Leather wraps on cues

[jbenson]

Before I send my cue away for a leather wrap, I was interested to see thoughts from people that have used a cue with that kind of wrap. Is it worth the money to have put on?

The reason I wanted to have one put on is because the linen that is on there now keeps fraying. I wear a ring on the hand that contacts the wrap and it does tend to fray alot.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[parrothead]

The only experience I have with leather wraps are with Tiger Stacked leather wraps and I have to say that they are fabulous. If I could afford it I would have one on every cue I own.

[dags_lax]

The purpose of the wrap is to soak up the sweat on your hands giving the player a consistent feel. Linen does this better than leather, or nylon. A finished, unwrapped cue is the worst, offering no absorption what so ever. Linen will offer the most consistent feel across a variety of temperatures and humidity. Now with that being said, pool is played indoors so there isn't a lot of difference in temperatures from day to day and place to place. If a player keeps his hands clean and dry he doesn't need a wrap so the choice of wrap material or no wrap is just a matter of personal preference and aesthetics. My own personal preference is for linen over leather.

Of more concern is the fact that linen is fraying from your ring at all. The leather will wear also, albeit not as rapidly as the linen. I don't think the issue is a linen vs leather problem. I would guess that your grip on the cue is to tight. You should be lightly cradling the butt of the cue in your hand.

I grabbed a cue and tried stroking it left handed and my wedding band never touched the cue. I even went so far as to call up a friend who wears big gaudy ring on his grip hand and he said he has never had a problem with excessive wear on the wrap from his ring.

Leather or linen you are going to have trouble with wear so you need to loose the ring (which may result in the loss of other things if it is a wedding band), lighten up on your grip or resign yourself to the fact that you will be replacing wraps more often than you would like.

[New Kid In The Hall]

Don't know that I have a preference. Leather is richer looking on my nice cues, but a very shiny, tightly pressed linen looks good and feels good too.

[Tanar]

I wear a ring on my middle finger of my right hand, but I take it off and put it in my pocket whenever I am playing pool. My ring is fairly new (about a year or so) so it feels weird when I stroke my cue with my ring on. Try it, you may like it.

[audiopro]

I have used, linen partial coated, linen no coat, linen fully coated, and now a leather. I have to tell ya, the leather to me feels a lot better to hold. But honestly I htink it is personal preference and the only way to truly find out is to try it. But if you look at the logic used to make other handheld items more comfortable, items that are CONSTANTLY held (Steering Wheel, Tennis Racket, Baseball Bat, Quality Swords, etc.) they all use leather. Just my two cents, however I expect change! :)

[jbenson]

I must tell you all, tonight was the first night I played competitvely with my newly leather wrapped cue. I don't know how many of you have actually played with a leather wrapped cue, but from my experience it was well worth every single cent. Not only is the grip tons better, but the comfort level is superior to anything I have ever shot with. To anyone considering a leather wrap, go for it!!

[dags_lax]

But if you look at the logic used to make other handheld items more comfortable, items that are CONSTANTLY held (Steering Wheel, Tennis Racket, Baseball Bat, Quality Swords, etc.) they all use leather. Audiopro you are absolutely right for the examples you cite. The difference is in pool you do not need a tight, chokehold grip on the cue like you do on the examples you gave. In fact if you grip a pool cue as tight as you need to grip a tennis racket or baseball bat you are going to have with problems with your stroke. Remember, pool is a game of finesse, not power.

Where I live (Wisconsin) the winters are cold and the leather seats in my car are cold. In the humid summers when I get into my car I stick to the seats. Now don't get me wrong I love my leather trim as the initial discomfort goes away soon and the added comfort that leather provides is worth the extra money, especially if I am going to be driving for any length of time. But my truck, with its cloth seats, is always comfortable when I get in it. Therein lies the (hypothetical) advantage of the linen wrap on a cue. Consistency. Linen is always going to feel the same regardless of the conditions.