I actually haven’t tried to pull a pint without the tip. There’s a long argument on both sides of the sparkler argument that, as a 30 year old American, I have no business fighting for or against. Historically, the fluffy head on a real ale was the result of a heafty pull from the bar-keep, not a sparkler tip or swan neck. All I’m really going for is a recreation of what I drank in England last summer, and the only way I can do that with a Camper pump is to use the tip. I should try it, though, just to see how it goes.