Shopping Product Reviews

What’s the word on the Stinger Jump/Break pool cue?

The recently released Stinger by Jerico Cues is distributed by the National Billiards Academy and manufactured in the USA by Jerry Powers of Jerico Cues. The aforementioned dealer claims that it is “The World’s Largest Jumping Cue”, and has been a recent hot topic in the industry by both consumers and professional players.

What are the selling points of the stinger?

1) The stinger has two quick release joints, which can be considered extraordinarily convenient for a jump cue, as you have an extra joint that you will need to play with occasionally when making your jump shots. Time efficiency… That’s what I’m talking about. Other than that, who wants to get carpal tunnel while playing pool?

2) It comes in a variety of different exotic woods: Bocote, Cocobolo, Purpleheart and Ebony. The Stinger can also be priced a bit lower as a “sneaky pete” version that uses maple wood. It turns out that I find exotic woods very attractive. A lot of jump/rests I’ve seen tend to look a bit plain, but with the fabulous finish on these cues, the wood really does look good. Which brings me to my next point… the ending.

3) Jerry at Jerico Cues has developed a pretty awesome finish that looks fabulous AND protects and seals the wood from the effects of moisture and dirt. He seals to a depth of about a millimeter throughout the cue, allowing it to have a great shiny look.

4) It is currently used by several professional players around the world, including: Mike Massey, Kid Delicious, Tony Robles, Jennifer Barretta, Ronnie Wiseman, Chris Lynch, Edwardo Roldan, Bill Meima (2004 world jump shot champion), Sarah Ellerby, Randy Whitehead, Billy Banks and Lynette Horsburgh (UK Snooker Champion).

So what is the big fuss about?

Outside of the listed outlets, the Stinger offers a lot of performance promise, including a patented tip/ferrule technology and a special tip material.

The patented spike/socket technology used by Stinger makes use of a “stinger” that projects downward through a hole in the center of the socket (imagine a thumbtack). Upon impact, the impact of the blow travels through the center of the tip and down the stinger, passing the energy of the impact directly to the center of the shaft, unlike the ferrule.

The toe material used by Stinger was developed specifically for the purpose of breaking/jumping. It is a proprietary high performance material that DOES meet the Billiard Congress of America specifications for jump/rest tips. The tip material and the ferrule material are, unlike the Sledgehammer, separate components. The tip/ferrule combination used by The Stinger promises a strike that sends the strike to the center of the shaft via Jerico Cues’ patented technology.

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