Jack Justis cases, prolite or tube style?

[JB Cases]

I will not be buying a prolite either. Tube style with out a doubt provides the best protection. Whitten cases is #1 now in the case market! Ask Ernie at Gina cues!

Huh? What makes Whitten more protective than an Instroke tube case? I built the Instrokes to be more protective and they are. Without a doubt Instroke cases protect better than all other tube-style cases on the market, except for those that have copied Instroke's interior correctly.

I respect Whitten cases tremendously. They are superbly crafted, supremely elegant, and come in lots of delicious flavors. But they are not the most protective of the tube cases.

 

[Jack Justis]

Well it seems that most people like the old tube style Justis cases better then the new pro lite. So what if the pro lite is lighter we should have the option of having tubes or not. Jack are you seeing what alot people are saying lets have an option for tubes.

Hi Jimmycue,

After 15 years of making the tube style cases, the only complaints we heard year after year was "can't you make it a little lighter". We were the first in the industry to address this complaint by offer a light weight custom case (the ProLite) that still provides more than sufficient protection for the finest cues. The ProLite interior is built around a rigid PVC tube with individual sewn liners to completely separate the butts and shafts. By the padded liner being somewhat resilient, the butts and shafts move in unison rather than hitting against the side of the tubes when the case is being transported.

I keep hearing about "old school" referring to the tube style cases. Well, I will be 70 next year and consider myself "old school" but not blind. The more expensive ProLite interior is one of the major improvements ever made on a Justis case. Anyone that closely compares the tube style case with the ProLite should easily be able to see the advantage of being almost 2 lbs lighter without sacrificing protection.

 

[JB Cases]

I think the credit for plastic tubes with fabric interiors precedes all current casemakers. I am pretty sure that Fellini and Centennial cases were the first Light Weight custom cases, at least Fellinis were custom. It's George did the fabric interiors on their custom cases as well. I believe, when I look at the old Brunswick leather cases and the Harvey Martin cases, that they were leather tubes with fabric liners. I just saw one on Dick Abbot's website that was custom from that era as well.

I agree that lighter is better if protection is not sacrificed.

Most people don't really care about how well their cue is protected anyway. They trust that the casemaker knows what they are doing. And for that matter people disagree on how much protection is needed anyway.

People like Eddie Taylor carried their cue in a leather tube with fabric dividers, or in a leather covered plastic tube with fabric dividers. It really wasn't until Meucci/Porper came out with the injection foam cases that people started making cases with individual hard sided cavities. Although there is a custom case example called a "Curtis" case that has what appears to be a hard interior. This interior looks like it might be a foam core from another case.

For casemakers who didn't posess the ability to creat injection foam cores the next and easiest method of building cases with hard walled individual cavities was to use plumbing and electrical tubes. Flowers and Swift started this trend as far as I can tell, followed by Whitten, Justis, Instroke, and others.

The fact remains however that the fabric divided interior preceded the tubes and is in-fact more "old school".

 

[jimmycue]

Accolades to Mr Jack Justis casemaker

Hi Jimmycue,

After 15 years of making the tube style cases, the only complaints we heard year after year was "can't you make it a little lighter". We were the first in the industry to address this complaint by offer a light weight custom case (the ProLite) that still provides more than sufficient protection for the finest cues. The ProLite interior is built around a rigid PVC tube with individual sewn liners to completely separate the butts and shafts. By the padded liner being somewhat resilient, the butts and shafts move in unison rather than hitting against the side of the tubes when the case is being transported.

I keep hearing about "old school" referring to the tube style cases. Well, I will be 70 next year and consider myself "old school" but not blind. The more expensive ProLite interior is one of the major improvements ever made on a Justis case. Anyone that closely compares the tube style case with the ProLite should easily be able to see the advantage of being almost 2 lbs lighter without sacrificing protection.

I applaud Jack Justis for listening to the people. I asked a question to the az members about his cases and it is really cool that Jack watches what is happening on a public forum about his work and responded. This is a man who is passionate about what he does for a living. I may rethink my stand on wanting a tube style Justis case and order one of his prolites.
Thanks for input Jack
Jimmy Katynski

 

[sweatinNbettin]

I agree with Fred. I had/have(newest one should be here tomorrow) both types of Justis cases. I prefer the prolite by a mile. I kept my tube style for sentimental reasons. I had a prolite and sold it just so i could order a custom one. I highly recommend the prolite.