DAM unusual floats (snipped from ebay) - What do they do?

[Vole]

Now the auction is out of the way (did one of "Us" win them?), can anyone tell me what these three beauties/beasties (eye of the beholder!) were designed to do, and how they work? They look as though they might be three-ring-slider types, but the arrangements for the upper and middle rings seem a bit too complicated. Also, why the three slanted holes and internal "workings" (a piston of some sort?) in the "Vista vario Track" one?













I'm beginning to wish I'd had a "punt", now!

[Paddex]

just looking at the pics, Vole,
eigenschwer means by its own weight, so I suppose a weighted float
the grey one on the right hand side (Tragkraft - carrying capacity) carries weights up to 8 g
and I suppose you can add shots throught the holes
I don't know if you can turn the lower ring, then maybe its for fixing a certain depth,
otherwise they look like g(s?)liding floats
never seen a Vista float, they look 70s-80s, I'll search my catalogues

[Robbi]

I wonder if you could put ground bait in them ?

[Nobby]

Or maggots.....

[Paddex]

I found another picture of a vista float (also from the bay)
looks like a sliding part inside (with a gasket, O-ring?)
that locks the shots probably and changes the volume of the trapped air

[Vole]

Thank you, Paddex! Was that the photo of the (apparently) same trio when they were in Berlin, accompanied by a reel?
I didn't spot the O-ring in the "Vario"; it looks like the top of a foam piston, which would allow you to vary its loading, the slots being to allow water in easily. That much now makes sense.
I also failed to notice the vertical groove in the orange shoulder of the "Celli", and the mysterious hole in the white top of the "Eigenshwer" (Google Translate turned "Eigen schwer" into "Intrinsically Difficult", which I guessed at meaning "self-working" or "built-in wizardry" or similar. I suppose "Burden" or "Load" could mean "difficulty".

On closer inspection, the two trios are different - the "Eigenshwer" that I snipped is missing the white insert into the groove in the green bulge near the bottom of the float.
How strange that two trios of the same three unusual floats should be sold within a couple of weeks of each other!

I now see that the two "Vista" floats have very heavy-duty rubber caps set into grooves just above the bottom of each float... why? How could you get the line under them? Are you not supposed to? Do they provide a sort of high-friction brake pad for the line to pass over?
The more I look, the less I understand! (So, no change there, then...)

[Paddex]

Thank you, Paddex! Was that the photo of the (apparently) same trio when they were in Berlin, accompanied by a reel?
(Google Translate turned "Eigen schwer" into "Intrinsically Difficult", which I guessed at meaning "self-working" or "built-in wizardry" or similar. I suppose "Burden" or "Load" could mean "difficulty".

On closer inspection, the two trios are different - the "Eigenshwer" that I snipped is missing the white insert into the groove in the green bulge near the bottom of the float.
How strange that two trios of the same three unusual floats should be sold within a couple of weeks of each other!

I now see that the two "Vista" floats have very heavy-duty rubber caps set into grooves just above the bottom of each float... why? How could you get the line under them? Are you not supposed to? Do they provide a sort of high-friction brake pad for the line to pass over?
The more I look, the less I understand! (So, no change there, then...)

probably you must see them in the flesh, Vole, I think they are the same floats (in Berlin, ended in Feb, the 3 floats and a Quick 248)
I suppose the bottom caps have holes for the line that can be open or blocked, you see a similar hole in the white ring on top of the grey float,
the black ring can be turned and block that hole, all three floats have a similar black part, the white slider on the bottom of the green float is surely for the same purpose (turn or slide fore blocking the line)
I don't know what the little hole is for - DAM had a line of floats, they called them Flötenlochposen (flute hole floats)
the antenna can be seen very well and if you get a bite the water flows through the hole and the antenna without resistance
the holes are bigger though


a moment ago I won two of these Celli floats, if they arrive we will know more


I just love the creativity of these translation programs,
eigenschwer is eigen - own, or on its own and schwer - heavy, so literally heavy by its own weight
but schwer can also be difficult - eine schwere rute is a heavy rod
but deutsch ist eine schwere sprache ( german is a difficult language)

[Vole]

Thank you so much, Paddex, this is getting fascinating!
Have I got this right: the floats can be used as self-setting or depth-finding three-ring sliders, then changed to free-running sliders or fixed floats, according to the needs of the water the depth-finder mode shows you have in front of you, without having to cut the line to re-thread it? The groove under the base rubber of your new green float would enable the line to slide, but if you pinch the rubber and slide the line around and out of the groove, it can be trapped by the rubber as soon as you release your grip.
Something about the key-ring slot on the upper rings of the Vistas suggests they might also be released to run as bottom-only sliders. Very clever!
The flute-hole patterns are very much like the Sundridge (I think) "Hollotips", but I recall reading about a French float with a hollow tip with a whistle-hole which actually whistled as it sank - if it went quickly enough. I suspect it was not sunk at high speed often enough to be a commercial success.
The DAM build quality looks very rugged; hollotips were just a push-fit (But you could buy replacements when they fell off...) whereas these are rivetted.

[DaveM]

I saw these Vole and was tempted, never bothered bidding, wish I did now!