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Hi all, still very much new to this forum so I apologise if I've posted in the wrong section.

Been looking at pk rings and was just wondering if any of you have had any luck with the cheap eBay ones? In particular, are they a strong enough magnet and does their coating scrape off? Or should just get the original expensive one?

Thanks in advance. Joey

To be honest, you really do get what you pay for with this sort of thing. Often those ebays ones will be a much lower quality, the strength and finish wont be anywhere near as good as an original. I wouldn't waste your money on any of the cheap ebay knock offs, you'll only probably end up getting fed up with them and buy the more expensive version anyway.

Thanks for your reply and advice, I think I'm still gonna have a look into the cheap eBay ones since there's such a price difference. I'll probably find out exactly what you've just told me but I'll post the findings.

Seeing as most PK rings end up unused at the bottom of the magic junk drawer I would argue that it doesn't matter. I use mine all the time but it required a lot of work to get things down. Which I was expecting due to the length of time I've been in this business. Others I am afraid purchase the ring expecting the usual miracles which don't just happen.

Here is the thing, (despite my first sentence) If you buy a cheap one you will absolutly not like it and you will then not be inclined to get one that will actually allow you to do the things you invision. I'm willing to bet that if you buy a cheap one it will be gathering dust in just a few weeks time. There is a reason the good ones are expensive. The components that go into making up a good pk ring is not a cheap endeavour.

Go big or go home.

Well for ten pounds delivered, it's not too bad. It doesn't seem to be as powerful as the YouTube videos show the original to be but it does the two tricks that I wanted it for, looks like a real ring and seems perfect for the off the cuff amateur magician like myself. Thanks for your advice though, I'm sure I'll end up getting the proper one if I find myself using it regularly.

Joey

out of curiosity what are you using yours for?

I'm not joey7415963, but I thought I'd weigh in here. I wear my (premium) PK ring almost everywhere (curiously, I didn't put it on this morning), because it's a useful thing to have for impromptu magic. The thing I do most-often is safety-pin-through-business-card, because I've got my wallet pre-equipped with everything I need to do so very convincingly (and it's a fun way to give out business cards, whether for magical purposes or in my "day job"). With more preparation, I also perform a cap-through-bottle and Murphy's "Spike".

I've never really enjoyed the look of the classic "PK-ish" effects; if I'm going to go down that route I'd far rather use IT (and honestly; I've so-far never had the patience to learn to handle IT gently enough). Oh, and the biggest problem with wearing a ring all the time? You have to take care to think about how you're going to palm certain coins, or else lean on your other hand!

Dan Q wrote:and the biggest problem with wearing a ring all the time? You have to take care to think about how you're going to palm certain coins, or else lean on your other hand!

Certainly a problem but I bought a stainless steel wedding band style ring from Argos for about a fiver which is almost identical with the same style PK ring. This I wear every day so the fingers are used to a ring being there but nothing sticks to it and the slightly more fragile neo ring is stored safely out of harm's way in a ring box. When a PK effect is nigh, a swift change of ring on the QT and nobody spots the difference.

Sadly Argos no longer sell the ring but a bit of Googling will find them - ebay shows one for £5.50 with free P&P at http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/25103755 ... 108&ff19=0

I'm aware that the manufacturer of my PK ring specifically makes an identical non-PK version, but I've actually gotten used to the fringe benefits of a neo- ring for everyday use: like when I drop a tiny screw down the back of a computer case, I can retrieve it "like magic". I suppose I should look into a more-durable "general" version, though, to help preserve the life of the PKer.

I have a signet version which allows everyday use and deliberate placing of a pk object on the ring then dropping it into the specs hand for examination...... while they look I switch on the rings power.