Why the hate for the price of some tips?

[buckshotshoey]

I don't think many are haters of the price of $40 tips. I think that a lot of players that have been around the block a few times get pissed at the companies and people saying the more expensive ($30-$50 INSTALLED) layered tips are BETTER THAN THE SINGLE...they are not. Some members try to save new players some money on here. I have stopped doing this, because most don't/won't listen. Too much peer pressure to be seen with a $0.35 Triange, LePro, Elkmaster, or other single layered that is 10 times cheaper on thier cue. Johnnyt

What you are saying is correct.... to a point. Some layered tips ARE better then some single layered tips.......for some individuals. I still haven't found a single layer tip that fits me. There is always something that seemed off. Some start out good, then change their "personality" after a month. Others start playing good toward the end of their life....then its time to change it out. My current layered tip does not do that. I'm on my second one after a year. Six months on current one. It fits my feel of the game better then anything I've tried to date. Of course I haven't tried the Ki-Tech yet. Would like to in the future.

 

[The Renfro]

Sean posed a great point about "perceived value".

Everyone of us knows that this game we play starts between the ears before our bridge hand touches the cloth.

So if you think that something is overpriced & overstated in terms of worth or value for your pool game, you're absolutely right.
And when you believe that having a certain cue weight, ferrule type, or cue tip brand helps you play better, you're right once again.

It's that thing that Henry Ford said...... "When a man believes he can do something or can't do something, he's right on both occasions."

Pool is played between the ears before you ever stroke the cue ball........and perceived value falls right in line with that notion.

Matt

Between the ears there is plenty going on....

Btween your cue and the cueball.... The tip... and the chalk.....

 

[Straightpool_99]

...................

 

[Bassmaster]

Pool dawg milk duds, Triangle hard, and ultra skins give you plenty of options 3.00 and under ...all three can be great Ive played with Kamui mediums and with ultra skins mediums...I actually prefer the ultra skins regardless of price.

 

[lfigueroa]

What you are saying is correct.... to a point. Some layered tips ARE better then some single layered tips.......for some individuals. I still haven't found a single layer tip that fits me. There is always something that seemed off. Some start out good, then change their "personality" after a month. Others start playing good toward the end of their life....then its time to change it out. My current layered tip does not do that. I'm on my second one after a year. Six months on current one. It fits my feel of the game better then anything I've tried to date. Of course I haven't tried the Ki-Tech yet. Would like to in the future.

In the past year I have tried two different single lay tips. One was an old tip I had from long, long ago and the other was a new one. Hated both of them. The older one was made up of big leather fibers and was kinda dead. Not how I remembered it at all back when I thought this brand was a great tip. The other was just kind weird, like a piece or hard candy, hard but little soft at the same time. Always felt like I was going to miscue with it.

My favorite tips as of late have been the Kamui black SS and now the G2 medium. I have run into some lamination issues with a couple of the G2s but nothing terrible and it's what I'm using now.

Lou Figueroa

 

[buckshotshoey]

In the past year I have tried two different single lay tips. One was an old tip I had from long, long ago and the other was a new one. Hated both of them. The older one was made up of big leather fibers and was kinda dead. Not how I remembered it at all back when I thought this brand was a great tip. The other was just kind weird, like a piece or hard candy, hard but little soft at the same time. Always felt like I was going to miscue with it.

My favorite tips as of late have been the Kamui black SS and now the G2 medium. I have run into some lamination issues with a couple of the G2s but nothing terrible and it's what I'm using now.

Lou Figueroa

Haven't had any lamination problems with Tiger products. The only tip I have ever had come apart was a LePro. It kind of ripped apart during installation. It was really weird. Like it was made in two pieces. No idea what was wrong with it.

 

[sfleinen]

Haven't had any lamination problems with Tiger products. The only tip I have ever had come apart was a LePro. It kind of ripped apart during installation. It was really weird. Like it was made in two pieces. No idea what was wrong with it.

I've always been a single-layer tip guy. Tried to "force myself to see" the value of multi-layered tips, but they always failed expectations. Then I tried a Tiger Emerald, and I was sold. It's the first multi-layered tip that performed and wore like a one-piece tip. (And this, coming from a guy that was used to Triangles and LePros.)

I've since tried Tiger Snipers, and I also like them, but Tiger Emeralds for me are the "multi-layered tip for the one-piece tip kind of guys." They're also inexpensive compared to these "perceived value multi-layered tips" (e.g. Kamui).

-Sean

 

[buckshotshoey]

I've always been a single-layer tip guy. Tried to "force myself to see" the value of multi-layered tips, but they always failed expectations. Then I tried a Tiger Emerald, and I was sold. It's the first multi-layered tip that performed and wore like a one-piece tip. (And this, coming from a guy that was used to Triangles and LePros.)

I've since tried Tiger Snipers, and I also like them, but Tiger Emeralds for me are the "multi-layered tip for the one-piece tip kind of guys." They're also inexpensive compared to these "perceived value multi-layered tips" (e.g. Kamui).

-Sean

Now there is another one I have to try! Wish I had more sticks to put em on! Are Emeralds the stock tip on some Pechauers now?

 

[Badbeat13]

G2 = $15 to $18 well spent. Best tip on the market IMO.

There's several tips out there that I haven't tried though.

 

[Ak Guy]

I wonder

To me tips are the unknown until you use them for awhile. I like a well worn elk Master but quit using them and switched to Black Kamui tips. If Reyes, Bustamante and Strickland use Elk Master tips they should be good enough for me or any one else. So why did I switch again?

 

[Gunn_Slinger]

How do you go through two tips in a year?

I average about 2.5 hours playing time per day and my tip is well into its second year with almost no sign of wear. In that time I've shaped it twice, although not a real aggressive shaping.

I suspect that chalking has a major effect on tip life since the chalk granules are abrasive. If you chalk like a nervous chipmunk I guess you could wear a tip down pretty fast.

Price is meaningless: if you like it and can afford it, buy it. If you can't afford it, find something you can afford. Bi#ching about price is a waste of time. (...although it is pretty entertaining to hear a guy who spends $2,000 on a stick of wood, complain about the price of a tip )

You play 17.5 hrs a week, 910 hrs a year, on 1 tip???? Whats it made of....Kryptonite??? I doubt that is normal for most players. I've used triangles for yrs now and play about 20+ hrs a week. I go thru a tip about every 2 months. I've tried 3 different layered tips and didnt get that long with them. Triangles cost under a dollar by the box. Latered tips ran 20-25 dollars, and didnt play any better.

 

[buckshotshoey]

You play 17.5 hrs a week, 910 hrs a year, on 1 tip???? Whats it made of....Kryptonite??? I doubt that is normal for most players. I've used triangles for yrs now and play about 20+ hrs a week. I go thru a tip about every 2 months. I've tried 3 different layered tips and didnt get that long with them. Triangles cost under a dollar by the box. Latered tips ran 20-25 dollars, and didnt play any better.

Can you tell me what layered tips you were using? Curious minds what to know.

 

[Tommy-D]

In my earlier post,I wanted to mention something about life expectancy of common tips,and forgot. Luckily,someone else mentioned this phenomenon,and feel the need to mention this.

Joe Gold sold me the original Moori tips I bought in 1994. He told me they worked best if left pretty close to flat in the beginning,because they will eventually shape themselves to the way YOU hit the ball. I wasn't sure what to believe,but felt like he had no reason to bullshit me.

I had Joe Blackburn shape the tip just slightly when he installed it,so it was close to,but not totally flat. Within a couple hours,the tip shaped itself to somewhere between a nickel and a dime radius.

I have no motivation to exaggerate this,but I was playing close to 40 hours a week back then,and that first tip lasted me for almost 3 YEARS.

I lightly used an It's George scuffer/tapper before starting for the day,and about every 2 hours or so after that,but careful to not remove leather,just using the tapper side to create slight dimples.

You can maybe chalk that up to the quality of the original Moori tips,or some other factor,but I care too much about the game to bullshit about the length of time that tip lasted.

I never got close to that length with the other ones I bought out of the original 5,but 2 of those gave me close to a year each. Tommy D.

 

[Bavafongoul]

My experience coincides with Toomy-D's above post about longevity and durability of some tips. I think tips are like chalk and I only go through about 1 piece of Diamond chalk every 7-9 months. I do not core the chalk and application to the tip is done using brush strokes not rotational twisting.

Cue tips should last a long time but not the way I see players handle their equipment. I notice players will attack a newly installed tip literally raping it. It's done not so much to reshape the tip but almost as if they think the tip has too much leather....it's too tall.....so they reduce it using a tip shaper or sandpaper or whatever strikes their fancy very often removing a significant portion of leather thus reducing overall life expectancy of the remaining tip.

On average, I change tips every 30-36 months on the cues that are my main playing cues. My Mottey cues hasn't had tips replaced in 3 years and it's time now to replace them but I need to find a good local guy to install Kamui Clear tips for me. With the number of cues I own, I anticipate that my cue's tip replacement will probably now become more likely every 4 -5 years, except for my Runde Schon that doesn't see any play at all.

Matt

 

[Gunn_Slinger]

Can you tell me what layered tips you were using? Curious minds what to know.

I tried a kumui soft, a predator medium, and a moori medium. The predator played the best for me. All the layered tips would harden up and I would have to take a layer off to get back the playability. I've been told by a friend to use a porcupine tip tool on layered tips ( to not take a layer off ) to keep them right. But triangle tips play as well as any I've used and cost under a dollar ( the new triangle's are way too soft ). Lucky for me, I have about 40 old triangle tips that play well.