well..... i know steve is gonna cringe but here is my evaluation, after being given several DNE and Several stealth floats to take out to the rivers and test. I do like the concept of the stealth and the way it fishes, however, i too experienced the "cracking off of the top" on two of the three floats i have. These were not from hitting rocks, but from setting the hook. Comparing apples to apples, I compare the stealth to the drennan, both clear plastic floats. While the stealth is easier and a touch quicker to rig up, I've never seen a drennan break on the strike. I only use the drennan for steelhead, and would switch to stealth, providing the breakage issues were fixed. I do like the stealth product and for a guy who wants to fish a clear plastic float, I would recommend it over a pricey drennan.
Now the DNE, again, when comparing apples to apples is probably the best foam float to come down the pike in a while. I love the way it sits, and especially the way it just disappears when a fish hits, there ain't no question , when that puppy disappears.... set the hook
. I would fish a dne over any other foam float for this reason. Many guys will swear there is no differrence between it and the dink (other than price) but ... well... maybe not, they both catch fish. But you won't ever see me with a regular dink when i'm steelhead fishing. I like the "drennan-ish" shape of the dne and i think it gives an edge over the standard dink shape, especially on lite biting fish. Another feature that no other foam float has, the gram rating on the float, especially important to the serious steelhead angler.
So.... for clear plastic floats, I still lean on my more expensive Drennans, BUT, if the stealth boys work the kinks out with the new product, and make them in different sizes, I would reconsider the drennan.
for foam floats..... DNE hands down... I'll never touch another dink float again ... but then again I never really liked dink floats to begin with.