Occasionally a product can be initially overlooked but grow into its time. Whizlocks may be one such innovation.
We at AIM: tested and reviewed these in the days they were strongly linked to Simon Whitlock. We recently updated our review for dartsworld.com.
- Name: WhizLocks
- Product: Stem Cap & Flight Punch System
- Brand: Winmau
- Price: £11.90
- (Additional Caps £1.50 set of 3)
- Mark: 9/10
You may have noticed the recent trends for fixed/moulded flight & Stem systems. Cosmo, L Style and many others are available and have proven very popular. However, these sets do have their own drawbacks. They are costly and are limited in shape and colour etc. In addition, weight and distribution can be difficult to adapt to.
Tucked away within the accessories section of Winmau’s catalogue, & their website is a hidden gem of an alternative solution. Whizlocks & Flightpunch can be used on most flights and with most stem types (with a standard-sized flight zone). They are solid and metallic and fit nicely over the end of the stem. The punch puts a Whizlock shaped hole into the lower section of the flight. This makes for a very solid set up, protects the stem from collision and locks the flight into place and preventing fallouts.
Testing & Results: During heavy testing A.I.M found Whizlocks to be superb for stem preservation and did not suffer a single flight fallout. If a strong flight, such as a 100+ micron, is used the effect is very similar to a fixed flight system. We used them with Kite, Standard & Oversized Pears, the Whizlocks worked well with all of them. After over 200 legs we have only used 1 set of each size stem and the Whizlocks were still in virtually perfect condition.
Flights were preserved quite well although some wear and tear was still present. The shape of the flight was preserved very well, especially if the full set up was stored intact.
Downsides: There a couple of small issues. Firstly Whizlocks cannot be used with stems with very narrow flight zones, mainly aluminium ones. They are also a little fiddly to fit at first. Bit these are minor matters and are soon gotten over.
Overall: The cost-saving repaid the cost of the Whizlocks very quickly due to stem preservation. Choice of flight style & pattern combination is hugely increased. Whizlocks can make an excellent alternative to costly and awkward fixed/moulded systems.
