> I have experimented with and analyzed everything I've ever noticed about the chalk over the years.
> The Blue Master now is different that it was 5 years ago or so,by that I mean slightly inferior in it's covering properties. I picked up on it before I even joined here. I read somewhere,maybe here,more recently than the actual change,where it was something they took out maybe due to EPA regulations or something like that. Whatever it was,it affected us negatively,much like the banning of asbestos based Micarta,popular as a ferrule material.
> The tables at the old-timer's room here were covered for the longest time in tan shag carpet,or at least it looked like it compared to the camel Simonis. Back then,the only chalk he ever bought was the old,cheesy National Tournament chalk in the red wrapper with gold lettering. Anyone here that has been playing for 15-20 years can tell you how bad this stuff was,and the tan was even worse. I refused to use it,I was serious about improving,and wasn't going to hear the owner telling me to use something I honestly felt was inferior. So,I kept using the blue Master. He eventually kicked me out for a month for it,and by then I had discovered the tan Triangle. It was much better,and kept me in the place.
> Some people wil disagree,including supposedly the companies that make it,but I am convinced that the pigments used to turn it different colors affect the quality of the end product.
> The red Master covers really nice,but it's extremely messy,so I don't use it,and at times dread cleaning the shafts of people that use it regularly by choice or are forced to use it.
> The light green Master doesn't cover very well at all,I think it sucks.
> The aforementioned tan Triangle,and the blue as well,are really nice,and it surprises me it's not more popular than it is.
> I got this chalk from Steepleton Billiards once that was about like the old Master and Triangle that had a red wrapper and a club shape on the side. Good stuff there.
> My personal preference ever since I got the first box from Nick Varner,is the blue wrapped,PBT logoed,National Tournament Chalk,from the same company that made the bad stuff I mentioned earlier,of all people. It's just a little softer than the old Master,before the change,so it covers the tip better. The stuff I have is old enough that it still had whatever they took out of the Master. I got a 12 piece box from Nick at the U.S. Open in 1994,another a month or so later at at exhibition,and ordered 2 gross from Don Mackey's wife at the PBT office a week later,and have been hording it ever since,to the point of me getting it out of the house after it burnt. I managed to save about 1/2 of what I had left,and always have 3-4 fresh ones with me,and have had since then. I usually peel the wrapper back about 1/16 or so once or twice before I just leave it somewhere. This same chalk is still being made I think,but usually in a Camel logo or APA logo wrapper,same company.
My personal chalk looks different than most,I tend to brush it on towards the sides,leaving high spots in the corners. MOST people see my chalk and think to themselves "man,this guy is using some bulls**t" and either pick it up then refuse to use it,or will take it off the table,some have even thrown it away,or said something to me about it. Maybe it's not the same way now,but to a large percentage of regulars or even recreational or league players,anything but Masters is thought of as "cheap".
> Never had anything but bad experiences with Silver Cup,Pioneer is horrible,along with anything at Wal-Mart or sporting goods stores. Tommy D.