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- Thread starter runout1961
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I think general consensus would go along the lines of J. Barton, Justis, Whitten, Swift, Murnak, Thomas, and other custom case makers. We're talking $700 cases...works of art really.
If you ask me, any tube case will be fine as long as you don't go abusing it. Don't run over it with a car or throw it around the room. On the lower end of the price scale, you can't go wrong with Porper or Instroke. Even cheaper and you can look at the Action and Guiseppe cases. It's really just a question of how much you want to spend.
If you ask me, any tube case will be fine as long as you don't go abusing it. Don't run over it with a car or throw it around the room. On the lower end of the price scale, you can't go wrong with Porper or Instroke. Even cheaper and you can look at the Action and Guiseppe cases. It's really just a question of how much you want to spend.
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I think John Barton makes the best cases when it comes to cue protection. I have a 4x8 Flowers tribute I use for storage and it's faultless. If you plan to add more high end cues go with an OnQ collector case. Up to 12x24 in size. Best storage solution on the market for high numbers.
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At the risk of offending you the question isn't about which case is the best work of art but which one provides the best protection for storage.
In this sense it's less a question of how much to spend and more a question of understanding what is really INSIDE the case that counts. One can spend thousands on a case and get a work of art that is mind blowing and still not get anywhere near the best protection for the cue.
I don't mean to offend you as your advice is well meaning. Your advice however is somewhat naive and inaccurate. It does very much matter what you choose to PROTECT your cues.
I have told a story on here several times about putting my custom Joss into a brand new unused Vincintore cases and watching in horror as the bottom came out and the cue slid through a ring of nail points on it's way out.
You can't say that it doesn't matter as long as you don't abuse it or run over it with a car. The fact is that very very very few people know what is INSIDE a tube case. You can see the first few inches and that's it. You don't know what kind of fabric is used, whether the interior has any defects such as hard foam beads, debris, or whether the lining even extends all the way down. One famous case maker even puts out a warning that the user must put the cues in in one direction only to avoid damaging the cues.
Please read my essay on the matter to understand a little more where I am coming from on this topic. www.jbcases.com/protection.html
It's funny that you lump in Instroke with "the lower end of the price scale".
The fact is that Instroke provides way better protection than all the other brands you mentioned by far. So in that sense an Instroke is WORTH more than all the other brands mentioned in terms of what it does as opposed to how it looks.
Now, for shameless self promotion time;
The best protection for a tube style case is any case with my new padded interiors. This includes the JB Cases, www.jbcases.com, and Sterling cases with the new interiors, www.cuesight.com
Our fabric is carefully chosen because it is soft and strong and does not hold moisture. It is backed by high grade foam rubber that does not disintegrate. The cues are held snugly in place to reduce movement and to keep all the parts separated. The tubes we use are the strongest on the market, made of 100% pvc to withstand acute impact. I jump on the tubes to test them. The competition's tubes, including some of those used by some of the brands you mentioned, will splinter and break. Ours flex slightly with my 200lbs jumping on it.
The best protection period for cues are the Zero Haliburton cases which can withstand 2000lbs psi of external pressure. After that I would go with cases like Dan Dishaw's flight cases built especially for cues. This is what most of the top cuemakers use to transport their cues around the world.
Or any type of instrument case from Pelican and like makers which is long enough. They can be ordered with foam inserts that are configurable.
So, in conclusion, our cases are the best for protection and long term storage if you want a cue case that is also usable as a "normal" cue case.
If you want ultra protection with less useability then Zero Haliburton or Dishaw, Pelican etc... is the way to go.
My interiors:
Here you go John. http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?p=2128514#post2128514
Marcus is selling our Stelring Cases and they are probably all you need.
Marcus is selling our Stelring Cases and they are probably all you need.
John, I meant no disrespect. As you are a valuable poster on this site, I've edited my original post to include your name. I believe you deserve to be at the very top with Justis and Murnak. Your cases are quite beautiful. I named Instroke as a example of a brand which does not cost nearly as much as a custom made cases that you and the others build. I've found Instroke to be very comparable to Porper. Forgive me if I'm wrong.
With that said, I'll fully admit to my naivete in the construction of cue cases. What I know is from my experience with cases. I'll also admit to the fact that I have never owned what would be considered a "high-end cue." My cues have always been players costing anywhere between $50 and $600. What I will say, with confidence, is that I have never owned a case which has damaged my cues in any way: not even a chalk stain from excess chalk inside the tube. With that, I can say that superior protection is something of a luxury--almost any tube case will do fine with normal use.
When we start talking about high-end custom cases such as the ones you make, the worth of the case comes down to artwork rather than function. Of course, we would all expect the absolute best in protection, but that's not why we purchase your cases. We purchase it because it's beautiful, just like our cues.
When answering the OP's question, I already knew others would steer him in your direction. I just want to offer the other options.
I'm not offended and I hope that you aren't either. Your cases are beautiful.
With that said, I'll fully admit to my naivete in the construction of cue cases. What I know is from my experience with cases. I'll also admit to the fact that I have never owned what would be considered a "high-end cue." My cues have always been players costing anywhere between $50 and $600. What I will say, with confidence, is that I have never owned a case which has damaged my cues in any way: not even a chalk stain from excess chalk inside the tube. With that, I can say that superior protection is something of a luxury--almost any tube case will do fine with normal use.
When we start talking about high-end custom cases such as the ones you make, the worth of the case comes down to artwork rather than function. Of course, we would all expect the absolute best in protection, but that's not why we purchase your cases. We purchase it because it's beautiful, just like our cues.
When answering the OP's question, I already knew others would steer him in your direction. I just want to offer the other options.
I'm not offended and I hope that you aren't either. Your cases are beautiful.
Secaucus Fats
Banned
The question really is; who makes the best cue case? I can only speak from experience.
I have owned an Instroke 2x4 case since 1993. It still looks great, the interior is in excellent condition, it has aged gracefully and pleasingly.
I don't have any connections to John Barton other than I met him once in Vegas and bought a Fury sneaky pete cue from him. I am in no way, shape, or form, a paid shill for JB.
Oh, and yes, in the past, I've also also communicated with many people as well as JB on the RSB/ASP boards. Many of those people are here now, still! :wink:
My Instroke is built like a tank, yet covered in the nicest Black and Tan glove quality leather.
It's heavy as a *****, but that heft reassures me.
Now in case you weren't paying attention, that's 16 years of being the go-to case day in and day out. Rainstorms, bar fights, drops, snow storms, slams, the side of a drunk's head..my case has withstood it all.
My next case will..without a doubt, be a JB case. First and foremost a case has to provide protection, everything must be subordinate to that. After that it should also stay looking good. My trust in John's ability to produce damn near bulletproof cases is absolute. If he tells me he has a lighter product that will still provide the same level of protection, I would not have any qualms about making a purchase were I ready to do so.
16 Year Old Instroke. The Instroke case is the black and tan one, the other is a Porper I use for another cue and a break cue.
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Instroke! hands down the best protection money can buy
looks like someone beat me to saying it but he's 100% right! buy an instroke and you won't have to worry about your cues at all
No offense taken.
The point of my post was to let you and others know that in fact what you say about almost any case being ok with normal use isn't true.
I understand that you have never had or never noticed a problem with your cues as a result of keeping them in any particular case.
I hope you will allow that other people have had the opposite experience in that they have had problems which they could directly attribute to the case.
I tend to think that because people tend to think that the case is "ok" they don't really think that it could be the cause of or a contributor to such problems as finish scratches, cracks in the A-joint, warpage, tacky wraps, etc... But in fact all these problems can be caused by a case which doesn't protect properly through either negligent or improper construction.
And it doesn't matter if it's a so-called "high end" case or a cheap one.
The whole thing about beauty in cases is another topic. I know that people buy primarily on looks. It's what allows the copiers to get away with selling cases that are really shoddy in construction but look like high end cases.
To me there is protection and then there are looks. Protection should be first and looks second.
I happen to believe that all cues deserve a higher level of protection than what is offered on most cases both cheap and expensive. Why? Because the cost of offering this higher level of protection is truly a small percentage of the final price of the case. So it's possible for all case makers to offer great protection but they don't. Why is that?
Why is it that I can buy any number of items that cost less than the average cue and I will get a form fitted case to protect that item but in cue cases consumers are forced to accept just barely adequate for most cases on the market.
A pool cue is a long thin instrument held together by fairly fragile tenons and joints. It doesn't take much impact to break a pool cue or cause a hairline crack. Cue makers have done an incredible job of building a pretty solid instrument inside the narrow parameters they have to work with. Cues are particularly susceptible to extremes of temperature and moisture.
So why is it ok to that consumers are expected to make due with cases which allow the cues to bang around against the walls of the case? Why do consumers have to live with cases which wrap their cues in moisture absorbing fabric?
It's the idea that a case is a case and just because you can put a cue in it that it's fully ok to protect the cue that allows case makers to continue to put out cases that are just barely adequate coverings.
So what I was getting at is that I offer superior protection in the low end of the price range as well as the mid range and the high end.
It is not a luxury to have great protection. And many cases that are priced in the luxury class don't offer the same level of protection as I have built into our lowest priced tube cases.
I made this statement in another thread and it applies here just as well.
I build cases to protect cues and put my interiors into cases which everyone can afford. And IF you want $1000 worth of tooled leather wrapped around my interiors then I can do that to.
Don't forget that the guy who founded Instroke is now building a lot more styles under several brands.
I have taken what I did at Instroke and made it much better.
JB Cases
J.Flowers Tribute
Sterling Classic Cases
Wave Cases
Crown Cases
GTF Cases
These are all brands which have the new interiors that I have developed.
Literally, from $40 to $2500 the protection is the same on all cases.
So Instroke is still great. It looks like they are still building the cases as I taught them to. Now though I have moved well past them and applied all that I developed there to a whole new generation of models and styles.