I hear and read about how c300 covers and Track covers last longer than Hammer and Ebonite covers. I'm curious to know how one company's covers that are made in the same building don't lose reaction as fast as another company's covers.  I just can't see them using different materials for each individual company when they are all produced in the same facility. Does anyone else see a difference in the durability of the 4 Ebonite brands covers when compared to each other or is this something that doesn't exist?

Rumors. That's all it takes, based off speculation, not reality.

Take a plant tour there guys and you'll see a lot more. I went thru the plant with Jeff Ussery and they have different totes of resin material from different manufactures that their chemist formulates depending on what they want and what company. Just the same as Radical modifies the Brunswick covers to meet their needs and wants.

The covers are made by the same people in the same place. So i doubt there is any difference

 My wife bakes lots of different types and flavors of cakes. She uses the same pans, the same oven, the same kitchen, and most of the same ingredients, yet they all come out very different just by slightly altering a few SPECIFIC ingredients.

 Polymers and resins work much the same way. You can create multitudes of different outcomes using the same basic ingredients. You don't need different chemicals to produce them, just altering the ratio in formulation can make all the difference.

 

The idea that only two of the four brands consistently have short cover lifes is where it gets interesting. They should all be similar cycles to some varying degree.

The only balls I have ever thrown that consistently showed a longer life than other brands were the Brunswick activator and PK 18 pearl shells.  Even with them I think another factor people don't think about comes into play.  Brunswick cores have always been noted for their rolly nature as opposed to more skid flip like early Storm equipment.  The first thing impacted by oil absorption is the tendancy to flip off the break point.  If you are throwing a skid flip ball you will more quickly notice the impact of shell degradation and/or oil absorption.  If you are looking at a more rolly end over end look the oil absorption doesn't impact the ball reaction as noticeably. 

Storm equipment has gotten away from the extreme skid flip reactions in much of their line.  Note the difference between a Marvel pearl, and balls like the X Factor from 10-15 years ago.  Interestingly their shells seem to hold up longer than they once did. 

Ebonite shells have historically been among the worst for longevity.  I have no idea how much they tweak the formula from brand to brand under their expanded umbrella of lines.