Esp Cryogen Hooks

It’s always a pleasure making my annual trip to the ESP headquarters in Oxfordshire, but when I headed down there earlier this year it was with a particular feeling of anticipation.


I I was champing at the bit to see its three big product launches, namely the Onyx reels, Barrel bobbins and these Cryogen hooks.

ESP has, for me, always produced superb hooks in patterns that are useful to carp anglers. They were, as far as I remember, the first to introduce odd sizing (3, 5, 7), which many companies have followed suit in more recently.

I respect the fact that ESP’s hooks are genuinely developed over time and in conjunction with some seriously gifted and knowledgeable anglers – not just sourced from the Far East and packaged for sale in the UK.

Nowhere is this development more prevalent then with the Cryogens. The science behind the hooks is in the hi-tech tempering process that sees them heated to extreme temperatures, cooled to temperatures way in the opposite extreme and then returned to their ‘normal’ state.

This is known as cryogenic tempering and it’s used in the manufacture of steel parts where strength tolerances are as close to zero as it gets. Formula One engine parts are one example.

Anyway, in layman’s terms, the result is a hook far stronger than any that is manufactured in the more traditional way. In fact, ESP anglers estimate that these hooks are between 30 and 40 per cent stronger than their original hooks, but with a similar gauge, or wire thickness.

Each of the three patterns – Stiff Rigger, Gripper and Classic – is sharp from the packet, but the key is the fact that the strength means the point maintains its sharpness longer than any other hook. Multiple captures on these could be the norm, thus saving a fortune in replacing hooks.

On the subject of saving, here’s the best bit. ESP has undertaken all of this development and production and resulted in fabulous hooks, but with the usual price maintained. Take my money, now! (MC)

£3.95

WWW.ESP-CARPGEAR.COM

Or buy a single issue

BUY NOW BUTTON Retro 1 

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