recently picked up some of these:
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impressions:
pro-
These things are reaally clear. They look like glass and give my darts finished look. ( they almost look too good to throw.) They do reduce the shadow cast by the dart somewhat and i feel they improve vision of the target if my previous dart lands low and covers what i'm aiming at.

cons- They are very rigid, meaning that they do not bend like the regular nylons i normally throw. Also, because of this, it is difficult, to properly secure the flight especially if you use thicker flights. because of the way the flight slots are cut, the very tip of the flight is tightly secured but the tips of the shaft (flight end) tend to spread and makes the flightly wobble a bit.
Another drawback is that my standard rings do not work with these. i have not tried them with punched flights.

Overall-very affordable, look good, but i dont like how my flights fit in these. I've had 2 incoming darts catch the spreaded shaft ends which resulted in bounce outs. I think they would work well with punched flights and rings or especially if your using wizlocks. If you like clear or transparent nylons i suggest the clear opals. they have more flex, work well with rings and the tips are snug all the way up.

For the time being i will stick to regular black nylons and the clear opals.
happy darting!

I always liked the look of the bubble stems, only problem is I think they break too easily.

I like the look of the edge glow stems too:


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I agree with Grip, Got a set with Rasta's and though sharp looking broke two shafts within a few minutes. for looks I give a 10 for durability a one for a score of only 5. Not for me. Like Rumancork its hard to beat nylons which for looks are an 8 and durability a 10 for a score of 9 for me. Thats my take.

Agree, they are cheap enough but do break very easily.

Also agree, they look great but not when they only have 3 prongs left on them

Got me some target short bubble shafts because I couldn't find target short nylons. I'm hoping they won't break so soon.

let us know how how you get on with them

Try using stem caps on them, you wont break them with robin hoods then.

My grandads work fine. He can't find where he put the 3rd stem but they've lasted him years

Thought I'd try some a few months back since my shop was out of short nylons that I usually use. Well I've been pleasantly surprised to say the least. I've had them on now for 2 months playing 1 hr. per day and we are into our 6th week of league. I've had numerous bounce outs and I hit my darts quite often and have not replaced one shaft, they also look awesome on my chizzys with storme points and power max clear yellow flights.

Saber wrote:

I agree with Grip, Got a set with Rasta's and though sharp looking broke two shafts within a few minutes. for looks I give a 10 for durability a one for a score of only 5. Not for me. Like Rumancork its hard to beat nylons which for looks are an 8 and durability a 10 for a score of 9 for me. Thats my take.

yep still feel like above .

the_cutter wrote:

Got me some target short bubble shafts because I couldn't find target short nylons. I'm hoping they won't break so soon.

The Rasta's come with them but mine broke within a few minutes of throwing

Bubble shafts- used some 20 years ago and found they we're too brittle.

Aluminum- Fantastic to have a stem that is difficult to break. Not so fantastic to have a stem that will bend. I'd rather have to replace a broken nylon stem than throw a dart with a bent aluminum one.

Nylon- light, durable, cheap.

20 years on, still don't use bubble shafts and only have aluminum stems that have come with darts I've purchased.

I buy the 'opal' edge glow shafts for $2.90AUS/10 sets. If I break 1 stem per night of play I have a full set then spares for 27 more nights of play. If I play twice a week that nearly 14 weeks of play. So, for roughly $10/year I'm set for stems. Of course, I've only broken 4 in the last 12 months of play....all 4 times over concrete while practicing. So my cost per year is much less than $10.

Which is odd, because at $10/year for stems and say $20-30/year for flights.....I really need to figure out where all that money was spent! ;) ;)

For industry standard gear, it's nylon and more recently the edge glow shafts for me. They offer the best compromise. My

It's been almost a month, and so far the Target bubble stems have been intact, although I've thrown less in the past few weeks. I had bounceouts but no robinhoods, so couldn't judge how they hold after a robinhood.

Whether nylon or bubble stems, Target has, so far, impressed with its stems. I have never broken a shaft due to bounceouts nor robinhoods. Laro stems are great as well. But when I get hold of new Target nylons, I would mind switching back to them.

One of the segments holding the flight of the bubble stem finally broke. But I'm still able to use it with a punched flight and spring. The use of the thick Rhino flight may have contributed to the breaking of the stem. Didn't last two months with me.

I'm still going to use my remaining bubble stems until they are all used up, and will shift back to Target nylons when available, or deflectagrips..

i've been using the two tone nylons and they seem to be as fragile as the bubbles. to me anyway. snapped 6 in the last two days , my normal deflectagrips last for ages even through a robin hood or two .