I used chimps for ages and also Gents and speeds,never had a problem with them falling to bits.

Had problems with them takeing on water,thats why i stopped using them and switched to Hillbillys and Malmans.

I use the Chimps and Belters and never have problems with them falling apart.

Why would so many anglers use them if they break so easily?

They are superb floats!!

Taking on water is the main fault imo , If I get any more I will give them a coat of hard as nails , dont see why I should have to though.
Wire stems on “chimps” slight pain getting exact fitting silicon , but less bent stems if you add more rubbers.

ive used kc’s for years and never had a problem, if they do take on water i just take a shot off lol all the patterns just seem to fish better than any handmades ive used so i just put up with the odd problem and live with it.

i used cubes and shallow floats all last summer needless to say ive none left as they,ve all broke mainly the eyes pulling out.i went away last summer and took six made up rigs i came back with one il now be using nick gilbert floats this year.

when you consider the floats are being produced for a few pence probably in East Europe somwhere it is not surprising the quality is poor.

Joe Carass, maybe you have just tried the wrong handmade floats? ~shh

I use a few KC’s and really like them. For me they fill a gap that hasnt been filled by handmade floats. By the way i use the Chimps, Belters and Gents in the main. I do treat them with hard as nails though.

seeing as we are on the topic of floats, i was wondering if fibreglass stems offer the same amount of stability of wire stems such as the chimps.

In my opinion a glass stem will give you something near the stability of wire although the stem will need to be a bit longer.

I’m looking to make a float in the near future that should exactly match the performance of the Carpa wire stemmed floats but be more durable. These will be fitted with 1.5mm and 1.2mm hollow tips

kc’s are great, just a coat of hard as does the trick and they last forever. never experienced hand made so not sure what im missing

Durability isnt an issue with KC carpas as far as i am concerned. I very rarely if ever have a side eye pull out and i dont suffer from the stem pulling out either. Okay they take on a bit of water from time to time but if treated this doesnt happen either. As far as i am concerned KC Carpas are far and away the best range of commercially available pole floats in terms of both the range of patterns and durability.

Likewise I am also looking at a similar but strong and watertight design.

I dislike chimps a lot, but the cubes are good.

Chimps and Belters are brilliant winter floats but I wouldn’t use them for bagging, but the Gent is possibly the most stable float I’ve ever used for laying line on the bottom, brilliant.

I use the chimps, gents and margins all year round, with chimps in winter especially, for stability there brilliant.

I have also found they take on water especially the gents.

Cant fault them though on durability though as ive never had a problem

chimps are brill but a pain in the arse to shot in the 4×10 size.

mike the next time im down at alders i will give you some that ive just got hold of an i think they are possibly the best handmade float around at the moment..

Nice one Brett, you fishing the last one on the 14th feb?

Don’t keep it to yourself then, who makes them.

6mm wire stem fixed into 1.2/1.5 reinforced hollow hi vis antenna, in a tear drop, s1zes 0.2/0.3/0.4/0.5/0.8 and 1.1 gram.e/mail [email protected]

@nick_the_2nd wrote:

In my opinion a glass stem will give you something near the stability of wire although the stem will need to be a bit longer.

I’m looking to make a float in the near future that should exactly match the performance of the Carpa wire stemmed floats but be more durable. These will be fitted with 1.5mm and 1.2mm hollow tips

Its not to do with weight, its to do with density. You will never get a glass stem to work the same as a wire stem, steel is about 3 times denser than glassfibre. This density forces the float to sit upright, the denser it is the greater the force. Also the weight in the stem of a 4×10 carpa chimp is approx .25g, the same length of 1.2mm glass would have the same weight but because of archimedies princple to make that stem have the same effect of the float in terms of body size it would have to be twice as long longer. A 20cm+ long float would be a bit usless in 2ft of water.

That is why I say something near as it is impossible to match wire without making the stem overly long. I know thick short glass stems do not stablise the float very well.

The new floats will have a wire stem, with 1.5mm and 1.2mm tips. I just plan to make the build quaity better so the floats last 5 hours without sinking!

should read, email [email protected]