McDermott Competitor Series as breaking cue

Hi

I play 8 ball pool in New Zealand. I currently have a John Parris snooker cue for my playing cue (made especially for me) & a very cheap & nasty fibreglass 9 ball cue as a breaking cue. 8 ball pool here uses a slightly lighter & smaller ball to 9 ball in the states.

Ive been looking on the net for a new breaking cue & have looked at cuetec, 5280, scorpion & lucasi jump breaks which are all the same price as a competitor series McDermott. I dont need or want the jump capabilty however.

The McDermott looks a much higher quality cue than any of the other cues Ive looked at.

How does the wood joint fare when used for breaking? Is the competitor series McDermott a better cue than the other cues I have mentioned above? Do I need to spend more on a tournament range cue to get a better than mass produced cue through McDermott?

Thank you

[skor]

The cuetec would be more durable since it has a fiberglass coating on it.
I would go with the McDermott, I used to have a lower level McDermott that I've used for breaking and it did a good job.
Why don't you consider the Fury jump/break cue, it's in your price range and it will break better then any of the above
http://www.seyberts.com/pool_cues/series.php?series_id=85

[skor]

By the way, do you really have that rule over there that is someone is running the table then the opponent needs to drop his pants (trousers 8) )

Thanks guys

Yeah that rules called a down - trou. If you geta turn at the table & fail to sink a ball then you're supposed to drop your pants. Doesnt actually happen like that but!

Back to the cue selection however, the fury jump break has a phenolic tip & I think I might get my hand smacked here if I try to use that. I did read on this site that those phenolic tips put a very slight ding in the cue ball & I dont think that would be acceptable here.

Also no one here uses phenolic tips yet so if anything goes wrong with I would struggle to get it repaired.

Since posting I have had a look at the McDermott joint detail & I think I will go Viking instead. I am thinking F109 Snake. Looks like a very nice cue, simple & solid. Also a standard Viking cue scored higher than a predator bk in the Platinum billiards.com break cue test. Probably just a stiff shaft & reasonably hard tip.

Also everything Ive read on this site about Viking suggests that whatever happens I wont buy rubbish with one of their cues.

Any thoughts on the Viking Snake?

[ra[g]e]

Hrm.. I don't think banging phenolic against phenolic will give you much problems (the cue ball is made of phenolic reisin as well, albeit slightly harder than phenolic tips).

Also, the fury j/b tip comes with a lifetime warranty, so you shouldn't need to worry about damage!

Just a small aside, A cue shop here in NZ stocks Mitchell (3of) & Cuetec (2 of)cues. The brand new cuetec I looked at had two cracks in the fibreglass coating on the shaft. Looked very dodgy & they want $375.00 NZ for it ($230 US).

[mechmat]

The phenolic used in pool balls is considerably stronger than that used in tips. A cue with a phenolic tip will not damage the balls.

[skor]

Actually it will.....
But you guys need to understand that they use smaller balls over there, they are the size of snooker balls - 52.4 mm (instead of the 57.15mm of the standard pool ball), that means that those balls are lighter so you can get a good spread with a regular cue.