Why not? Makes sense that the manufacturer would produce tools to get the maximum experience with their product.
Yes, John advertises some with me, but you can ask John. I don't send him a bill unless he asks for one. He has good stuff that I'm proud to represent it.
The Gator tool plate is made of stainless steel. Can't compare it to sand papers. It kinda reminds me of the surface of a gritty plant leaf or a cats tongue. I use a Black Soft. I will do a quick tip prep at the beginning of the day and that's it.
Can I live without the Kamui chalk? Of course. Do I want to? No. I did change my pre-shot routine from rubbing the chalk on every shot to inspecting the tip after every 5-6th shot or any extreme draw or spin shot.
PLUS......and to me here is a big one. John is one cool guy. Guys like John Bertone give pool a chance to make it. He thinks outside the box. He's very positive and upbeat. He's a bright star in the pool sky.
My suggestion. Give Kamui and John a fair test drive following the instructions. :shocked: . Yes I said it. We have to follow the manufacturer instructions.
I'm sure there are many good tips out there, but with John Bertone and Kamui Japan you get the whole package.
Ray
Excellent post. I think it is a bit sad that lately it seems people are so ready to mistrust someone...the expensive chalk *must* be a ploy to get your money...
I've spoken to John at length on the phone, and I feel very confident that he is both knowledgeable and excited about his products. I think it is totally reasonable that Kamui should consider the best way of maintaining their tips.
I purchased a Gator Grip scuffer at VF and I must say I like it. I hardly ever use it, but when I do it is quite nice. Haven't taken the plunge on the chalk yet, but I might give it a shot. I am using Blue Diamond now and am quite satisfied. Regular Master is ok too, thought I think BD might have a slight edge.
I used Moori medium tips for about 12 years. At various times my regular tip was a triangle, a lepro, a water buffalo, and for a LONG time a Moori Medium. I think the Moori is an excellent tip. Since I always want whatever tip I use to be in perfect condition, I have figured out what the Moori medium requires *for me*. Every few months, I throw it on the lathe and trim the sides of the tip flush with the ferrule. Mooris I think mushroom very slowly over time. Fast mushrooming at very first, then slow over time. The surface glazes over relatively quickly it seems. Once a week maybe, I use leather to burnish the sides (actually just to make them look clean and shiny). Then I use a tip tool I made myself. It is the end of a PVC pipe. The part at the very end is meant to connect to another pipe, so it is larger diameter. I used about 4" of the pipe at the very end, sliced in half the long way. This gives me a nice tool with two radii. I hold a cut-to-size piece of 120 grit sand paper in there and basically rotate the tip 1 or 2 turns holding it lightly against the paper. This I find keeps the tip porous and holding chalk for a long time.
I recently tried a Kamui black S. I tried it initially very tall. It hit nice, seemed to offer me tons of grip and spin on the cueball (almost too much), and seemed to hold chalk forever. ZERO mushrooming. I then tried trimming the tip a bit lower, and it really came alive for me. Awesome hit, great feel. After a few weeks, I went back to the Moori deciding that the Kamui was nice, but the Moori was for me. Just recently I took out the Kamui again. I absolutely LOVE this tip!! I had trimmed the tip down to about 1/2 height. I find it plays much better like this, and offers better cue ball feedback. Now that the tip is aging a bit, I guess it glazes over sometimes, but not too bad, and really no different than the Moori. Interestingly, I have never tried the gator grip tool on the Kamui tip...I've only used it on the Moori so far. In any case, for whatever its worth, I really have to give my highest recommendation for this tip. Overall it is quite excellent. Still not a hint of mushrooming. I bought a tan soft to try, but I love this black soft too much...I may end up putting another one of those on when the time comes.
Anyway, add another name to the list of people that have *NOT* had problems with Kamui, and think they are doing something cool.
KMRUNOUT
