I opened the case and the cues inside were dry. I told the folks with me to come back in a bit about 30 minutes or so and look at the case. They did and it was dry with no water spots.

__________________________________________-

I guess I am stupid but once I embarked on this case making adventure with a protection-first platform I have taken it seriously and tried to protect against as many things as I could given my limited resources.

I agree with Eric Hu about Zero Haliburton being the best protection you can get in a cue case. I have often recommended that case. But in my position and wanting to blend protection with convenience I have done what I could using commonly available materials to build a case that gives me a level of protection I think cues should have.

To that end I have dropped cases out of six story windows, I have run over them, I have left them out in the snow and rain, I have dunked them in a pool, I have beat on them with a baseball bat, I have thrown them across the room, and I have turned them upside down with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cues inside them hundreds of times.

I don't think protection is overrated.
 

wrldpro

H.RUN 311/Diamond W.R.
Gold Member
Silver Member
You might need that lube.....

per request deleted.....
 
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JB Cases

www.jbcases.com
Silver Member
I guess it all depends on how you treat your case. If your case only goes from your house to your car to the pool hall in a gentle manner, anything will work. If you're a little on the clumsy side, something a little sturdier will be required. If you're killing zombies with your case on the way to the pool hall, you're gonna need something really solid.

Last I saw, case makers don't line the insides with sandpaper. Pretty much everyone uses some type of plush material, so I don't really see the inside of the case being a worry. If your cue falls out the bottom of your case, chances are you don't treat your case very nicely. If your cue falls out the top when you drop it, perhaps some type of closure (such as a zipper or a clasp) should be employed.

In all seriousness, if you don't care about looks, and are only concerned about protection, how much protection do you really need?

It really depends on what you are doing with your cue. Obviously the most basic case is simply a plastic bag or two rubber bands to make carrying the cues a bit easier than dealing with two parts.

When I was younger I loved my McDermott soft case. It was awesome until the time a car door got slammed on it and broke the cue. After that I got a Porper which held my cues snugly and was a solid case. I felt much more comfortable with this one and used it for years until getting my J.EF (Flowers) leather case.

I expected that the more expensive case would protect as well as the Porper. It did not.

So I rebuilt it to have the same function as the Porper, to hold my cues snugly until I wanted them to be removed.

In the interim during the course of my career in case making I have taken apart dozens of cases, probably over a hundred. I have seen things in case construction that should not be there. Including sandpaper-like liner.

The case where the bottom fell out and allowed my Joss to slide through a ring of nail points was a BRAND NEW and unused Bentley. I just grabbed it to use it for transport to Mark Smith's shop to have the cue worked on. I dropped the cue in and the bottom came loose and the cue slid right out. Great thing to happen to a case maker huh?

But the bottom line is that no all cases are not made equally well inside. Not all case makers use the same plush material. Some use material that you absolutely would NOT polish your cue with.

I have taken some of the liner from such cases and gone up to cue makers and collectors and asked them if they would polish their cues with this material without explaining that it came from a case. The answer is not only no but hell no.

So if you wouldn't let me polish your cue with a piece of material because you don't feel comfortable with the roughness of it then why would it make a good liner for a case?

I look at like this, you build the cue and my job is to keep it nice for the player. That includes protection against both cosmetic and structural damage. The customer should be able to choose what level of protection they want from two rubber bands all the way up to an aluminum shell that can take 2000lbs per square inch. After all if the cue is broken then the whole purpose of owning it is gone.

I just happen to offer the upper end in protection. Nothing is stopping people from choosing cases with less protection than we make. But I would be stupid to not advertise and promote the extra protection features in our cases.
 

jschelin99

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
That reminds me of a story. I decided to play pool, so I grabbed my case, went to the car, put the case on the back seat, and drove to the pool hall. When I got there, I took my case out of the back seat and put the strap over my shoulder, and walked into the pool hall. I talked with some friends for a while and found a game. We walked over to a table, I took the case off my shoulder, and leaned it against the wall. I opened up the flip top lid, and guess what? There were my cues, unharmed and ready for action. Amazing.
 

JB Cases

www.jbcases.com
Silver Member
Here is a link that got sent to me from a fellow az member and I think it is warranted to know who you are spending your money with since you have a choice in this world and since your hard earned money also is an investment and the product should be something that you should be proud to own.I have spents 100s of thousands of dollars buying cues and cases and it stopped me right in my tracks from ever buying from Mr.Barton.For the record I wasnt involved with any of these posts and if all these threads and statements are wrong than I will personally apologize to everyone whos names are mentioned in it.I also have been personally attacked from a keyboard and emails from Mr.Barton several times unprovoked.Just saying.....

Mr. Chamberlain,

You are not being truthful with the readers. Not at all. In our private conversations you have told me that you are only upset that I have been mean to Mr. Justis and if I were not then you would have bought cases from me. You have not been attacked unprovoked Mr. Chamberlain. You have tried to slander my person and my business in many ways these past few years and that was the provocation for the communicating with you privately. And privately we had many conversations where you responded also in harsh ways. I was mean to you and I address that below.

Now, you are heavily invested in Justis cases. You resell them, you use them to trade for cues. You have every reason, actually thousands $ of them, to dislike me for speaking ill of Mr. Justis' cases. I understand that and I understand that in our exchanges I have also been mean to you, calling into question your self-proclaimed professional player status and the high runs you claim to have. If I were you I'd hate me with every fiber of my being.

But I don't hate you. I understand the economic impetus you have to protect your investment. I also understand your prejudice against anything not made in the USA. I don't agree with it but I do understand that it colors how you choose to respond when giving advice on products.

It's ok, we all have our biases and preferences. Those are formed by our experiences, friendships, loyalties, investments and the like. It's disingenuous though to pretend to be motivated by something other than our own biases. For example I am motivated by my own philosophy on cue protection. Fanatically so to the point that I have made people very uncomfortable with my confrontational and mean comments in the past. It doesn't matter if I was completely right or not when I get pissy with someone and shred them sarcastically it changes the tone to one that is hard to deal with for all sides.

I apologize for being a jerk to you in the past. I should have realized that you are only speaking from your own perspective. Now I do completely understand that this apology means nothing to you and that you will continue to needle and slander me wherever you can. It's alright, I am reaping what I have sown in that regard.

Still though I cannot allow you to state untruths without challenge so I hope that you will understand that every time you speak out against my person or my business then I will answer it with the facts.

And the fact is that this group you posted a link to is a place where the people I have been "mean" to have gathered to voice their displeasure without fear of being banned on this forum. The only person who has the bravery to speak under his own name is Eric Hu. And I have answered him in kind in that space.

I don't really want to continue this sort of dialog with anyone but I do understand that I have made many "enemies" over the years due to my low tolerance for bullies and my low tolerance for bigots and racists and willfully ignorant remarks. I have also always been aggressively defensive in the face of outright lies about my products and my business.

So while I have said a lot of things I am not proud of I have not said anything that I feel was untrue. I am not afraid for people to read the posts at the group you posted a link to. That's the John Barton you get when you attack me in a cowardly and anonymous way.

If you want to attempt to cause me harm, cause my business harm, cause my family harm then I will probably be a jerk about it. And when given the opportunity to say it in more forceful ways as I did on the google group I will. I am not a coward and I do not back down from telling my side of things. I am also not a hypocrite and I state clearly what my biases are for all the readers to see.

If someone doesn't want to buy a case from us because they don't like who I am then that is their choice. I also don't consider buying anything from certain people because of how they have treated me. Nor will I sell to some people because of how they treated me. But one thing I won't do and have never done is pander to this group or anyone in order to get their business. I reserve the right to be true to myself first. And of course I CAN and SHOULD be able to do that while being nice about it which is where I am at now.

If I have one regret over these past 15 years it's been that I didn't learn how to be extremely nice while still firmly asserting my point. I am trying to change that now.

- Let end it though with a testimonial that speaks to the investment aspect of your statement. - I don't build cases to be anything but an insurance investment. As I tell people you can have the best protection I can build for $50 and I will wrap as much decoration around that as you are willing to pay for.

My Lifetime Case

…. I have had many leather cases over the years – I can’t even remember them all – and was never really happy with any of them except for a little 1×2 case made by Marc Turcasso. Yeah, I’m pretty picky. But I recently received a 3×4 case John built to my specs – lots of design freedom with John – and I am extremely happy with it in all respects. It’s a relief to finally have my “lifetime case” to go along with my 28 year old “lifetime cue”. To those who think “built in China” means lower quality, I have no comment except to say that it’s not true with JB Cases.

Rich Klein
************


Rich's case - http://jbcases.com/rich.html
rich-a-front.jpg
 
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Atlatlien

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I don't understand why everyone is talking shit about JB interiors. I believe they are the best out there. Far and away better than the shitty pvc tube interiors in most cheap cases that have made scratches on my cues in the past. Much better than the felt dividers that don't go all the way to the bottom so your shafts and butts clack against each other.

With the sterling line you can get a cheap case with the same top quality interior that the $400+ cases have. Can't go wrong there. Seems like most in this thread have a vendetta against JB. None of that is answering the OP's question. This turned into a very lame thread indeed.
 

jschelin99

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Whoa! Easy, JB. Not once did I say or even imply you didn't make good case. My first post was directed primarily to the OP. Perhaps I should have quoted him to make that more apparent.

I have owned dozens of different brands of cue cases and they all seem to have worked just fine for me. Yes, if the bottom pops out of a brand new case, obviously that's not good. And, if you believe you make a better case than others, that's great.

But, my question was honest: how much protection do you really need? Most people in know take very good care of their cases, so the don't need a Sherman tank. But, ultimately the decision is up to the individual. That's why guys like you make a variety of cases, with different features, in a varied price range.
 

JB Cases

www.jbcases.com
Silver Member
Whoa! Easy, JB. Not once did I say or even imply you didn't make good case. My first post was directed primarily to the OP. Perhaps I should have quoted him to make that more apparent.

I have owned dozens of different brands of cue cases and they all seem to have worked just fine for me. Yes, if the bottom pops out of a brand new case, obviously that's not good. And, if you believe you make a better case than others, that's great.

But, my question was honest: how much protection do you really need? Most people in know take very good care of their cases, so the don't need a Sherman tank. But, ultimately the decision is up to the individual. That's why guys like you make a variety of cases, with different features, in a varied price range.

I didn't take anything you said as saying we don't make a good case. I was trying to explain my position and my thoughts on your question.

Sometimes I will put my cues in a soft case and go to the pool room. A few times I have actually used rubber bands even now.

I choose every time I go out what level of protection I want to put around my cues. It could be the rubber bands - REALLY I have used rubber bands in the past couple months - or it could be a fully padded tube case depending on my mood.

BUT

If I were to use the soft case and trip on the stairs and my cue would dinged or broken then I would be highly pissed at myself for not taking the hard padded case.
 

JB Cases

www.jbcases.com
Silver Member
I don't understand why everyone is talking shit about JB interiors. I believe they are the best out there. Far and away better than the shitty pvc tube interiors in most cheap cases that have made scratches on my cues in the past. Much better than the felt dividers that don't go all the way to the bottom so your shafts and butts clack against each other.

With the sterling line you can get a cheap case with the same top quality interior that the $400+ cases have. Can't go wrong there. Seems like most in this thread have a vendetta against JB. None of that is answering the OP's question. This turned into a very lame thread indeed.

There are things here that go way deeper than the simple question of which case has the best protection.

On that question the answer is easy. The one that prevents the most damage.

----------------------------------------------------------

But unfortunately over the years I have made some enemies who will go to any length to stop people from considering our cases. To the point of saying that the level of protection we offer is not necessary.

Now in my mind this is particularly noxious to tell the world that having a case that snugly fits your cue and keeps it from moving is not necessary simply based on a personal vendetta. But it is what it is and my failure to be amazingly polite to these people is what has caused this.

The fact of it is that, as I said, in every other field the BEST cases are padded and form fitted. When cue makers travel they restrict the movement of their cues as much as possible to avoid structural and cosmetic damage.

So why should any single person do less for their cues in transport than cue makers do for themselves?
 

JB Cases

www.jbcases.com
Silver Member
but is overrated to me. If you take care of your cue case, it will take care of you. Mine goes from the front closet to the Pool Hall, and back again.
I don't have it out in the weather, I take care to store it properly when at the Pool Hall, and I keep it away from from newbies and drunks.

I never leave my cue case in the trunk of a car, I keep it with me.

Yes, any container is probably ok if it's built so that the interior won't damage a cue and as long as the user tailors their behavior to the container.

For example I like to get in the car and throw my case into the back seat or even farther back into the cargo area. I leave it in the car with my $1200 Jensen in it in all weather. In fact my case stays in the car no matter what cue I have in it. Sometimes I might have $3000 in cues in the car for days and weeks at a time.

So for me I prefer to have a case that I know will protect against impact, pressure, temperature swings and moisture to a degree that I feel comfortable with.

I also often walk to the pool room and sometimes get rained on. So I like my case to be water resistant if that happens.

That's just how I use cases and I build them for how I would use them, worst case scenario type of use. I don't like to have change my behavior to baby my case if I am using a case that I know should be very protective. If I am using a soft case then I am more aware of what it can take and then I do adjust my behavior accordingly.

In short I build cases that you COULD use to fend off drunks and not worry about breaking your cues. :)

--------------------------------------------------------

And this reminds me of a story.........just messing with you JC.

No really I have a story.

A customer sent me a story about his Instroke protecting his cue during an argument with his wife. He wanted to go play pool and she didn't want him to. His case was leaning against the wall and she drop kicked it like a pro-wrestler and fell on her ass without damaging the case. He said he would have laughed at the scene if it weren't for the gravity of the situation.

So sometimes you can be the guy who can take all the care in the world with your case and someone else will try to break your stuff. I build cases for that situation as well. :)
 

steveinflorida

senior member
Silver Member
:)

This reminds me of another story.

I had a booth for Instroke cases at the US Open one year and it was in the rotunda at the Chesapeake Convention Center for those who have been there.

Anyway I giving the sales pitch and telling the customers that the case was water resistant and would not allow water to go inside it nor would the leather be damaged if water got on it.

Outside it was pouring rain, very heavy. The customer was skeptical so I said pick any case off the wall and I will put my cues into it and set it outside in the rain.




They chose a 3x7 with nubuk leather, like a fine suede, cost $439.

I put my Schon and my Scruggs into the case and ran out to set it in the rain. We watched people running in and looking at the case being drenched and looking at us to ask if it was ours. Several times I had to stop people from picking it up. Anyway we left it out there for about ten minutes.

Then I brought it back in and wiped it down. Then I opened the case and the cues inside were dry. I told the folks with me to come back in a bit about 30 minutes or so and look at the case. They did and it was dry with no water spots.




I was there and watched as John did this. Very impressed by his determination to build a better case.
 

Eric.

Club a member
Silver Member
Just to answer the original poster, without all the biased sales hype and long winded drama...

If you are specifically concerned with protection of your cues, primarily, I feel there is not a single case made of leather, vinyl or PVC that can come close to the tensile strength of an aluminum shell, like the Zero Halliburton case. Bar none.

http://www.zerohalliburton.com/about-our-company.html

If I did my unscientific torture test of 3 swings from a sledgehammer, which case do you think would be the best?


Eric >unbiased opinion

How much protection do you really need? How many times have you actually seen a cue that was damaged *while in the case*?

IMO, I feel that selling the "ultimate protecting cue case" is a bit of a red herring.

If you really want the most bulletproof, cue protecting case made to date(looks and ergonomics be damned), I think the Zero Halliburton is it:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zero-Halliburton-2-X-2-Pool-Cue-Case-/150898683993


Eric
 

Jodacus

Shoot...don't talk
Silver Member
Opinion

To the OP

The best case is the one you like.

I've had multiple hard cases but have
found that the convenience of a soft
butterfly case trumps the protection
offered by hard cases. The super
protection that most hard cases
provide is very seldom needed.


Air travel is a different thing
entirely.
 

Banks

Banned
The difference for me is that my most expensive cue has been a pawn shop Joss with a Predator shaft. I was more worried about how I treated that thing outside of any case than I was when it was in a case. If a case is built that damages a cue, that's just piss-poor design/whatever.

If you need a case to: withstand a grenade, act as protection during a tornado, substitute for a washed-out bridge, fend off a Mongolian horde or to be a stirring stick for a batch of hydrochloric acid... you're doing it wrong.

As for the knock on Barton's products.. ask his customers what they think(you won't, because you know the answer).

I've got higher priority things to spend my money on and I'm happy as a clam with my special bar cue and cheap, lightweight case.
 

JB Cases

www.jbcases.com
Silver Member
Just received another message from physcopath Barton.It seems he wants to reply with long post for everyone not being able to see the google group message.
Also if Jack Justis wanted he could buy the same case interiors that Jb Cases buys and uses but Mr.Justis doesnt like it

Correct. If Mr. Justis wanted to offer the same amount of padding he could. Mr. Justis has stated several times why he does not and that is fine.

I also want to say very clearly that we do not buy our interiors. We make them from scratch. Thus we can and do customize them on request. I have lost count of the amount of interior configurations we have done by customer request.

I was only pointing out that we make a replacement interior that now gives customers a choice. And that replacement interior can be any color with any amount of padding, can be made to hold more cues, can be delivered with custom spacers and so on.

As for my pm asking you to consider letting me be in peace you can call it psychopathic but I call it being polite to point out that you are doing more harm than good to Mr Justis with your actions in my opinion.


www.jbcases.com
 
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JB Cases

www.jbcases.com
Silver Member
Just to answer the original poster, without all the biased sales hype and long winded drama...

If you are specifically concerned with protection of your cues, primarily, I feel there is not a single case made of leather, vinyl or PVC that can come close to the tensile strength of an aluminum shell, like the Zero Halliburton case. Bar none.

http://www.zerohalliburton.com/about-our-company.html

If I did my unscientific torture test of 3 swings from a sledgehammer, which case do you think would be the best?


Eric >unbiased opinion

I fully concur. However if you are asking which tube case offers the best protection then any one which has our interior will fit that in my opinion. Biased based on research.




www.jbcases.com
 
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