Please explain why kamui chalk is a "scam"

dr9ball said:
I also think its funny that those who do buy Kamui chalk seem to have a need to criticize others about being cheapskates...
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That's not what's going on ... it's being told you're stupid and fell for a scam that irks me. And the basis for the, "This chalk sucks", side is, "well I won't buy it, it's too expensive to try it out, so it's a scam and anyone who buys it is a sucker!"

No one can tell me if I like the chalk or not, only I can. People calling anyone who buys it stupid is (ironically) probably not the brightest thing to do if you want a civil conversation.

The only claim I've made about it is that it makes my solid iron Kamui Black Medium play a little better. Do I go off on a thread and say anyone who buys Kamui Black tips is a retard? No. Maybe I just got a crappy one...

Claim #2: I can spin the ball with a phenolic tip now. I mean really spin the ball. Over and over. Without rechalking. I'd say that's a difference I enjoy. It was 30 dollars, you can't even get a good steak for that.
 
cleary said:
You people are crazy with the placebo effect.. If that were the case, I would have fallen in love with the new kamui 1.21 chalk. I didn't. It doesn't grip as well. I wish it did, I bought 4 cubes of it... just didn't. Glad I could trade off the 1.21 for .98 pretty easy.

Anyone who tries this chalk for an hour and doesn't see a difference, either is using the wrong end of the cue or just simply is thick headed. I've yet to see one person try it in person that didn't automatically see the difference.

I don't care if you people like it or not or if you're too cheap to try it or not... Doesn't matter to me. The point of this thread is the people who think its a scam are the people who haven't tried it.. its pretty obvious.
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Why you going on and on about it? I don't like the mess it leaves. And part of my routine is to nervously over-chalk between shots to stall and slow down. f off fat boy

edit: I may grind through 2 cubes of masters in 4 hours. bite me
 
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When

a piece of chalk cost less than .25 to manufacture and they charge $30 for it, yes, it is a scam. That's over a 12,000% profit. Do you really believe something is worth a 12,000% profit? Name one other article that has a 12,000% profit?

I have some swamp land in Florida! Only $1,200,000 an acre...
 
Snapshot9 said:
a piece of chalk cost less than .25 to manufacture and they charge $30 for it, yes, it is a scam. That's over a 12,000% profit. Do you really believe something is worth a 12,000% profit? Name one other article that has a 12,000% profit?

I have some swamp land in Florida! Only $1,200,000 an acre...
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A 5,000 dollar custom cue...
 
Snapshot9 said:
Do you really believe something is worth a 12,000% profit? Name one other article that has a 12,000% profit?
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Rolls Royce / Bentley motorcars are priced at their specific margins for a reason. They could be sold cheaper but are not.

Kamui has said before the chalk is expensive to produce so 0.25/cube is a WAG at best. They are making money off it, hand over fist. I've no problem with that. I also have no problems with TDs making money, or pool halls making money. Everyone's gotta eat.

Where I would have problem and feel scammed would be if every chalk company charged $30/cube for machine-made mass-produced stuff that dried out before it made it to market.
 
Snapshot9 said:
a piece of chalk cost less than .25 to manufacture and they charge $30 for it, yes, it is a scam. That's over a 12,000% profit. Do you really believe something is worth a 12,000% profit? Name one other article that has a 12,000% profit?

I have some swamp land in Florida! Only $1,200,000 an acre...
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How do you come up with 12,000%? sounds a bit high. Maybe 120%. In any event, isn't there a way to do a scientific test on the chalk to see if it really grips better than other chalks? Are there not standard grip tests pressing a cue tip onto a cue ball and turning until it slips?
 
Hungarian said:
Why you going on and on about it? I don't like the mess it leaves. And part of my routine is to nervously over-chalk between shots to stall and slow down. f off fat boy

edit: I may grind through 2 cubes of masters in 4 hours. bite me
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lol... cool.
 
Hi,

The chalk is very good but way overpriced IMO.

If one thinks they don't have to chalk as much, that is an option that I can not agree with. Yes the chalk is thick and stays on longer. If you are a serious player and are not in the habit of looking at your tip and touching the area that was last contacted with a swipe of chalk everytime, your not a serious player. especially if you use a hard tip.

That being said, not having to chalk as much is an oxymoron because at some time you will mis cue because the chalk will not be there. Conversely if you buy 30.00 pieces of chalk and chalk every time you might as well use Masters.

Yes, chalk is a very critical part of your pool game and I don't believe for one minute that this expensive chalk will make any fundamental, physical or engineering difference in the shot accuracy, deflection quotient or the so called sweet spot either. One still has to visualize the hit point on the object ball require to make a shot work with what ever conditions exist. The advertise "More Spin More Control" makes no sense. "More Centerball Hits and Less Spin" should be the ideal every player strives for in a real world. More variables means less pocketed ball statistics in the long run unless you are Efren.:bow-down:

There are a lot of people out there that will buy some of this stuff because they think it will improve their game. I think they will find out they won't ever get even one ball better because of it.

I am one that supports capitalism 100% and believe that if you can market something for 30.00 that costs you pennies to build, more power to you. I for one would get more kicks out of burning 30.00 that buying a piece of chalk.

JMHO,

Rick G
 
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The op asked:

"Please explain why kamui chalk is a "scam" "

I'm not sure that it's a scam but I think the fact that Mosconi's record is still standing and there was no Kamui chalk available for him to use tells many people there really is no need for it - or maybe more accurately, no need to spend so much for it.

But I know there would also be those who will say, sure, but Mosconi probably would have made 600 if he had Kamui chalk. :rolleyes:

My personal opinion is that all chalk does is help to keep us from miscuing. And, since I don't miscue very much, it's not possible to justify the expense.

Kamui chalk doesn't do anything more than that, does it? :smile:

Best,
Brian kc
 
RunoutJJ said:
Too funny how wound up people get about one pieceI of over-priced chalkthe :lol:
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That's the sad part, everyone's free to say they'd buy it or wouldn't, but when you start telling people they're dumb it will get ugly. It only takes one asshat insulting you to have things spiral into disarray.
 
scdiveteam said:
Hi,

The chalk is very good but way overpriced IMO.

If one thinks they don't have to chalk as much, that is an option that I can not agree with. Yes the chalk is thick and stays on longer. If you are a serious player and are not in the habit of looking at your tip and touching the area that was last contacted with a swipe of chalk everytime, your not a serious player. especially if you use a hard tip.

That being said, not having to chalk as much is an oxymoron because at some time you will mis cue because the chalk will not be there. Conversely if you buy 30.00 pieces of chalk and chalk every time you might as well use Masters.

Yes, chalk is a very critical part of your pool game and I don't believe for one minute that this expensive chalk will make any fundamental, physical or engineering difference in the shot accuracy, deflection quotient or the so called sweet spot either. One still has to visualize the hit point on the object ball require to make a shot work with what ever conditions exist. The advertise "More Spin More Control" makes no sense. "More Centerball Hits and Less Spin" should be the ideal every player strives for in a real world. More variables means less pocketed ball statistics in the long run unless you are Efren.:bow-down:

There are a lot of people out there that will buy some of this stuff because they think it will improve their game. I think they will find out they won't ever get even one ball better because of it.

I am one that supports capitalism 100% and believe that if you can market something for 30.00 that costs you pennies to build, more power to you. I for one would get more kicks out of burning 30.00 that buying a piece of chalk.

JMHO,

Rick G
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:thumbup2:
 
Did anyone see the episode of Penn & Teller's "Bulls$$$" show about Organic Food?

One amusing part was when they cut a regular banana into two halves and put one half on a plate marked "Regular" and the other half on the plate marked "Organic", and asked people to describe it.

People were mostly like "Hmm, this tastes okay, like a regular banana, like what I'd expect" and then when they tried the banana they were told was organic they said "Yeah, this one has more flavor, it seems more natural".

I've never tried Kamui chalk so I have no idea if it's "better" or not. Ideally, double blind tests with a bunch of shots (without knowing chalk was on the cue) would be nice. Second best would be a bunch of identical shots and checking chalk marks and results. And I'm sure others have plenty of other good ideas too, including deflection tests.
 
For every miscue Kamui chalk eliminates, I'd guess a tip tapper eliminates twenty. At least that's the angle I'll take when I try to sell my new "SJM Super Duper Extra Special Ground Breaking Mind Melting Tip Tapper" for $500.

Actually, those I've heard knock Kamui have observed that because Kamui chalk sticks to the cloth and the balls so much more than conventional chalk, it both eliminates and causes problems. One cannot advertise a new drug without taking note of the fact that it may have certain undesirable side effects, and it's not difficult to argue that similar disclosure would be appropriate when it comes to a pool product.
 
shinobi said:
Did anyone see the episode of Penn & Teller's "Bulls$$$" show about Organic Food?

One amusing part was when they cut a regular banana into two halves and put one half on a plate marked "Regular" and the other half on the plate marked "Organic", and asked people to describe it.

People were mostly like "Hmm, this tastes okay, like a regular banana, like what I'd expect" and then when they tried the banana they were told was organic they said "Yeah, this one has more flavor, it seems more natural".

I've never tried Kamui chalk so I have no idea if it's "better" or not. Ideally, double blind tests with a bunch of shots (without knowing chalk was on the cue) would be nice. Second best would be a bunch of identical shots and checking chalk marks and results. And I'm sure others have plenty of other good ideas too, including deflection tests.
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Kamui tastes slightly better than Master chalk, creamy and a bit less chalky.
 
I got a new cube of 1.21 and here is my 2 cents:

1. Is it a scam, no.
2. Is it overpriced, yes.
3. Do I like it, yes.

I just went from a Kamui black medium to a black SS on my cue. I shot with it last night and I can say that I like the way the chalk feels going on the cue. It feels like its going on better than BD or masters. It did not mark up the table or cue ball any more than other chalk.

I shot much better last night, dunno if it was the new tip, chalk, whatever.
To each his own.

The bottom line in any of these Kamui Chalk threads is this: Yes, we all can agree that it is overpriced. Big deal, more has been spent on less. If you haven't tried it, go ahead and knock the price if you want, but don't bash people for feeling more comfortable using it. Don't like it, don't buy it. Simple.
 
cleary said:
I need to chill? Am I not chill? Really? So you're telling me it's all in my head, yet not listening to what I'm saying...

Of course you can have an opinion. Anyone can have an opinion. But how much is my opinion on "visiting Brazil" worth if I've never been to Brazil? It's not worth a damn! That's my point dog. Most of these people with opinions have never tried it so what is their opinion really worth? Not a lot...

So instead of doing the logical thing and actually trying it, they just say... 'yea its just the placebo effect.. you're crazy'.

K dude... k
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I have tried it. Seemed to play like I had put slightly wet chalk on my tip. Played fine but isn't for me unless I get a hard tip and even then I am not sure I would pay the price. Regardless of all that, the thing I am interested in is some data. If it can be proved to better than my interest would be higher.

Oh, you should know placebo effect is a real thing. People have cured illness because of it before. I might not be so fast to dismiss that. Tricking yourself into playing better pool is definetly not outside the realm of possibility. Of course you will swear up and down that isn't the case. I really don't know and don't care.
 
ChicagoRJ said:
Yes, it would be great to test Kamui, Blue Diamond, Magic, Masters and Silver cup and see where they stand.

I presonally like Magic, and have never tried Kamui or BD, but for the price, only a $5 for 2 cubes, and it grabs great... I can literally shoot drills, over 30 shots, including lots of draw without chalking..... kinda nice not to have to chalk after each shot when doing drills. Is it better than Kamui? I dunno,,, but it is helluva lot cheaper, and would be nice if someone test all the popular chalks and see where they stand.

Cleary, you wannt test the chalks? I'll send you a free piece of Magic for the test.....
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RJ, do you notice magic chalk sticking to the balls? I liked the kamui chalk but couldnt deal with the mess. It felt like masse chalk, lots of swerve. I think the stuff does what is says it does, it grabs more(like a kamui tip). I cant be sure, but what seems like less deflection is really more swerve.
 
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