These days I find myself using various makes of elastic in different grades as I cannot seem to find a manufacturer that satisfies my needs throughout their entire range. I do not seem to be alone in this as when the subject was broached with my team mates it would appear that they also have the same opinion, although their choices were markedly different. It would seem, therefore, that the choice of elastic is very much down to personal preference, which goes some way towards explaining why there seems to be so many different products on offer. Not only that, but it is noticeable that each manufacturer's range that is displayed on the tackle shop wall invariably has one or two grades that are permanently out of stock!
So it was with some reservation that I waited for this batch of Milo Krepton HP Elastic to arrive, as I felt that being happy with my current set-up I perhaps was not going to be too impressed!!!
Two grades arrived for review which were No. 6 and No. 10 and my first impressions were that I was pleased to see that Milo were generous enough to supply the purchaser with a full 7m (Although I couldn't check this fully as the Editor had nicked a couple of metres for his own use!). Secondly, I could not believe that Milo had spooled their elastic on such huge plastic spools, over 4" (102mm) in diameter, making sure that there was no chance of them fitting into MY Brilo drawers! At least the spools were quite thin in section but this is not really any great help to the angler into whose boxes they are supposed to fit, but there again some anglers do their threading at home not on the bank!
I am a big fan of white elastic as I prefer to see it when it emerges on hooking a fish as I find it a lot easier to play a fish when I have some idea as to where it is and where it is trying to go. Although this elastic is not pure white, more of a cream colour, it is certainly light enough in hue to satisfy my needs and as both grades were of the same colour I can only assume that this is carried on throughout the range. I think that this is because of it's a pure latex composition and this is it's natural colour as any dying different colours would contaminate it and comprimise its strength.
When I pulled some off the spool I could feel that it was very smooth and had zero memory, I could also feel what was seemingly a very fine chalk dust normally associated with latex elastic as it left a slight residue on my fingers. Despite it's excellent stretch factor I had some misgivings about it's diameter for it's given grade, which was confirmed when I compared it to other makes. It turns out that this elastic is roughly one grade less than other brands i.e. No. 10 Milo at 1.2mm diameter is about the same diameter as other brand's No. 8. But it is only really in use that you can fully evaluate it's performance.
Unfortunately, when the elastic arrived at my house we were in the middle of a cold snap and with all of our local carp stillwaters icebound I had to wait for a while before getting the chance to give it a thorough work out. When I threaded the No. 10 through the top three of my pole I was very impressed by the way it ran - very smooth - and it seemed to have an excellent recovery rate, but I was sceptical about it's stopping power on the larger species but this I'm assured will not be a factor when the larger carp grades are released.
On arriving at my local carp water I was forced into moving peg twice before locating any fish, but they seemed loath to accept any offerings initially, their presence revealed only by a succession of "liners". As the day progressed I eventually hooked a carp and immediately it took too much elastic out of the end than I was happy with. It was a ghostie of around 3lb, neatly foulhooked under the chin and it became apparent that some adjustment to the elastics tension was in order! Towards the end of the session I connected with three more carp - all properly hooked and going to around 5lb - and now got the impression that this elastic was spot on for the job that I was asking of it on a cold day (when carp tend to be more sluggish) as I would have used a grade of elastic that would normally have equate to another manufacturers No. 8.
In conclusion, I believe that Milo have introduced a high quality product to an ever increasingly competitive sector of the market and are in the unenviable position of trying to convert anglers away from their tried and trusted brands. This product stands out to be rated amongst the very best that is currently on offer and despite it's spool size and unrealistic grading I am sure that it will find a loyal and enthusiastic following. The real test for manufacturers elastics, I feel, is in their smaller sizes and I for one will definitely be running the rule over these as and when they become available to me. The only thing that I could not comment on is it's longevity but with 7m of elastic provided there is no reason why one spool could not last for a considerable length of time - even with regular changing.
Neil Pitfield, Matchman Supplies.
Available at your local Milo stockist, RRP £3.99 for 7 metres.