Pool Cue Cases

CrownCityCorey

CrownCityCorey

Sock it to 'em!
Silver Member
With all the case talk I though I'd throw in my $0.02.

I have owned and used the following:

"It's George" (soft suede and hard 2x4)
Instroke (3x7)
Whitten (3x6)
Porper (molded style 2x4 and 3x6)
Bentley (3x6)
Silver Fox Soft case (4x8)

and a buncha other crappy ones over the years.

Though each one of the cases has it's key features that set it apart from the others, the most trouble free and utilitarian case has been hands down the Instroke. It was given to me by Sterling Gaming with the agreement that I use it for a year. Well, I have been using for about 4 years and still use it as my primary today (even after spending a buncha money for a custom Whitten).

This Instroke holds just about everything I need, has taken the abuse of several years touring and still looks to be pretty new. I am not careful with this thing, but I don't have to be.

The only gripe I could ever have about it is, it's heavy! but I have managed.

In second place is the "It's George". 12-15 years ago I had an awesome shiny & smooth black leather 2x4 with a clamshell zipper pouch. This thing was the nuts for sure. As in every poolplayers story I went broke and had to sell it. I wish I never had and would get another in a heartbeat!
 
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I like the older Instroke cases that were made in Germany (thicker leather) vs. the newer ones coming out of Asia.
 
CrownCityCorey said:
The only gripe I could ever have about it is, it's heavy! but I have managed.
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Me too. I have a 3 x 5 and it's like carrying my wife's suitcase for a weekend trip (She packs enough for 2 weeks!) :eek: I don't care much for the thin shoulder strap either. But it does serve its purpose well.
 
i have a 3x5 instroke and i love it, but it is a bit on the heavy side. corey, out of all of the cases you tried, which one had the lightest design?
 
LAMas said:
I like the older Instroke cases that were made in Germany (thicker leather) vs. the newer ones coming out of Asia.
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The leather on the standard models is the same thickness. Instroke production cases were never made in Germany. They were made in the Czech Republic but the leather did come mostly from Germany. The leather however was not always made in Germany. Sometimes it was imported depending on supply.

The leather for the Limiteds was all over the board as to width. I bought whatever I thought looked good be it thin or thick and we made it work.
 
John Barton said:
The leather on the standard models is the same thickness. Instroke production cases were never made in Germany. They were made in the Czech Republic but the leather did come mostly from Germany. The leather however was not always made in Germany. Sometimes it was imported depending on supply.

The leather for the Limiteds was all over the board as to width. I bought whatever I thought looked good be it thin or thick and we made it work.
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now how are the people of the board gonna strike up a good heated "discussion" if you go giving all the details like that! :D

Gerry
 
McChen said:
corey, out of all of the cases you tried, which one had the lightest design?
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The Silver Fox.

However it has this spring hook and "d" ring that connect the strap and when it slung over my shoulder the case sits right on the edge of my collar bone (which is why it now sits in the garage). Another caveat is the nylon sleeves inside can wear the finish on the edge of your cues buttcap after a time.

On the plus side the Silver Fox has massive storage capacity in the pockets. I could carry at least 4 Accu-Stats VHS tapes in it and all my gear :D .
 
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Cases

I had a Its George eelskin case, and liked it, except thin shoulder strap broke, and the eelskin got scarred up real easy.

The Silver Fox BR-2, well I was interested some time back in them, they are wholesaler only, had redesigned it on the pockets to hold jump butts, and could not over a 5 month period get new pictures to their retailers to post on their website. I became disgusted and went on to other cases. (I mean how much time does it take to email a picture to a retailer?????).
 
Snapshot9 said:
I had a Its George eelskin case, and liked it, except thin shoulder strap broke, and the eelskin got scarred up real easy.

The Silver Fox BR-2, well I was interested some time back in them, they are wholesaler only, had redesigned it on the pockets to hold jump butts, and could not over a 5 month period get new pictures to their retailers to post on their website. I became disgusted and went on to other cases. (I mean how much time does it take to email a picture to a retailer?????).
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I have a Silver Fox BR2 and it seems like every web site that sells the Silver Fox cases had pictures of the old BR2 and I wanted the new one.. with the BIG pockets. Everybody told me that they had the new case but no new pics.

I now have converted mine. I took the sleeves out of the inside and put hard case tubes in where the sleeves were and can go from a 1x1 to a 3x6 in the blink of an eye. I love it! Tons of room and almost the same protection as a hard case... or at least it's enough protection to satisfy me.
 
I have a true custom. It carrys butt and two shafts. Built by "Cowboy Toys" - used saddle leather with a Montana cowboy (actually he is a bullrider) doing the tooling.
 
Jack Madden said:
I have a true custom. It carrys butt and two shafts. Built by "Cowboy Toys" - used saddle leather with a Montana cowboy (actually he is a bullrider) doing the tooling.
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Do they build cases for others or just cowboys? :)

Website?

Thanks Jim (never dealt with a bullrider... several bullshi... well you know)
 
I have a 2x4 Instroke. It still looks great despite being 13 or so years old.

I recently had a local shoe and luggage repair guy make a leather and lambswool pad for the shoulder strap to make it more comfy to carry.

Aside from the fact that it's heavy, and the long pocket in the front is not large enough to accomodate a jump butt I have no complaints. The quality is superb and It protects my cues like a tank. The other thing I really like is that it looks diffferent from the Cowboy, Buffalo style.

Here's a pic:
 

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I've owned so many fancy Cases, I can't remember them all ... Old-style Instroke with the Zipper Top (First Class Case), New York Case (3x6), loved the Case, but it was too damn heavy ... Dozens of It's George 1x2, 2x4, 3x6 (some with 2 pockets), Whittens, Justis, Bentley, and now my favorite is a 3x5 Talisman because it's made well and holds extra-long butts and shafts ... The old round-tube New Image Cases were great also, but kinda "cheezy" looking ...
 
When my Jack Justis case arrived, my sweet bride asked me if I'd bought it out of Tijauana! Gawd! Really, it's all about what you like...She prefers understated...like Mercedes over Porsche...and she refuses to bleach her hair and have her boobs enlarged if I should ever buy a Corvette. Sheesh! She doesn't understand "image" at all! ;)

All that said? I love my Justis case...
 
JimS said:
Do they build cases for others or just cowboys? :)

Website?

Thanks Jim (never dealt with a bullrider... several bullshi... well you know)
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No website. They had never built a cue case before --- I just went in and told them what I needed/wanted and they built it. They build saddles, tack, etc and repair them.
 
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