Reason for “expensive “ chalk

I grew up playing with Masters chalk. I switched to Blue Diamond ~10 years ago. I've tried several expensive chalks but I kept going back to Blue Diamond. A friend left a piece of Taom V10 at my house and I decided to try it for myself. I really like it. The chalk was finer and seemed to adhere to the tip more readily. It also doesn't get all over the cue ball like Blue Diamond does. I did some searching and found out it was $20 per piece (confirmed by my friend). After thinking about it, I practice ~ 4 hours a week on my table and play ~11 hours/week against an opponent between 3C, 1P and some 8/9 ball. I bought a cube and I chalk every shot from habit and as part of my PSR.

Solo Practice - 3 shots/minute * 4 hours/week = 720 shots/week
3C - 3 shots/2 minutes * 4 hours/week = 360 shots/week
1P - 1 shot/2 minutes = 30 shots/hour * 4 hours/week = 120 shots/week
9 ball - 3 shots/2 minutes = 90 shots/hour * 2 hours/week = 180 shots/week
8 ball league - 60 shots/week
total = 1260 per week

I bought the cube 4 months ago (16 weeks) and it's ~ half gone.
1/2 cube = 1260 * 16 = 20160 shots
A whole cube would yield 40320 shots

$20/40320 = $0.00049/chalking application
convert to pennies = 0.049 cents per application round up to 0.05 cents

By my estimation, my Taom V10 costs me 1 penny for every 20 applications. I'm a Taom V10 convert.
 
JolietJames said:
This.
When I bought my new ProAm last year, I tried Masters, Triangle, Tiger, Magic, Predator, and Blue Diamond.
Predator was BY FAR the most messy of the bunch. Granted, most were purchased off Amazon, and I've heard that some chalk is counterfeit on that site. I switched to V10, and got 8 good months or of a piece. It's still got a little left, so I'll say 9 months for the life of a chalk. Masters lasts me 1 month per cube. The point is, the V10 allows me to vacuum my table every couple months rather than every couple weeks. I have not noticed a difference in miscue frequency, but that could be due to chalking less with V10 than I did with the blue stuff.
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Again I’ll repeat he’s talking about the new predator chalk. The old stuff was messy As hell. The new stuff is essentially taom so it is not.
 
dr_dave said:
For those interested, I show and discuss the shots from the SVB-FSR match in my new chalk testing video:

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Great video, as usual. I have one comment and one question.

Comment: for the advantages of premium chalk, one that you did not mention at the end there is the general cleanliness of the chalk other than skids. I have my own table. I only use "clean" chalk because it allows my table to stay clean, the balls to stay clean, the rails to stay clean, the shafts to stay clean, and my hands to stay clean. I don't have to wipe things down regularly, or wash my hands regularly, or wipe down my shaft regularly. Even if I go weeks with regular play without vacuuming the table my hand is clean after hours of play, whereas I have a dirty smurf hand after 10 mins of play at the local pool hall. Ultimately, its inherent cleanliness is why I am happy to pay the price I do for the chalk I use.

Question: Why is the miscue limit seemingly fixed where it is? Going from a bare wood shaft to a leather tip increased grip and therefore pushed out the miscue limit. Adding chalk again increased grip and pushed out the miscue limit. So is it possible for some "better" formulation of chalk to push the miscue limit out even more? Or has the theoretical limit essentially been reached?
 
has any one found that if you dont chalk every time sometimes the tip gets alittle shiny and doesnt seem to "grab" the cue ball the way you expect with the v10
 
Rocket354 said:
Great video, as usual.
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Thanks.

Rocket354 said:
Comment: for the advantages of premium chalk, one that you did not mention at the end there is the general cleanliness of the chalk other than skids. I have my own table. I only use "clean" chalk because it allows my table to stay clean, the balls to stay clean, the rails to stay clean, the shafts to stay clean, and my hands to stay clean. I don't have to wipe things down regularly, or wash my hands regularly, or wipe down my shaft regularly. Even if I go weeks with regular play without vacuuming the table my hand is clean after hours of play, whereas I have a dirty smurf hand after 10 mins of play at the local pool hall. Ultimately, its inherent cleanliness is why I am happy to pay the price I do for the chalk I use.
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Good point. I should have mentioned this in the video.


Rocket354 said:
Question: Why is the miscue limit seemingly fixed where it is? Going from a bare wood shaft to a leather tip increased grip and therefore pushed out the miscue limit. Adding chalk again increased grip and pushed out the miscue limit. So is it possible for some "better" formulation of chalk to push the miscue limit out even more? Or has the theoretical limit essentially been reached?
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I don't know for sure, but it probably has something to do with the angle of the CB surface (and how the tip/shaft reacts at the angle) at this limit. Adding more friction does not seem to help beyond this limit.
 
bbb said:
has any one found that if you dont chalk every time sometimes the tip gets alittle shiny and doesnt seem to "grab" the cue ball the way you expect with the v10
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I have not noticed because I would never risk not chalking before each shot.
 
that was informative, as usual. with other cue sports having been a testing ground it's proven enough that these chalks produce less skids. so i'm a believer. BUT the environment for pro pool players and pro snooker players are way different than for average joe that plays in a grubby pool room or a bar. i don't see any point in using taom where i play, because my opponents don't use it, the previous patrons at the table didn't use it and the balls are not polished too often either.
 
I bought these 2 pieces of chalk for .03 cents each in 1898…….125 years later and I’ve never miscued and they just don’t wear out. 😊
 

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I doubt SVB changes anytime soon unless one of the other chalk brands pays him a lot of money. He has won all his titles with Masters and is used to the feel. He is a creature of habit and went away from his ghost cue and back to his white cue because he said it is what he won all his titles with. Being comfortable is really important and I get it. I assume a LOT of the issue is the shape of the chalk. I have the same issue, cannot get used to holding or using a round shaped chalk. I use Taom Pyro at home because it is way cleaner on the equipment, but when I am playing in tournaments I find that i play better with Masters. The square shape has been engraved in our minds in the USA since we started playing pool and I assume there are many out there that have the same issue. Wish Taom would come out with a squared version. I understand the concept of a round chalk so it wears evenly, but it just feels weird.
 
I still vote for Kamui .98...because I don't chalk unless using a lot of spin. End of story.

EDIT

OOOPS... I just saw the video...I better rethink.
 
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I am going to go out on a limb and say that even if I had a million dollars , hell 5 million, I would not buy 50 dollar chalk. It's just not in my DNA
 
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