Butterfly Cases ----- Love 'Em or Hate 'Em?

[CocoboloCowboy]

There use to be some guys in Los Angeles building Leather Butterfly Case, one what a better pretty good three cushion player, his name was Alan, and the partner was George. Think they were in the SF Valley. Can not remember the name of the Case, or the guy last name, maybe Alan Gilbert who died.

 

[Rich R.]

Years ago I had a butterfly case I purchased from Muellers. I think it was made by Porper but I'm not sure and the case is not currently on Muellers web site.
This case was light and easy to carry, however my cues seemed to rub together in this case and they got marked. Needless to say, I got rid of the case and purchased my first Jack Justis case.
Another think I didn't like about the butterfly case was that you had to put it on a table to get your cues out or return them to the case.

 

[ridewiththewind]

I just wanted to thank all those who took time to respond. I started league play-offs last Thursday, and was pretty much incommunicado for basically the entire 4 days.

I still need to decide if this is a viable option for me, but still value all the input.

Lisa ======> cannot wait to accept that 1st Place Trophy!

 

[woody_968]

I got this one from Omega and it's worked well. I get kind of paranoid because the sleeves only hold the cues in the middle so the ends are protruding and the exterior doesn't feel like it would withstand a lot of force.

http://www.omegabilliards.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=7193

I've been thinking about getting one of the Instrokes shown earlier, but will see if I can check them out at the SBE first.

1hit, is there any way I could get you to post a pic of the inside of your case? I have been looking for a certain type of butterfly case that a guy I knew years ago used to use. Most of the pics online dont show the cases interiors, and those that do are different than what I wanted.

I have almost pulled the trigger (fortunately its a small trigger) on the sterling one, so far its the front runner for me. But Id like to see the inside of the case your talking about.

Thanks either way

Woody

Anyone else wanting to show the inside of your butterfly case, it would sure be helpful :wink:

 

[Guerra Cues]

The Mezz case does have a very pretty exterior look to it. I thought the one that you had when we met up was very attractive. One of these days I will get Kaz Miki away from his current supplier and get him to buy cases from us.

In four days though I am going to bring butterfly cases to a new level. ( I hope)

John,
What is funny is the Mezz cases have a soft padded interior, except the Instroke look a likes...

 

[Pete]

Hate to seem dumb (but I do have my moments), what is a butterfly case? Is it the billiard type?

 

[ridewiththewind]

Hate to seem dumb (but I do have my moments), what is a butterfly case? Is it the billiard type?

Pete...if you look at some of the pics above, you will see examples of a butterfly-styled case. They are generally soft-sided or semi-rigid, and zip all the way open, somewhat resembling a butterfly when fully opened. Basically, it is a lighter weight option for carrying multiple cues, as there is no rigid tubing or PVC outer shell.

Lisa

 

[JimS]

I used a Silver Fox for a long time. Currently I have a 1 off leather butterfly case. I don't lay it on a table to get the cues out. I took the soft lining out and put in tubes. There's room for 2x3 tubes and still lots of room for stuff.

That's also what I did to the Silver Fox. There are huge pockets on the Silver Fox so it can be used with tubes, standing, and be able to access the stuff in the pockets and have more stuff, like a towel or a sweater or?, inside where the tubes are.

I wish JB would come with his new butterfly! I love'm. I just bought two on ebay.

I added the interior storage that I made for the top of the case. The case did have a solid hard foam top area and a formed hard foam bottom area for 2x3 and a storage area about 2"x6" at one end.

I removed all the solid foam from the top section and from the bottom. I put in hard case tubes to hold 2x3 and the bottom also has room for my Keller Just-A-Bridge, a Cue Reach extender can be used in place of one of the butt tubes, or a Tony Ryan or Mezz or Hagar cue extender can lay in the cavity formed by the shaft tubes, and bulge a little, but it works fine, two 2 piece chalk holders by Euro, some asst cue shaft and tip care items in a pouch, 2 small rags, a larger rag and 1 large towel.

I made a cover for the top storage section out of stiff wire to form it and then covered it all with black felt and glued it at the bottom to form a sort of cloth piano hinge. Theres a ton of space in the top for storage of towels, a light sweater, etc. I have paper towels on the left, some alcohol swabs, a note book, a pouch with tip and shaft tools, a cue holder I made out of tool drawer liner and it also holds a Turtle Tapper and a 4" file for tip work. There's room for more! A piece of velcro holds the storage compartment closed when the case is opened up.

I also cleaned it up some after these photos were taken. I got rid of the white tubes and used black ones and got rid of the grey tape and used black duct tape. It looks much better. :groucho: ..... imo.

A look at the outside will see that there is a strap on the back spine. I had the strap added but have now removed it. Wish I'd not have had it sewn on as now there are holes. I've used a TAR patch to cover one set of holes and will probably velcro, or double sided tape on a AZB key chain fob to the other set of holes... and maybe a CCB key fob as well.

The zipper around the outside was a one-way zipper that was broken. A one piece two way zipper was very expensive so I decided on two shorter zippers that meet in the middle.

 

[TWOFORPOOL]

I don't like the Butterfly cases since they are soft cases. Seems to me when you have your cues in them that they have to support each other (since you can somewhat fold the case). I think over time the cues will warp from supporting each other. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Blue Hog ridr]

Lisa, I have a black one, like the Silver Fox but not a SF. Its usually advertised as being leather but again, its not. Good looking case and could almost pass for leather.
4X8 so lots of room.
Its light
Good padding and protects the cues well.
Unfold it and the cues and shafts are easily accessable.
The only down side that I had with mine was the cloth flap at the top of the case thats meant to be folded over your cues and shafts to protect them isn't wide enuff.
I went to a cloth store and bought what they called Display Cloth as it sticks to Velcro. I had a tailer make a wider flap and sew it to the existing flap. Problem solved for a few extra dollars.
If you want, I can try and hunt down the site so you can see a pic.

 

[woody_968]

If you want, I can try and hunt down the site so you can see a pic.

I dont know about Lisa, but Id like to see it

 

[supergreenman]

input.

Lisa ======> cannot wait to accept that 1st Place Trophy!

Good Job on 1st place :thumbup2:

 

[Papa Red]

Thanks for your input! What exactly about the case that you like? I have never owned a butterfly case before, so am wondering what the highlights are...besides a reduction in overall loaded weight. What, if anything, would you change or like to see added? Basically, if you were having a butterfly case built from scratch to your specs....what would you do with it?

Lisa

The only thing I would change is to make a smaller pouch for a cue scuffer so you don,t have to dig for it. Or make the zipper go all the way around the top pocket. I have the Instroke 3x7 and an old Dennis Swift 3x6 hard cases, these are to heavy and cut into my shoulder when I carry them. I alway take care not to put my cues in harms way so the soft case works better for me.

 

[DrOnePocket]

I have a old Leather Instroke 3x8 butterfly case and love it. It's light, easy to get stuff in and out of and can be carried in several different ways.

The only problem with these cases in general is that over the years the bottom of the case will begin to fold and wrinkle due to there being no support when you sit it down. If you always have room to lay it out everytime you play than i guess it's a non issue.

 

[1hit1der]

1hit, is there any way I could get you to post a pic of the inside of your case? I have been looking for a certain type of butterfly case that a guy I knew years ago used to use. Most of the pics online dont show the cases interiors, and those that do are different than what I wanted.

I have almost pulled the trigger (fortunately its a small trigger) on the sterling one, so far its the front runner for me. But Id like to see the inside of the case your talking about.

Thanks either way

Woody

Anyone else wanting to show the inside of your butterfly case, it would sure be helpful :wink:

Here are the pics of the Omega case. You can see the right side is a little crushed because I usually stand the case up and there's no support. There is a small pocket on the inside that velcros shut for chalk or other small items. The main reason I have the case though is my masse cues are shorter and fatter so they don't fit in regular tubes and I don't like them falling all the way down sleeves.

 

[12squared]

Here are the pics of the Omega case. You can see the right side is a little crushed because I usually stand the case up and there's no support. There is a small pocket on the inside that velcros shut for chalk or other small items. The main reason I have the case though is my masse cues are shorter and fatter so they don't fit in regular tubes and I don't like them falling all the way down sleeves.

This case looks like a knock off of the original American Vinyl Products (AVP) case made by George Aronak from Los Angeles area over 30 years ago. he owned the company which made cases out of cloth, vinyl and leather. Because Alan Gilbert repped for them, they had plenty of protection. They were much stiffer than the one in these pictures and would hold up under many conditions. Of course they are not near the protection of the hard cases, but they were light, able to store billiard cues w/the rubber sleeves, and they could be over stuffed so many cues & shafts could be carried.

I still have one in cloth that is a 3x6 w/separate sleeves like the one shown, but I think better quality all the way around. I do not believe that George makes these cases anymore and Alan has past away. If anyone knows someone in the Los Angeles area, maybe they would know for sure if they are not being made. You may even find one of these around. If so, I would suggest you pick one up if you're in the market for a nice butterfly case.

Dave

 

[JB Cases]

The old AVP cases were and are the nuts. I was never fond of the way that the cues stuck out both ends but they sure worked and were well made. They were dozens of times better than the cheapo copies of them that have been made.

My Instroke Butterflies were modeled after them with the changes being that I added removable boards with elastic loops. And the boards would velcro in so that the user could remove them or add more. Our cases were easy to add extra boards to and effectively double the capacity.

I also put the handle on the same side as the strap and added pockets on the outside.

That was my "improvements" to the AVP style. I am not so sure that they could be called improvements but they were what I felt made the style a little more user friendly.

Now my challenge is how to make this case act like a top loading case but still be light and semi-flexible. As well I have an idea for fully displaying the cues so that dealers can use them without anything breaking up the flow of their work.

But as in all things there are tradeoffs and sometimes one can overengineer something too far.

So I might be able to show you all a couple new versions of the butterfly this week or it might need to wait a week or two more.

Personally I have always been ambivalent about butterfly cases. I like the fact that they can hold so much. I like the flexibility with them. I have just always found them a bit on the boring side as they are rectangular. I don't much like box cases for this reason as well.

But, done well, they turn out very nice and are quite effective and efficient.

 

[JB Cases]

I used a Silver Fox for a long time. Currently I have a 1 off leather butterfly case. I don't lay it on a table to get the cues out. I took the soft lining out and put in tubes. There's room for 2x3 tubes and still lots of room for stuff.

That's also what I did to the Silver Fox. There are huge pockets on the Silver Fox so it can be used with tubes, standing, and be able to access the stuff in the pockets and have more stuff, like a towel or a sweater or?, inside where the tubes are.

I wish JB would come with his new butterfly! I love'm. I just bought two on ebay.

That's a PRETTY case Jim. I love that leather.

Soon.......you know me - I have to reinvent the wheel every day or I am not happy.

 

[JimS]

That's a PRETTY case Jim. I love that leather.

Soon.......you know me - I have to reinvent the wheel every day or I am not happy.

Thanks John. I've loved it since I got it and have had fun messing around with the interior configuration... like we talked about a couple years back. I added some photos to my post above (post #28) to show the interior.

Enjoy... and, with my blessing, "steal"/copy any idea you like. :groucho:

 

[3kushn]

There use to be some guys in Los Angeles building Leather Butterfly Case, one what a better pretty good three cushion player, his name was Alan, and the partner was George. Think they were in the SF Valley. Can not remember the name of the Case, or the guy last name, maybe Alan Gilbert who died.

You're right on Allen Gilbert the other George Arenek (sp?) American Vinyl.
Don't believe George is doing this anymore.