WTB: cue tip protectors? What are they called?

Personally I LOVE the shaft sleeves that sometimes come with low deflections shafts like predators and katanas. I WISH someone would start selling them so I could just buy them straight up and not have to try and snake them from friends and my local cue dealer. Can't figure out why everyone else just throws them away.

But wouldn't shaft sleeves have the same issue as just throwing the shaft in a case tip down without wiping the tip off? Over time you get chalk down the walls of the sleeve that will transfer to the shaft. Not sure how these would eliminate the need to wipe off the tip. Yeah, they will keep the case walls clean but will still blue the shaft over time just as though you weren't using them.
 
You can buy a pack of twenty automotive vacuum caps for about $7. The size you need to buy is 1/2" and they fit best on tips 12.75mm-12.50mm, also you may want to puncture a whole in the top of the cap to make it easier to take off. If your tip is 13mm just cut the cap on the side so it comes off easily.
 
I went to Ace Hardware to find rubber friction-fit caps that @eatmykudos mentioned, but with no luck. Then I thought I'd make some by myself using heat-shrink tubing (for electrical wiring). I bought some 21 mm (when flat) heat-shrink and cut them into 1 inch segments. I inserted a house cue half way into the cut tubing and gently shrunk the top half with a lighter. I made 5 in like 3 minutes. It's a lot cheaper this way, and you can make it custom fit on your shaft. Be sure not to over-shrink the section of tubing on the ferrule of the house cue, as it may become a bit too tight to pull back out.

The whole DIY cost less than a 2 bucks, including the lighter. Hope this helps!
 
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