Use stones before hosting a competition or brand new?

[Elliot_Storey]

I think using stones beforehand eliminates a competitive advantage of having the first few guys take off the dust.

[Scott Porter]

Broken in yes.

[Russell Selcho]

I just saw what happens when trying to load a new stone, the sound of ripping skin was not so good. It actually sounded like velcro tearing. I know skin rips off with tacky and used stones but the new stone sounded 10x worse.

[Marcelo]

Break them in first.

[Justin Warren]

Definately broken in.

[Jeff Bach]

Gotta use them first.

On second thought if I am in a contest new would be great so I wouldn't be the only one that sucks on stones :N:

[Matt Brouse]

I voted for 'What are stones?' What a douche I am. Probably best to break 'em in a bit.

[Mike Beyers]

Learned the hard way when we hosted the Garden State Fall Classic. the stones were brand new, and still too dusty. Did the best we could to clean them off, bu they were much more difficult to handle. The only thing that eliminated the dust is USE.

[Mike Westerling]

..I've had the misfortune to go first on a new set and it completely ruined my time. After the first pick my tacky was covered with powder and it took me almost 3x as long as it should have. Then every one that went after me had increasingly better times. With the last or second to last guy winning the event. Very disheartening begining to my first contest.
-Mike