thedude said:
I'm not saying that the gel pack won't do damage, I'm just saying that the gel pack will do damage through a different series of events then what you stated. We'll just have to agree to disagree... And in reality,
I'm agreeing that the silica pac will contribute to damage, I just think that the processes that damage the cue go about a different method then what you think.
So your test wouldn't work... as I agree with you, and the test doesn't examine or identify the processes that are involved in the causing the damage. Nor does it use a 2nd cue, as a control object.
I don't care about being right or wrong, so no more of this line of thinking for me.
On another note,
I just received a Dennis Swift 1x2. First, I have to say Dennis is an absolute pleasure to do business with. I don't know if I could imagine having much more protection for the cue. In regards to the cue accidentally falling out of the case. I chose to get the side latch lid Dennis is using on some cases now. It is double buttoned, and those buttons I have to use physical force to close them and get them apart. Once closed, they are very secure. I would highly recommend a Swift case to anyone. Its a beauty, and built like a tank!
I would like to see a Fellini style with tubes in the interior. The inside of the GTF cases seem intriguing, but I think can get a better case from Mr. Swift, or Ron Thomas without having to support big business, and also the price will be much much better. :wink:
Take your case and turn it upside down with the case open. Do your cues fall out or do they stay put?
This is the accidental removal that I was talking about, not the latch coming undone by itself, although that would contribute and exacerbate the chance of cues coming out unintentionally.
Consider this example, In 1997 or 98 I was displaying my Instroke cases at a tournament in Charlotte North Carolina at The Smoking Cue. I was giving the whole pitch about how protective they are complete with turning the cases over and the cues not falling out. The guy I was pitching, room owner and top player, Frank Tullos, stopped me and said that he didn't care about all that he wanted the cases because they are new and different and his customers would buy them. He bought ten.
Frank had a beautiful custom Pechauer with holly inlays. He kept it in a George case. I commented on the cue because I had done some trading with Jerry Pechauer. Well an hour or so later Frank comes to me with his cue in his hand and shows me several dings in it. He says that he was standing by the door getting ready to go and forgot to latch the case. As he was leaving he slung the case upside down over his shoulder and the cues hit the top and the top fell off and the cues hit the asphalt. He said that he couldn't believe that happened right after we (I) talked about protecting against such things.
Now, Frank was a dumbass for leaving the top unlatched. I was a dumbass for leaving my Flowers unlatched and open on the corner of the table while conversing with someone else. It's my fault, and not the case maker's that I left it in a position where harm could come to my cues. However it did inspire me to solve the problem of cues rattling and being able to fall out of a case in such situations.
As in Frank's story though it happens to more people than just me.
At all the shows I attended from 1992 until 2003 when I sold Instroke I always gave the same demonstration, put the cue in, turn the case over and shake it. I have done this with literally hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cues, and a lot of those being cues in well over $1000 mark. One time I did it with a guy's $10,000 Richard Black. (I had more than 10,000 in my pocket to cover it)
So no, on this point a Swift does not provide more protection than an Instroke. Perhaps in other areas it provides the same level but not on the point of accidental removal. (Unless Swift has changed how they build the interior)
As for whether a Thomas provides better protection than a GTF... In my opinion it does not. Only because I know exactly how both cases are made since a Thomas, along with a Centennial and George, were part of my template when I started to build the GTF cases. Does the Thomas provided "adequate" protection? Probably for most situations. But as I explained above I build for situations that are uncommon and frankly sometimes a stupid user error. My philosophy on this is that if I CAN build that level of protection into a case then why shouldn't I?
And "big business"? Come on.
I am certainly not a one-man-operation but we can hardly be called big business, especially since I feel it was said in a corporations-are-evil sort of way. We could debate the economics all day but I will leave it at this, a GTF case feeds many mouths across the globe. Not "big business" but certainly a distribution of wealth that helps many more people to live.
Personally, I would LOVE to see Ron Thomas and Dennis Swift and Dan and Joe Whitten and Garth Bair among others have enough orders to keep them busy all the time. A seven year wait time for a SouthWest only serves to have people seeking and building alternatives. I guarantee you that the more Swifts and Thomases that are in the pool room will only create more demand for that style. Conversely, the more GTF and Justis West and Jiasen and (soon to be announced new line of tooled cases) from production shops that are sold will also serve to increase demand for these styles of cases and lead those who want to buy from a smaller maker to seek them out.
In the billiard cue case business there is an abundance of customers and few suppliers. Most of the world's pool players don't even know what an Instroke case is, nor Justis, nor Swift, nor Thomas, nor GTF. Want proof? Go into a pool room on league night with a list and ask people how many name brands of custom cases that they recognize. Most couldn't even tell you the brand of the case that they use. So the potential is huge for custom case makers to gain enough customers to keep them busy for years in advance. And it's through the popularization and marketing that so-called "big business" undertakes that helps this process.
We all live on this ball together and we are all part of the organism that makes it work. GTF and Thomas need each other and use each other and the result is that the customer has more choice.
Now, back to the topic. Thank you all for the suggestions. So far I feel that protection is something that people do consider. On reflection I feel that the best way for me to go about promoting the message is not to write volumes (like this one) in response each time someone says "so and so is best" when I feel that they aren't. I think that the best response is simply to publish side by side comparisons on my website and let the consumers use that resource to make informed decisions as to what balance of protection they are comfortable with. In time that should be the baseline that people use to discuss these things and perhaps with physical examples it will inspire other case makers to insure that they are addressing the issue more than just adequately.
I see it all the time, but I don't mind either, I make a lot of money off people who do this, by fixing their cues. But, the problem with the cases is real, and my suggestion would fix it.
