We use the solid brass pucks with the rubber o-rings around them and so far they are the best puck we've played with We have a smoothed concrete bottom (not painted) that is fairly rough. I'd say that probably half of the pools in the US have this bottom as it's cheap to make. To date I can't say we've had any pool damage and that's after playing with that brass puck for over 1.5 years. It has not been a concern for us so far.

The biggest problem people have with the soid brass puck without O-rings is that is that the sticks do not 'grip' the puck well and it's a little harder to throw and control - but it's very predictable. The biggest problem for the brass puck with the O-rings is that the O-rings can catch the bottom as well if they are raised ont he corners. We've had good luck in using roud orings to eliminate the corner to resist catching. Another problem is that the black rubber O-rings can make marks on the bottom of the pool - but painted wooden sticks make more marks. Orings in the past have come off wuite a bit too, but using a single band (vaccuum cleaner belt) or using glue to attach the O-rings is a fix for that.

One other problem is that the current rule state that the puck must be a bright color. Does that mean we have to use brasso on the puck prior to each game in a tournament?

We've tried the pink or green Aussie(?) pucks and they work OK, but they wear out in about three months.

We tried the CanAm Uni and Uni II pucks, but the soft edges catch the bottom o fhte pool like a pencil eraser and stop the puck dead or make it turn up on end or over like crazy lending to slow and uncontroled puck movements which in my opinuion leads itself to bashing style hockey (I can explain more about htis later, but it's somewhat off subject for now). If the CanAM Uni pucks could harden the outer material to that of the Aussie pink or green pucks or if the mateial shoulder could be reduced so that it were kept a couple MM off the bottom or designed otherwise so that it didn't catch the bottom, it may be better.

In the end, for the pool bottom we play on, the best puck in my opinion is the brass puck.

Sparky
San Francisco Sea Lions