My first carrying case was my hand. For a short time, I actually just carried the cue into the pool hall without a case like a giant pair or chop sticks. It was just a used M. Fats that someone gave my dad and he gave to me.
Then I finally broke down and bought a cheap $35 case off Amazon. I remember seeing the nicer cases in my search and thinking why spend more on a case than the cues are worth.
Later when I realized I was in the game for the long haul, I purchased a couple of nice Pechauers. Then of course, I thought why am I putting these beautiful cues in such a crappy case?
The quest for a better bag began. My research kept pointing me to a JB Case. I really liked the cue protection they offered. I already had done a lot of my own modifications to the case I was using to make it tolerable, like adding a cut up wash cloth to pad the openings and make the fit snugger.
I was seeing great reviews and great protection for the JBs. Then I saw I could design it the way I wanted with their online case designer so I started playing around with that. As noted in other reviews the designer has some flaws, but it is still better than anything else out there. Some options are missing, and I am sure they will update it when they can. If you are just changing colors, moving pockets, or adding D-rings it works fine. For a more complex design you can make a pretty good mock-up of what you want and then work with them to tweak the final design. I was very happy with the interaction during the whole process. I worked with Asia, and she was very helpful and pleasant to work with.
As much as I like the leather cases, they are out of my price range. Nylon was my direction and I liked the idea of the butterfly case. After seeing a bunch of custom case examples online I started thinking about what I could do that was cool and unique to really make it mine. After hours of searching for the perfect image to add to the case I was coming up empty. Then I looked across the room and there it was all the time. Framed on the wall was a pen and ink drawing my Dad made for me many years ago when I owned my Scuba business. Not only was the image just what I wanted, but the layout was a perfect fit for the top of the case.
I scanned the image and sent it in, but we soon determined it would look terrible as a line drawing. I started to colorize the image, but I don’t have good enough software to do it justice, so I let their artist take over. After a some back and forth to tweak the image we got it looking how I wanted and still be able to transfer it to an embroidery. The text on the pocket is an inside joke to myself. I am a programmer so wanted something that related to coding and pool. It says “break cue” using the same font I usually code in.
My first choice was a 3x6, but the 4x8 is only an inch wider so why not. The image has more room and if I ever need the extra space, I’ll have it. Nothing was built yet so they let me make the change. At the same time, I decided to add the other strap to make it backpack straps. They were very flexible about adding or subtracting options. I also added an extra D-ring in between the backpack D-rings so I can hang the bag from a hook to keep it off the dirty floor.
My overall experience was excellent. I was informed at the beginning it would take longer than normal right now. Nobody wants to wait, but with the all the back and forth to get the artwork right, I thought 3 ½ months was reasonable. The case is very well built and looks really great.
I am going to use it for a while to see how it handles in the wild. I know I will love the case, but in smaller bars I am wondering if it might be too much bag. I may end up with 2x3 rugged for those situations…we’ll see.
Description overview:
- 4x8 Butterfly with leather handles
- Backpack straps
- Custom Embroidery
- Embroidered text on pocket
- Extra D-Ring on back
- Black nylon case with purple pocket accents and purple stitching
- Purple interior
- Gray backpack pads and pocket zipper pulls
- Purple zipper pulls on main case
So Here it is!
