Do you need them or not. Dose it get in your way. Or dose it mess with the balance of the rod?

use pool noodles
cut a slit in them & wrap them on rod
take them off while you are using rod

Needing them is up to you. I've only lost two setups over the years but that was expensive. About $500 to replace what I already spent $500 to get. I have rod floats from Basspro and they are low profile but do get in the way at times. I haven't noticed a change in balance.

I think most folks will use them for a while starting out, just to see how big a risk it is of losing them. I didn't like them and changed to a short length of cord with small clip that I could quickly attach or detach to the fishing line coming off of reel. Got to the point where I only used the clips when I was launching or coming back through surf zone. For lakes I don't use anything. Have lost two rods in many years, one in surf when I didn't secure any, one in lake on calm day when I reached behind me for a rod and pulled out the one next to it out of its flush mount. Count on losing at least one rig somewhere along the way.

you only have to go from the reel to the 1st eyelit

They've never bothered me. Seen too many guys lose rigs. I fly fish 99.9% of the time and they would get in the way on a fly rod, so I seldom use them. On the fly rods I tie a piece of string under the reel and clip a lanyard to it when the rod is in the holder. But on conventional gear I always use the floats.

I use them now that I lost a rod and reel combo. They are like $10 for 4 at Bps!

I do now. I dropped a rod at a ramp. When I looked for it, the topwater lure I hadn't taken off had the rod tip floating. Now I use floats.
IslandJim

Just a matter of personal preference and risk tolerance. I don't use them, but I always tether any rods I'm not using at the moment to the kayak with a leash. I've never flipped my kayak in the five years I've had it, or dropped a rod in the water.

I've never used them and never lost a rod off the kayak in 10+ years and hundreds of trips, but it doesn't mean it can't happen. I don't like a lot of extras like leashes for the paddle or keepers for rods, electronics, etc.. I fly fish and can't imagine putting one on a fly rod, but some folks do.

My two friends that kayak fish don't use them either. They haven't lost any rods in many trips, ever. I have found a few rods, hooked them off the bottom over the years while fishing and they are invariably spinning setups. Maybe there's something about them that makes them prone to tumbling out of a kayak or off a boat deck.

Everyone goes about kayak fishing in a way that makes sense to them. Rod floats don't work for me.

One thing to think about is making sure they actually float your rods. I used the bps ones before and my rod still sank to 5he bottom. I just think loosing rods ocationally is part of the game. I have lost 3 in 34 years of kayak/canoe fishing.

don't love them, but i use them. don't like leashes so floats are what i put on all my rods. saved me a couple of times in the past 5 years

I use floats on my rods and find they are minimally annoying but I feel better about having them. I leash rods in my rod holders when I am not using them, but unhook the leash when using them. The leash helps because on occasion, especially in places like the FW Nature Center, a tree branch will catch the rod and pull it out of the holder. Other than that, have not lost a rod from my kayaks. Did lose a spinning rod from my boat once when I forget to open the bail when I was casting and because the lure didn't leave the end of the rod, its momentum pulled the rod right out of my hand. My son-in-law who was with me quickly turned his back to me so I wouldn't see him laughing but I could see his shoulders moving up and down in a laughing motion. I deserved it. Another time from the boat, a friend accidentally kicked a rod that was laying on the deck sending it overboard. Since we were tied to a tree, he spent the next 20 minutes dragging the bottom with some treble hooks right where it went over and eventually brought it back up.

I use a 4" length of a pool noodle. I cut the slit at an angle, and kind of roll it onto the rod. Take them off to fish with the rod, and then put them back on when I switch rods. They don't come off, until I take them off. Cheap insurance. I've been kayaking for about 5 years, and haven't lost a rod. I don't have a single rig I could replace for less than $300, and most were considerably more. I'm not throwing them in the lake. They get damaged/broken often enough on their own.

I've never used rod floats and have never not come home with all of my rods.