Hey,
Is there anyone that own a number of different marked decks that could help me out.
I have a routine where the spectator handles the deck for the entire routine and I just don't feel confident enough with the boris wild deck I have.
I'm been checking out the ultimate marked deck but am wondering if there is better out there.
Any help would be much appreciated...

Kieran

Kieran,
You could also check out the Fournier 505 deck with the red back design. Deceptive but also easy to gain the information required. This along with the ultimate deck are the main two decks that I use frequently.
Hope that helps.

Which marked deck one prefers is a higly subjective choice - it's all about visiblity vs. ease of use. There are quite a few things to factor in, think of poor eyesight, decoding time, multiple or single mark locations, handling restrictions and so on....
The list of marking systems is long and ranges from easy-to-read ones like BW to completely hidden binary based systems.
It would massively help you to test different systems yourself...

Read Bob Farmer's marking system in Kirk Charles's Marked for Life (cheap, like $10), get a red sharpie, and you'll never have to buy a marked deck again.

Mr. Farmer's breakthrough "Farmarx" marking system is more thoroughly explained in MAGIC Magazine (October 1996), pp. 86–87.

My own "BikeMarks" system (in Idiopraxis) is an evolution of this.

I have very por eyesight and just cant see the marks on regular decks, does anyone know a way to make marks easily visible but still meaningless to the layman ?

In the above mentioned book, Marked for Life, there's another Bob Farmer creation called Blob-a-vision if I recall, which he claims is ideal for at a distance viewing. I've never tried it out so I can't say; it's a clever system but requires some work to learn. Again, you can do the marking yourself with a sharpie.

That's an excellent suggestion, landmark. Another great DIY system is Mr. Peter McCabe's.

Personally, I think the Wild deck is a good one.

What is the difference between the information contained in the Kirk Charles' "Marked for Life" book and the Kirk Charles' "Hidden in Plain Sight" book?

In my brief reading here and over at Amazon, I seem to understand that the "Marked for Life" book deals, in part, with one or more Bob Farmer marked deck creations while the "Hidden in Plain Sight" book seems to be dealing (substantially?) with the Boris Wild marked deck system. Do I have that correct?

Additionally, and regardless of the above-described Bob Farmer/Boris Wild "distinctions", is the remainder of each of the books dealing with substantially the same marked deck information? In other words, does a person have to buy both of these books for generalized marked deck information?

Thanks for the info in these regards.

Mike

Thanks for the info guys, I will try them out abd see how I get on.

Have you considered the GT Speedreader deck? I've tried several (including the Boris Wild deck), but I find Speedreader to be the most practical of them all. Also, the marking is of course nearly invisible!

I must admit I like the look of the GT Speedreader deck, having had a look at the images of the back design this is another deck to put onto my must have list. Looks very practical, and deceptive,I'm going to be picking one up soon. Thanks for pointing this in my direction.

Boris Wild's marking system and GT Speedreader for me. I can't pick the best one out of these two so I use both of them.

I don't recommend using a Sharpie to mark cards. If the light catches it right the ink reflects and really stands out. I learned the hard way on this one.

I've had that experience with blue ink, but not with red.

Is there a specific type of pen/pencil that you've found to be ideal? Colored pencils maybe?

That's interesting, Mr. Burton. Pete McCabe specifically recommends ultrafine tip Sharpies in colors that seem exactly to match the colors of red & blue Bicycle rider back cards. It worked for me, and as the markings are quite small, I didn't notice this problem.