I've heard mixed reviews about these stones. stuff like they're too big and won't fit, or even that the black rubs off a little on the hands. does anyone have any experience with these stones? I'm thinking about purchasing my first full sized set to play on and take to my local club. i was also wondering if they would fit on the bamboo board offered at shodan imports. if anyone can help with this, i would be thankful.

Is there any particular reason that their antibacterial nature is a good thing? It isn't obvious to me that it's worth caring about, but I know very little about these things.

I'm afraid I have no experience with the stones.

they said that it has to do with the material it's made out of, so that the stones don't become a fungus metropolis. and i imagine it's just generally good i guess. also described as indestructible...

Now if I do get some infectious bug from you, I can be sure that it is a drug-resistant superbug. Please use anti-biotics only when necessary.

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i'm pretty sure it's not antibiotics. it could be antibacterial in the same way sphagnum moss is, so i'm sure there is no fear of that.

I had a set, I found them to be too light for personal tastes.

They had so little density, that sometimes placing a stone on a cluttered board would cause an entire row to shift.

But...

$8, really is a bargain.

Or bleach - funny how you never hear anybody suggest that we'll have bleach-resistant e-bola any day!

Funny how these "antibacterial" things are marketed to places where they are clearly not needed.

Please do wash your hands with soap and dry them with a towel instead of starting to use antibacterial stones. It is a much healthier way to do things, as washing hands also removes toxins in addition to removing the bacteria.

my biggest problem is selecting stones that will be sturdy enough. i live in a small dorm room and am worried about breaking them. are the marble stones sturdy?

I have a set of the "Hi-tech Antibacterial" stones, a set of marble stones, and a bamboo board like the one advertised by Shodan Imports. I also have a shin-kaya board and yunzi stones*.

The Hi-tech stones are made from a synthetic marble akin to DuPont™ Corian® which is used for kitchen and bathroom counters. The material is resistant to bacterial growth which is why it is advertised as "Antibacterial". The material is not anti-microbial and will not help to create a Super-Bug that will kill us all. The stones a virtually indestructible and have been approved for use in prisons since they can not be ground down or shattered into a sharp edge. The stones are Japanese size (⌀21cm) and very light. You should consider the stones as plastic, although I think the weight and texture are superior to the other plastic stones I have seen.

The marble stones are made from solid, natural, marble. They can be shattered with some effort and I did have one break due to a flaw in the stone. They are heavier than Yunzi but not as heavy as slate. The stones are Chinese size (⌀22cm) and will tend to crowd a board sized for Japanese stones.

The bamboo board is heavy and slick. The 1.2 cm board weighs as much as a 15cm kaya board and the glossy finish gives the board a high "click" sound as opposed to the deep "thonk" sound you get from a natural wood board. The board is sized for the larger Chinese stones, but Japanese stones do not look odd on it.

As to which set you should get depends on what you want to do with it. If you are looking for a table board to keep at home, the bamboo board with marble stones is ideal. I think the esthetics of the bamboo and marble, especially paired with bamboo bowls, is much nicer looking and to play on then yunzi and shin-kaya. If you want a set that is transportable, both the bamboo/marble and yunzi/shin-kaya are too heavy to easily transport and prone to damage. In that case a folding board and "Hi-Tech" stones are ideal. The lighter and cheaper the better.

*We can discuss the inverse relationship between the quantity of Go equipment and the quality of Go skill at another time

In general, with the exception of really evil bacteria, it's the people who are more exposed to them that are least often sick. Americans with their obsession with anti-bacterial this and that are actually lowering their resistance.

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Thanks for the information, everyone!

"Anti-bacterial" properties being marketed as preventing fungus.
Antibiotic and antibacterial being used interchangeably.
Ebola (a virus) being used to a illustrate a comparison to antibiotic resistance.

Awful biology ITT.

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