I recently bought a piece of Kamui chalk for about $30. WHAT?! $30 for a single piece of pool chalk…have I lost my marbles? Why in the world would I pay $30 for something that I can get for free by just asking for it at the front desk? It had better deliver some pretty damn impressive performance to justify that price!
And it does.
I’ve been playing with it consistently for a few weeks now and I’m exceedingly happy with it. Of course, there are pros and cons with Kamui chalk as there are with any product: Pros: I only chalk about once a rack. I do not miscue anymore. I don’t even worry about miscues any more…it’s just one less variable to think about. For some reason, using Kamui chalk has made me think more about the condition of my cue tip, and so I’m taking better care of my tip and doing some light maintenance before each of my playing sessions. Cons: The $30 price tag. The chalk is very soft, so it tends to crumble more than standard free chalk. The cube itself is rather small: a little thinner and shorter than the standard chalk cube. Nothing that a little scotch tape and washers can’t handle if you are using a chalk holder. It also has a tendency to leave chalk marks on the cue ball if you apply too much chalk to your tip.
Here’s my philosophy: If I have the opportunity to reduce variation and eliminate or dramatically reduce an area of concern, why would I not make that investment? When I’m playing serious pool, I want to take advantage of every option available to me. Yeah, $30 is a steep price to pay for chalk, but how much is your game worth? How do you put a price on your confidence? Besides, how fast can you really go through that piece of chalk if you are only chalking once or twice a rack? I’m very happy with the performance of the chalk. I just wish it was closer in size to the standard chalk cube.
Angle of Reflection 