Travel cue?

Magnumsk said:

Does anyone carry a cue in their car or while traveling "just in case" you come across a table? Not your regular playing cue case that you'd use regularly, but a very basic cue set up. If so, how often do you actually use it?

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I don't carry my spare cue with me, but I have one and I have used it. Got a cheap McDermott Lucky cue at one of my trips to Junior Nationals with my son at the BCAPL tournament in Vegas a few years ago. I have used in it some random bars when I felt like playing and also to loan to people. For the $70 I spent it was worth it. Just make sure you get one with the same pin as your main cue so you can swap shafts easily. You can have some fun in random places without being all serious. If you come in with a simple cheap stick you will get more games and also will have players talk to you trying to impress you with the fact that they play in the APA and have a nice cue, that is often labeled with a price hundreds more than it's actually worth LOL. Fun stuff.

A pool buddy of mine that is a poster here brought a neat 3 or 4 piece custom cue with him when he was in my area and went to play in a charity tournament with me. Although that's pretty specialized, it's was not really a beater cue, but just one made for travel.

I used to keep an old Dufferin phantom cue in the car, the original style with the pin in the shaft. Those are really good cues and you can pick them up for less than a hundred bucks if you're vigilant. I would use it if I was going to play in a bar tournament or if I happened to be out without my cues and was in the neighborhood of the pool hall and felt like hitting a couple. Definitely nice to have available if you have the extra scratch and trunk space and you're not worried about the cue warping due to temperature changes.

I will say I live in a typically very temperate beach town in California, so leaving cues in the car typically isn't a huge issue.

I also have a McDermott Lucky cue in the trunk of my car. They start at under $50, maybe $60 with a wrap, and are perfectly fine loaner or bar cues. It comes in handy once or twice per month.

I will bring my older predator sneaky Pete if I'm going somewhere where I have access to a nice table. It will fit in my large luggage bag diagonally. I always worry about it making it through airport baggage handeling but have not have any problems yet.

I also carry a few different sizes of slip on tips and some chalk. I have stayed at nice hotels with pool tables and there will be sticks with no tips or no chalk. These tips kind of suck but are better than nothing.

I have a Rage sneaky pete (and a Schmelke on the way) that's usually my "bar stick" .. but I almost never leave it in the car.

Yep, have to admit, an old Meucci sneaky pete travels with me. And it plays just fine.

All the best,
WW

same sneaky pete looking cue for 50 years has stayed in my car. through all kinds of weather. still straight.

I'm not recommending any particular place to buy this cue, but it is nicely made and plays good for a cheap cue. I am using it for a break cue now but I use it as a player sometimes and I have nothing bad to say about it. I'm sure it can be bought at a really cheap price if you do a bit of searching.

http://www.ozonebilliards.com/plcuesnpero.html?gclid=CPnYvObup9ICFVBhfgodFHQB2w

You can read the reviews to see how other people like it on the link.

cue for cars and travel

I would like to tell especially players that will travel into hot or cold to not leave wooden cues for very long in the elements. hot or cold could warp your cue and ivory will crack with big changes in temperature..for travel a inexpensive cue like cutec edge with r-360 shaft cannot be beat. cue plays great and is practically indestructible, freezing cold or heat do not seam to have an effect on cue. if you leave it in your car for long periods of time relax it should be good.

When I was in sales, and on the road, I carried a Cuetec. Fiberglass clad shaft. Loved it, and never had a problem with it. Being in the South, heat would have probably hurt some other cues.

Well as long as Magnumsk mentioned it and posted the link, here's my story. A few months ago I asked here if anyone had a report on the McDermott/Star Go cue. My real passion is motorcycle touring and my hobby is pool. I was interested in this 3 piece cue to fit in my saddlebags or tour-pac.

At $150 it was the cheapest farkle for my bike so I bought one. I ordered a 19oz. cue. It felt very heavy and in fact weighted 21 plus. I pull out the bolt and took a hacksaw and file to it and it's now 18.8. The bolt is a very tight fit, BTW.

Now I know there's a thread here about "do L/D shafts create more spin" Well this has a sold maple shaft 21" long. I don't know why but this Go Cue gives me more draw than any cue I have ever shot with. I use all solid shafts at 13mm, yet when practicing for say 12" draw, the ball comes back 2 or 3 feet.

As I said I'm a hobby player and no talented judge of cues. So I have no explanation as to why, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

BTW it will fit in the standard Harley bags or Tour Pac, the front trunk of a Can Am and the bag it comes with hangs off the Vespa bag hook on the leg shield. For car or airline travel it can fit in any suitcase or duffle.

I made this one about a year ago, it stays in my motorcycle saddle bag all the time. Haven't had any problems with it warping yet. It's not my favorite cue but it sure beats playing with a house cue.