Crical case

tomker

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I bought a Crical case via AliExpress. The headline is that I'm very pleased with it. More thoughts:

- It's a hard case, 2 butts, 4 shafts
- The cost was $80 = $105 after tax and shipping
- Be careful ordering from vendors on AliExpress who advertise free shipping, I ordered from one and they messaged me asking for extra money to cover shipping. Gross. I canceled my order and ordered the same case from a different vendor.
- The interior is padded with foam and covered in soft fabric*, including the dividers. It's mostly great but 20% annoying because the fabric is black and the dividers are recessed an inch or two, so if you're not in a well-lit environment it can be hard to see where to put your stuff.
- The exterior is covered with a nylon (?) weave fabric that looks nice and feels rugged. The blue decorative bits are polyurethane "leather." I don't think PU leather ever looks great but at least these are only decorative bits and the stitching is nice.
- The handle and shoulder strap are attached with some pretty heavy-duty stitching. The reason I bought this new case is because the shoulder strap on my old case broke. Not a concern with this new case.
- There's a variant of this case that has three storage compartments. It looks nice, but "Crical" is printed on the bottom compartment in HUGE lettering. No thanks.
- I'm not familiar with the "Crical" brand. This cue case was shipped in a cardboard box with Konllen printed on the outside. I get the feeling from browsing AliExpress that Crical, Konllen, Zokue, and JFlowers are all the same company.

Overall, this cue case is a HUGE step up from the 2x2 hard cases that you see everywhere for ~$40. The quality seems great. From what I've seen, I feel like it's comparable to anything in the $200-$250 price range** from a US manufacturer or a US vendor. I would recommend it to anybody.

* It has been pointed out to me that the internal padding is only a few inches long and doesn't run the entire length of the case. So at the bottom end, the only thing preventing direct contact between the cues is a thin sheet of nylon fabric. Make purchasing decisions accordingly.

** There are cases in that price range that have full-length internal padding, so if you spend more, you can get a better case. I still contend that this case is a good value at $80 + shipping and tax.

Screenshot 2025-01-09 at 7.22.06 PM.png
 
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garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I bought a Crical case via AliExpress. The headline is that I'm very pleased with it. More thoughts:

- It's a hard case, 2 butts, 4 shafts
- The cost was $80 = $105 after tax and shipping
- Be careful ordering from vendors on AliExpress who advertise free shipping, I ordered from one and they messaged me asking for extra money to cover shipping. Gross. I canceled my order and ordered the same case from a different vendor.
- The interior is padded with foam and covered in soft fabric, including the dividers. It's mostly great but 20% annoying because the fabric is black and the dividers are recessed an inch or two, so if you're not in a well-lit environment it can be hard to see where to put your stuff.
- The exterior is covered with a nylon (?) weave fabric that looks nice and feels rugged. The blue decorative bits are polyurethane "leather." I don't think PU leather ever looks great but at least these are only decorative bits and the stitching is nice.
- The handle and shoulder strap are attached with some pretty heavy-duty stitching. The reason I bought this new case is because the shoulder strap on my old case broke. Not a concern with this new case.
- There's a variant of this case that has three storage compartments. It looks nice, but "Crical" is printed on the bottom compartment in HUGE lettering. No thanks.
- I'm not familiar with the "Crical" brand. This cue case was shipped in a cardboard box with Konllen printed on the outside. I get the feeling from browsing AliExpress that Crical, Konllen, Zokue, and JFlowers are all the same company.

Overall, this cue case is a HUGE step up from the 2x2 hard cases that you see everywhere for ~$40. The quality seems great. From what I've seen, I feel like it's comparable to anything in the $200-$250 price range from a US manufacturer or a US vendor. I would recommend it to anybody.

View attachment 801303
inside is where it counts. these aren't anywhere close to being as good as a JB or a Castillo. glad you like it and they're ok for the $ but not in same league as the big boys.
 

tomker

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
inside is where it counts. these aren't anywhere close to being as good as a JB or a Castillo. glad you like it and they're ok for the $ but not in same league as the big boys.
Not really sure what you mean by "inside." This is a tube-style case. You can't really see the inside. It's just some tubes for butts and shafts anyway. Other than being padded with foam and soft fabric, how could one possibly be better than the other?
 

hkstyle

Registered
Not really sure what you mean by "inside." This is a tube-style case. You can't really see the inside. It's just some tubes for butts and shafts anyway. Other than being padded with foam and soft fabric, how could one possibly be better than the other?
JB case uses fabric on the inside that runs all the way down to the bottom of the case. The fit is secure so it doesn’t rattle when you shake the case. You can turn the case open upside down and the cues wouldn’t fall out by themselves.

I was looking at that case as well, what does the inside compartments look like?
 

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Not really sure what you mean by "inside." This is a tube-style case. You can't really see the inside. It's just some tubes for butts and shafts anyway. Other than being padded with foam and soft fabric, how could one possibly be better than the other?
as stated before JB cases uses full-length protection. A LOT of cheaper cases do not. Also JB uses hvy-duty zippers, a common weak point in many cases. I've yet to see a case that compares with a JB or a Castillo in overall quality. You get what you pay for.
 

tomker

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
JB case uses fabric on the inside that runs all the way down to the bottom of the case. The fit is secure so it doesn’t rattle when you shake the case. You can turn the case open upside down and the cues wouldn’t fall out by themselves.

I was looking at that case as well, what does the inside compartments look like?
Wow it was hard to get a picture of the inside, but, here you go.

Looks like the foam padding only extends about ~8 (?) inches from the top, then it's presumably just fabric dividers, although I can't tell for sure.

When I shake the case, I can hear the shafts and butts "banging" around, although it's low-pitched and muffled and not the clacking you would expect to hear if they were making direct contact with each other.

When I turn the case upside-down, everything slides out.

I'm sure that having padding run down the entire length of the case is more expensive but I question its practical value. Could shafts and butts possibly be damaged by rattling around against each other, especially if there's fabric between them?

Screenshot 2025-02-02 at 1.25.37 PM.png
 

tomker

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
as stated before JB cases uses full-length protection. A LOT of cheaper cases do not. Also JB uses hvy-duty zippers, a common weak point in many cases. I've yet to see a case that compares with a JB or a Castillo in overall quality. You get what you pay for.
I'm not familiar with JB cases but a lot of them seem to look like e.g. this one:


Comparing to a variant of the Crical case that I bought:

amazon link

These cases look so similar that I would be shocked if they weren't manufactured at the same factory.

I have no doubt that the JB cases have certain higher-quality details and features but it feels like if you get one of these Chinese-branded cases, you're getting about 75% of the case for about 25% of the price.
 

jasonlaus

Rep for Smorg
Silver Member
I'm not familiar with JB cases but a lot of them seem to look like e.g. this one:


Comparing to a variant of the Crical case that I bought:

amazon link

These cases look so similar that I would be shocked if they weren't manufactured at the same factory.

I have no doubt that the JB cases have certain higher-quality details and features but it feels like if you get one of these Chinese-branded cases, you're getting about 75% of the case for about 25% of the price.
You should listen to the people telling you how big of a difference there is.

Knowing nothing and continuing to disagree with the people that know the difference isn't usually a good idea.

Keep it up and JB will be here to set you straight...God help us all 😁
 

tomker

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
You should listen to the people telling you how big of a difference there is.

Knowing nothing and continuing to disagree with the people that know the difference isn't usually a good idea.

Keep it up and JB will be here to set you straight...God help us all 😁
I mean, as I've said, I don't doubt that the $300 case is better than my $80 case.

If you think there's a HUGE difference, okay.

I still struggle to understand how full-length internal padding would make much of a difference. The most important part of a case to me is that it's hard and it protects my cues from external forces. I don't see how it matters if the cues can rattle around a little inside, especially if there's fabric between them. Like, how could they possibly be damaged?
 

SSDiver2112

Escott Cues
I mean, as I've said, I don't doubt that the $300 case is better than my $80 case.

If you think there's a HUGE difference, okay.

I still struggle to understand how full-length internal padding would make much of a difference. The most important part of a case to me is that it's hard and it protects my cues from external forces. I don't see how it matters if the cues can rattle around a little inside, especially if there's fabric between them. Like, how could they possibly be damaged?

Huge difference. Personally, worth every extra penny.

The cues absolutely do not move. I can toss it in the back seat with zero worries. I have some cheap cases I use for some bar banger cues I don't worry as much about, and I have to be gentler with them since the cues move around so much. The "fabric" going down is paper thin in many cases. Would you be ok clanking your cues together with a sheet or two of paper between them or would you rather have some foam between them? The padding is better and not moving at all is foolproof. The hard tube is also superior to many cheap cases that just have a generic plastic shell.

Yes the Critical case will work. It's just the JB has superior quality, protection and warrantee.

Easy internet search will give you multiple videos about the differences in JB Cases.

Here's one:
 

jasonlaus

Rep for Smorg
Silver Member
I mean, as I've said, I don't doubt that the $300 case is better than my $80 case.

If you think there's a HUGE difference, okay.

I still struggle to understand how full-length internal padding would make much of a difference. The most important part of a case to me is that it's hard and it protects my cues from external forces. I don't see how it matters if the cues can rattle around a little inside, especially if there's fabric between them. Like, how could they possibly be damaged?
I tried 🤷‍♂️ good luck
 

tomker

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
... Would you be ok clanking your cues together with a sheet or two of paper between them or would you rather have some foam between them? ...
It sounds like the answer is obvious to you but I'm still struggling to understand it. Because I'm perfectly fine with my cues "clanking" together lengthwise.

We're talking about pretty lightweight wooden cylinders colliding with relatively small amounts of force distributed fairly evenly over the almost their entire lengths with the collision being aligned along their strongest axes.

I'm sure I learned how to calculate this exactly in freshman physics but instinctively I can't understand how this would possibly be a problem.
 

jasonlaus

Rep for Smorg
Silver Member
What did you try?
Tried to tell somebody who knows less than nothing as evidenced by your latest post and previous, to listen to the people who know what they're talking about.

It appears you know everything and will not listen.

Ignorance is a choice
 

tomker

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Huge difference. Personally, worth every extra penny.

The cues absolutely do not move. ...
It occurs to me that many golf bags are constructed in a similar way, even name-brand bags that aren't cheap. With padding at the top and then just some fabric separating the clubs at the bottom, such that they can clank around against each other.

Of course this clanking is even less of a problem with golf clubs, because they usually have rubber handles and it couldn't possibly matter if they hit each other.

But it makes me wonder if the design isn't actually on purpose for some reason. Like, maybe if they were padded all the way down, it would make the bag needlessly heavy, or it would be that much more difficult to slide the clubs in and out because of the increased friction. (More of an issue for golf clubs that are inserted/removed many times per round.)
 

tomker

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Tried to tell somebody who knows less than nothing as evidenced by your latest post and previous, to listen to the people who know what they're talking about.
...
Saying "listen to other people" is not really adding to the conversation though. (Does it ever?)

If you have some thoughts about cue cases, maybe post those.
 

SSDiver2112

Escott Cues
Clubs cues - apples oranges.

Rubber handles versus a clear coat finish and dent-able wood.
You are right, it is obvious to me.

If you don’t mind your cues banging around in there then enjoy your case.
 

jasonlaus

Rep for Smorg
Silver Member
Saying "listen to other people" is not really adding to the conversation though. (Does it ever?)

If you have some thoughts about cue cases, maybe post those.
Do I need to make a post if I agree with what the others are saying and tell you to listen to them?

Does everybody posting need to put a link to a JB video?

Does everybody have to write something out if they're gonna say the same as previous posters?

If this is too hard, maybe the internet isn't for you 🤷‍♂️
 

tomker

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
...
If you don’t mind your cues banging around in there then enjoy your case.
I mean, to be clear, they are rarely going to bang around against each other the way I handle my case.

I'm not tossing the case into the back of my car from 20 feet away.

I only just yesterday realized that the internal padding doesn't run down the whole length of the case, and only because I made an effort to violently shake the case.

But whatever, somehow I've gotten into this position where I feel like I have to argue that my $80 cue case is better than a $300 cue case, which is never something that I claimed or thought or wanted to argue about.
 

tomker

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Do I need to make a post if I agree with what the others are saying and tell you to listen to them?

Does everybody posting need to put a link to a JB video?

Does everybody have to write something out if they're gonna say the same as previous posters?

If this is too hard, maybe the internet isn't for you 🤷‍♂️
It's rare that I see somebody defending his right to write posts that don't contribute to a discussion. Thanks for making my day a bit more novel.
 
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