Any of these floats ok?

[ClearShot]

I'm looking for reasonably priced inflatable float for travel, and have come across this selection:
Apnea - Pesca Sub - Boe - Plancette - Accessori

The Omer Atoll Buoy looks promising, and a pretty sweet price
Boa Omer Atoll,boe,boa ,pedagni,pedagno,cazzillo,pallone,pallone d'emergenza,avvolgisagola

I was thinking of making something simple out of an inner tube, and covering it with canvas or nylon for protection and line attachment.
But at these prices it doesn't seem worth it eh?

I need something pretty compact and light to carry, as i'm loaded down with gear already for my Indonesia trip. I won't be targeting anything too huge, but something appropriate for a 15kg or less fish would be nice

Anyone have any knowledge of these floats, or something that would be more suitable in a similar price range? (I'm in Europe currently)
Or an easy homemade option?

 

[Pav]

I have the Atoll. Love it. Its pretty thin, but I find it useful as you can carry a spare gun and also once you secure your gun in the velcro loops it acts as a handy handle, so if you thread your mask snorkell on the gun shaft its an easy way to carry your kit down.

I manage to squeeze a drink and chocolate bar in under the fabric. It maybe doesn't have as much float as others.

I don't hang fish from mine as tend to have them on my belt... but then no sharks hassle here!

 

[ClearShot]

Oh man, sounds good! It will hold a beer to eh..... nice!!
Thanks for the quick reply man

Can I ask how heavy the whole thing is? (a guess will do)
And does it pack up fairly small? I'll be shoving everything into my surfboard bag, and the list of gear is steadily growing....

So it's a good travel choice? Love that price....

 

[Marwan]

I would recommend you stick with torpedo style floats...The atoll is nice but doesnt do very well in wind and swell, and you dont want anything to be dragging you...A great float is something like the riffe torpedo, its more expesive but its a breeze to tow even in wind and surf and will handle big fish if needed...the typicall euro torpedo floats like omer, cressi etc will be a cheaper alternative that also works pretty well. In my view picking the right float lin is just as important as picking a float... the lines that come with the omers and cressis should not be used if you will be hunting around rocks reefs etc,,,. they are not floating lines and not tough so will get snagged and ripped and thats very frustrating...choose a good line that will be floating at the surface as you pull the float...hammerhead, omer, and rob allen make some pretty good float lines

 

[ClearShot]

aaargh so much choice...
I actually don't think i'll be able to fit one in the end, with all the gear i'm carrying.
Don't laugh, but I think I might just tie my float line off to my surfboard....
I'm totally a beginner, so i'll be very suprised if I hit anything decent.
A surfboard has plenty of float though.
When i'm in close around the reef i'll just go for pan size fish.
I'll pick up a real float when i'm back home, spend some money and get something decent.
Cheers all for the tips!

 

[Mr. X]

A cheap and cheerful, simple, inexpensive torpedo float should be fine. I use a Seatec torpedo float from spearo.co.uk, it has been surprising tough over the years. It is a simple single skin float but skin is quite thick and textured. I've patched it twice (I pull it around sharp rocks). Cressi had some nice looking ones a while back but Cressi gear has tended to be overpriced in the UK.

If big fish are likely (30lb is quite large), one of those large torpedo floats would be good. Several companies sell the same thing (Beuchat, Omer, etc). with their own name on it, it has a bladder + canvas shell + 3 black straps + diver-down flag - its the Omer Master Torpedo on the page in your link:

Either way, you'll need some lead on the bottom to keep the flag upright: a small dive weight, large fishing weight or large wheel-balance lead will usually do the trick. Rob Allen make a really nice fish stringer that can go on the back - it has a really good spike for dispatching fish, attach some tubing over the spike when not is use though! I think the above float will probably come with some orange para-cord line but polyester washing line or aquarium pipe might be a better, stiffer, buoyant option for float line [search forum for existing threads on floatlines].

Using a surfboard or boogie board will probably work fine. Don't forget a prominent diver-down flag - just this week I read of an off-duty soldier being mown down and killed by a speed boat .

 

[azapa]

buy the torpedo floats with an outer cloth cover and separate inner bladder. those bladders last about a 6 months of every weekend dives. Then you put in a R14 truck inner tube and the whole thing lasta another 3 years with incredible lift.