What's your favourite tip

[ADR147]

I am in the anything but elks school!

[cueman]

HOW do you select a good 1????
I know people have different ways, but how do you tell??

Fingernail in the side is my way. If you nail goes into the side easily, its soft, if it goes in just slightly its usually a medium. If you have to really dig your nail in then it should play firm or hard. Its not an exact science but I've found that I have a good strike rate in knowing how they will play judging by that test.

[rocha]

kamuy negro

[Catch 22]

Kamui medium or pheonix medium . Both great

[Master Blaster]

I'm in the process of changing all my tips on cues to Buffalo Diamond Plus, a tip I've used in the past. It has the spin of an Elk without all the inconsistency and it doesn't throw as much as a GBL granite. I've tried every pressed tip (Le Pro aside) and every laminate. My favourite laminate is a Kamui Black S, closely followed by Cuesoul S (though this tip throws a lot).

I've found that laminates are great for stun and stun-run through and this is no surprise as laminates were originally designed not for snooker but for 9-ball. They are brilliant at punching a cue ball, or breaking a pool rack. The downsides are that they lack cue ball grip which means less top spin and screw, a third less cue ball travel on these type of shots. They are useless at holding chalk which is why Kamui developed special and expensive chalk to solve this problem. Chalk a BDP and you don't have to do it again for six shots + if you're using spruce. You can't do this with a Kamui or any of the laminates, especially a really hard one like an Aurora. Miscues are much more likely with a laminate.

If you can find a really good elk in a box (that's a one in five shot) buy an elk. Pros swear by them, Judd and Robbo both use one and no-one has more cue power than they, so go figure. But because I'm not going to have a whole box to do the nail test with and don't have time to mess around with failed elks that need to be ripped off when they deform, I'm switching to Buffalo Diamond Plus. Two years with laminates only to realise that the folk who told me they were inferior to pressed tips were right all along. I will miss smashing balls in with stun but this is a small price to pay for increased spin. I will also have to look after the tip and nurture it the way you don't have to with a good laminate but this is a small price to pay for feel in the balls that is lost with laminates.

At the end of the day, I've realised that a snooker cue needs a snooker tip, not a pool tip. Goodbye laminates. If pressed tips are good enough for the best players ever, they're good enough for me as well.

Albert is doing the best price on BDPs, 3 for £3.48, post free and he posts the next day, great service with a nice receipt and a promise to do something if things aren't right:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-x-Genuin...item3aa5d3c592

[ADR147]

I'm in the process of changing all my tips on cues to Buffalo Diamond Plus, a tip I've used in the past. It has the spin of an Elk without all the inconsistency and it doesn't throw as much as a GBL granite. I've tried every pressed tip (Le Pro aside) and every laminate. My favourite laminate is a Kamui Black S, closely followed by Cuesoul S (though this tip throws a lot).

I've found that laminates are great for stun and stun-run through and this is no surprise as laminates were originally designed not for snooker but for 9-ball. They are brilliant at punching a cue ball, or breaking a pool rack. The downsides are that they lack cue ball grip which means less top spin and screw, a third less cue ball travel on these type of shots. They are useless at holding chalk which is why Kamui developed special and expensive chalk to solve this problem. Chalk a BDP and you don't have to do it again for six shots + if you're using spruce. You can't do this with a Kamui or any of the laminates, especially a really hard one like an Aurora. Miscues are much more likely with a laminate.

If you can find a really good elk in a box (that's a one in five shot) buy an elk. Pros swear by them, Judd and Robbo both use one and no-one has more cue power than they, so go figure. But because I'm not going to have a whole box to do the nail test with and don't have time to mess around with failed elks that need to be ripped off when they deform, I'm switching to Buffalo Diamond Plus. Two years with laminates only to realise that the folk who told me they were inferior to pressed tips were right all along. I will miss smashing balls in with stun but this is a small price to pay for increased spin. I will also have to look after the tip and nurture it the way you don't have to with a good laminate but this is a small price to pay for feel in the balls that is lost with laminates.

At the end of the day, I've realised that a snooker cue needs a snooker tip, not a pool tip. Goodbye laminates. If pressed tips are good enough for the best players ever, they're good enough for me as well.

not all of them were designed for 9 ball - is that air dried pressed tips

[Master Blaster]

not all of them were designed for 9 ball - is that air dried pressed tips

You poo pooed laminates to begin with, remember? Looks like you were right, they ain't the mustard. Ronnie, Judd, Robbo, all on elks. What about Bingo or Smurf, what do they use? Not sure myself.

But the best potters with the most cue power and the greatest break-builder/player of all time use Elks. How do you get the benefits of a hard elk without the inconsistency of the soft ones in the box; buy a BDP! Afterall, a BDP is more expensive and made by the same company that makes elkmaster. Made using the same recipe as blue diamonds from the 80s when everyone used a BD. Very responsive with great cue ball control; that's the blurb! lol

[andy carson]

not all of them were designed for 9 ball - is that air dried pressed tips

behave andrew

[ADR147]

You poo pooed laminates to begin with, remember? Looks like you were right, they ain't the mustard. Ronnie, Judd, Robbo, all on elks. What about Bingo or Smurf, what do they use? Not sure myself.

But the best potters with the most cue power and the greatest break-builder/player of all time use Elks. How do you get the benefits of a hard elk without the inconsistency of the soft ones in the box; buy a BDP! Afterall, a BDP is more expensive and made by the same company that makes elkmaster. Made using the same recipe as blue diamonds from the 80s when everyone used a BD. Very responsive with great cue ball control; that's the blurb! lol

don't remember poo pooing laminates BD+ are a lot better than elk imho.

[Master Blaster]

don't remember poo pooing laminates BD+ are a lot better than elk imho.

I cannot fully agree with this, a hard elk is like heaven. But apart from finding the one (LOL) in the box, I'll be buying BDPs from Albert. Chuck said they were going to develop a laminate a couple of years ago but I'm not sure if they got round to this. Anyway, he recommended BDPs for snooker, so I went off and tried all the laminates instead! Oh dear.

I've got to question why folk like Ronnie who have tried laminates have come back to Elks as well. Single layer tips rule the roost. It's not because players haven't tried laminates, they have, they just don't like them after a while. Elks are the choice of world champions and most players but their tippers have whole boxes, most of us don't! So I go with Buffalo Diamond Plus because they are essentially BDs of old and they're consistent.

For anyone who wants to try one here are Albert's details, he's doing same day postage first class:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-x-Genuin...item3aa5d3c592

[mbgm5wb2]

A bit of an odd request gentlemen since I haven't been able to find much info by just using my "google fu". What's the best tip that is not made using pig skin/leather?

[ADR147]

A bit of an odd request gentlemen since I haven't been able to find much info by just using my "google fu". What's the best tip that is not made using pig skin/leather?

there are rubber tips but so far every one I have tried has been terrible.

[Ramon]

A bit of an odd request gentlemen since I haven't been able to find much info by just using my "google fu". What's the best tip that is not made using pig skin/leather?

which one ?? Laminated or press tips ?? most of the LM tips re made of pig skin.
however, as far as i know, Elk master is not made of pig skin.

[ADR147]

which one ?? Laminated or press tips ?? most of the LM tips re made of pig skin.
however, as far as i know, Elk master is not made of pig skin.

a few of them are buffalo also.

[mbgm5wb2]

Thanks Ramon and ADR147,

I have used Blue Diamonds in the past and some Elks as well. I wanted to try a laminated tip, any suggestions?

ADR147, I know that you speak very highly of the BD+ tips, are they made of Buffalo hide?