They are both. If you buy a set from Jim Baxter, you will have the best of both worlds. They are simply beautiful protection.
Years ago, in the early 90's or late 80's, I was the proud owner of a JF SW. It was ebony and alvis(SP) with deco rings in all positions and nice linen wrap. I loved that cue and would clean it after each use. I did everything I could to protect the cue from any damage, dings, or, nicks. After all, I had 1200 in that cue and it was a lot of money for a guy that was working two jobs and just barely holding on.
One late evening after closing up the pool hall, my second job and 16 work hours later, I was walking out the front door, tipped my pool case over my arm while reaching for my keys. You guessed it, one of the shafts slid out of the case because I had forgot to sipper the top after showing one of the customers the cue that evening. I was lucky on one hand that only the one shaft slid out and hit the concrete. This left a large chip in the joint collar that looked like HDS. If I had a set of cheapo J/Ps I would have been damage free. I was sick over that for a long, long time.
Another advantage I have found is that if you have a JB case interior or deep tubes, it sure does make it easy to grab what you need with the J/Ps.
