Safe to leave ques in car?

[bok79]

Sometimes I have to leave my cues in the trunk of my car when I am not playing. Is this at all a safe thing for the cue, as far as warping or expanding? I currently have a Predator case and a Instroke Limited they both claim to have fully insulated interiors as well as moisture protection. Would having my cues in these cases prevent the above mentioned damage, while being kept in the car?

[dhammis]

Never leave your cues in the car. It's bad for the wood and your wraps. It's just like leaving a child in the car.

--Damon

[sanj]

it doesnt matter how good your case is,but cues left overnight in the trunk can warp .you have only yourself to blame.

[maughanm]

Guaranteed to kill your stick sooner or later :evil:

[pikejl]

It's okay to do it if the temp range for the day is something like 40-degrees to 65-degrees Farenheit. Otherwise, don't do it.

The car will aplify heat. Cold isn't good for wood either. I had a girlfriend that once left a guitar of mine in her car after I told her not to. It cost a fair penny to fix it.

With a cue, it's all in the wood. Take care of the wood man!

[geezer]

Never leave your cue in your car it is not wise idea.

1. cue may warp
2. car may broke in lose your valuable cues and kit.
3. when you play shaft is cold or moisty you can't feel.

I know I would not leave my cue in my car. :twisted:

[maughanm]

I ruined a good banjo years ago leaving it in the car one day. :evil: ...Since then, I have 2 banjos. My Gibson never stays in the car...it goes with me like it is cuffed to my wrist....then I have a "creekbank banjo" or a cheaper one, that I will leave in the car for short periods of time....Just like the banjo....my Predator goes with me and never stays in the car....but I have a cheaper one that I leave under the seat.....long story short.....keep you a cheaper cue if you need to leave it in the car.....and if it warps, you haven't lost anything........ 8) :lol: mike

[hiTechie]

The pool hall is on the far side of town, so I need to leave my cue in the car. So, here's the solution that will work most of the time (Put a cheap cue in the trunk when you can not do the following):
1) My new cue case is an IGLOO 5 day, 120gal ice chest. It fits in my trunk and my instroke 2x4 and 3x5 fit perfectly (at a diagonal and they do not slide around.)
2) Put a thermal mass in the ice chest - NOT ICE. I use eight 2 liter soda pop bottles filled with water(20lbs). (You guys up north may need to add anti freeze in case you leave the chest in the car!)

Alternatives - A very minimal cue case will fit in a standard Coleman 100gal ice chest. I did this until I found the 5 day chest that a good cue case fits in. The 132gal+ chests work but your cue case will slide around.

The test results for the hottest day of the year (90deg+) using just a Coleman 100 gal with a 16lb thermal mass: At 9 am, it was 70deg inside the chest, which was in the trunk overnight. At 3pm, it was 80deg in the chest. Inside the car on a cooler day it was 110deg with the windows partly open.

Make sure it fits in your car unless strapping it to the top works for you. I checked it before buying it. 8O

[instroke]

WOW! Great post about the ice chest.

I leave my cues in the car all the time in my Instroke cases. I am not going to guarantee the same results for everyone but I have had no problems with my cues warping. At times I have had well over $50,000 in cues in Instroke cases ranging from dealer cases to tube case in the back of a Ryder truck in the middle of summer.

Instroke is the ONLY case company that actually insulates the case against temperature change and provides a moisture barrier. In our tests the case takes about 12 hours to reach the outside ambient temperature. The test were performed by placing the case directly above a heating duct and cranking the temperature to 90 degrees. Temperature was measured using a thermometer with a sensor to get the temperature inside the tubing.

So, the end result is that your Instroke/Predator will give you ice-chest like protection because that's the way it was designed. Whether you leave your cues in the car is up to you.

John Barton
Instroke Case Designer and User - would you trust a cook who wouldn't eat his own cooking :-))

[CJK]

Living where I do, the temperature can fluctuate quite a bit during the day. Winter time is very cold. While I don't have to leave my cue in the car, some friends of mine have no choice on league nights. They wrap the case in heavy blankets and place it in the trunk. This insulates the area (although not as well as the ice chest idea) and causes the temperature change to be more gradual.

[instroke]

Why wouldn't a good sleeping bag work? I know that there are sleeping bags that are very efficient at retaining heat. Also there are thin thermal blankets that are excellent at maintaining the temperature inside them.

John

[DZ314]

Hell yeah, throw the case in a good thermally efficient sleeping bag and be worry free!

[FuzzyMemory]

Does the "Safe to leave in cars all day" guarantee apply to ALL Instroke cases, or only certain models? Will the recycled-leather and vinyl covered cases hold up as well. It would be worth the extra price of the Instroke cases if I could conveniently leave my cue in my backseat all day while I'm at work and drive to the pool hall on league night w/o stopping at home to get my cues.

Also, are the cases as effective at preventing cue warpage on hot days vs. very cold ones? I live in Boston and deal w/ too many extremes in temperatures.

[audiopro]

Sooo... I live in Florida... And well, it gets kinda hot here... I have winted tindows, which does help.. I have left my cues in the car for years and have never had a problem. I have a Giuseppe case. Now then, I do take caution to park in the shaded spots as often as possible, and keep the case out of direct sunlight. So far so good. Besides typically it is extreme variance in small time periods that causes wood to warp. That's not to say that years of abuse in one extreme or the other would not eventually lead to damage.

[StB]

I would rather someone stole my car then my cue, that's why I don't leave them in the car.

[audiopro]

That's a very good point. Fortunately for me, my car is garage parked at home and my office window overlooks my parking spot during the day. But some advice for everyone is, dont advertise anything about your car. If you have a loud audio system, when you get close to your destination turn the radio down. Do not put stickers advertising what you have on your car. Having a nice looking car is one thing, but being flashy with it is just advertising. I have been in the show car world for years, and I used to alarm the hell out of my cars. But the car I have had the past 5 years, has no alarm, instead I use common sense and try to keep it garaged when possible. So far it has worked well. That's not to say an alarm wouldn't be a helpful thing to have. But it is debatable that a flashing red LED in a car may tip someone off that you have something to worth protecting.

[instroke]

Does the "Safe to leave in cars all day" guarantee apply to ALL Instroke cases, or only certain models? Will the recycled-leather and vinyl covered cases hold up as well. It would be worth the extra price of the Instroke cases if I could conveniently leave my cue in my backseat all day while I'm at work and drive to the pool hall on league night w/o stopping at home to get my cues.

Also, are the cases as effective at preventing cue warpage on hot days vs. very cold ones? I live in Boston and deal w/ too many extremes in temperatures.

Well, first of all it's not a guarantee. I just told you what I do and I have had more of a range of cues over the 13 years I have been doing Instroke than most people. The common thread is that I always leave my case in the car no matter what cues are in it and no matter what the climate.

Secondly, to answer you question, all Instroke tube cases are made the same, from the $109 Premier to the $469 Saddle Series. Whatever protective features are built in are the same for all tube case models.

John Barton