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Or in my case I round it down to 28 grams. It makes the arithmetic a bit easier. 1/8 oz =3.5 grams 7 gram -1/4 oz etc.

I think maybe what I said was taken the wrong way. It just seems rude, well maybe not rude, but at least unappreciative to me to recommend another business in the forum that is sponsored by some one in the same business. It has nothing to do with the quality of the work, a stellar reputation, or DVT's success and passion. Would you go into your local tackle shop and tell people to go elsewhere to do business? It seems like the same thing to me. Yes this site has a lot of sponsors. This forum is sponsored by DVT. DVT is paying for it to exist. It just seems like bad form to hang out here and then send business elsewhere. Obviously I'm a minority on this.

This forum is sponsored by Delaware Valley Tackle. It would seem a little rude, and likely taken note of if one were to recommend anyone else I'd think.

The SPR has a centrifugal brake and is set up for throwing small crank baits, SO if that is what you want to do then the SPR might be a better choice, but to say that the SPR is just better in not accurate. It is a special purpose reel and excels at that one thing.

i think the PX68 might be the better choice. It is a very light reel being magnesium (5.6 oz) and designed for things like you mention. The Alphas is a good reel too but it is heavier and a little newer and I don't think it will throw as low as the PX. Now the newer Alphas Air is better at the light stuff than the PX, and the SS AIR even better than that. The PX was a $450 reel new.

My Steez 103's have purple inductors IIRC. No the bearing was not in an adapter, but if someone changed out the bearings to something like the hedgehog BFS air bearings, it is possible that it would be a smaller bearing in a cage. Yes, the PX68 is a good reel at least in my opinion. It is a smaller 70 size reel. On the 3 I have I added 2 handle bearings (it only comes with 1 per side) and a level-wind bearing. As far as the worm gear being plastic? I don't really know. I never noticed that it was, but then again I may have just never noticed and it was. If you are still looking for great older Daiwa reels, look at the Japanese Dream at Ichiban. It's a heavier reel, a special issue version of the Zillion to commemorate the great sunami that swamped Japan and caused so much damage. They are very nice, highly sought after reels and are generally very smooth workhorse reels.

I understand that and agree that is why people ask for recommendations. What I was addressing is why and how a sort of cult seems to form around certain rods and reels that seems to be disconnected to whether they are or are not good equipment and whether or not they are worth the money. That seems to affect the beginners, which is not to say that it is only beginners who ask for recommendations. I also get it that the folks making the recommendations are trying to be helpful.

Not entirely true. Megabass makes a series of rods with a good backbone with what I would call a MF or M action and a solid XF tip. Check out the JDM Destroyer Carbon Head series. I have the Speed tip special which is a 3 power 6'1" rod and is IMO excellent at the lighter top water stuff and jerkbaits up to maybe 3/8.

100% That Falcon Expert rod isn't as sensitive as the new Z-bone I got, or some of my Megabass stuff, nor do they make the many special purpose and niche rods like Megabass does. But I can throw the Expert in a mix with those rods and in no way do I feel like the Expert is really outclassed. In my opinion they are much better than the Avids, the Tatulas, LTB, etc. In fact I'd put a Falcon Lowrider at about $120 up against any of those rods any day. I have a hard time sometimes figuring out exactly why everybody always recommends stuff like Mojo Bass, and any Dobyns rod other than MAYBE the very top of their line up. Just like when anyone ever asks for recommendations for rods under $100, it's so predictable that a whole bandwagon automatically recommends the Aird-x. Certainly everyone has a right to use what they like and to recommend it. But I have a suspicion that what we end up with is sort of a regenerative feedback loop. Guys who are beginners ask for recommendations. On those recommendations they buy either a Dobyns Fury or an Aird-X. A month later another guy asks for recommendations and that same guy who a month ago didn't himself know what to buy is now on the bandwagon recommending the same rod. So it gets bigger and bigger as we go. And many of the recommendations are coming from people who, while they may be very pleased with their rods haven't really fished with enough other stuff to tell what of the other stuff might be better. The Aird is a nice rod for $50, but the truth is that for $69 the Falcon HD is a much better rod than the Aird and much much better than the cheaper Dobyns stuff. I wouldn't give you $50 for a Dobyns Fury. If you gave me a choice between a Fury and a $29 Daiwa Crossfire, I'd take the Crossfire in a heartbeat. Or even a Berkley Cherry-wood. And yes, I've had all these rods. I don't mean to step on anyone's toes. It's just that I have a hard time understanding why so many really good rods get passed over just because 40 people recommend a lesser rod. What's popular isn't always what's best. You can outdo any of the rods mentioned with a Falcon, Ark, the lighter HMG, a few of the BPS rods and likely a dozen more and probably cheaper too. I just try to keep other guys from making the same mistakes I have and save them the hundreds or even thousands of dollars that I blew when I didn't know any better either. I try to keep people from buying Vendetta's, Veritas, Furys, Sierras, and etc. because they are not very good rods for the money. I know that rods are a personal thing and that one mans pleasure is anothers poison, but on the other hand a broomstick is a broomstick. Shutting down rant mode.....

I wouldn't overlook the Falcon Expert. $199 and fishes better than that.

It's the same spool.

Ichiban has a very nice PX68 right now for $178. I have several and they are great reels.

Yes, yes, and yes. that is what I have in mine and TT is where I bought it.

A 10lb fish cannot pull 10 lbs of force because he is having to push against water with his tail and the water gives way easily. Imagine that you are swimming in water over your head. Let's say you weigh 200 lbs. Do you think that you could pull a 200 pound weight off the bottom and haul it to the surface? No, because you only have the water to push against. Add to that the fact that a fish is like most animals made of mostly water, so in the water that part of the fish that is water (or anything lighter than water) doesn't count as weight because it will be supported by the water. Take your open hand and swipe it hard under water. Your hand would make a fair sized fish tail. How much ever force can you generate? On the other hand pulling a 10 lb fish wrapped up in vegetation would weigh more. Most of my reels have about 8 or 9 lb drag maxed out and I've landed fish up to 18 or 20 lbs using them and 10 lb. line. Of course you can't just flip them up into tje boat or onto shore, you're going to need a net.

Yes, I know the blanks stay the same. The point was that maybe you could find the blank that you wanted that maybe wasn't offered in the length that you wanted and have it made in that length.

No, the drag is good on the Steez.

Glad to be useful for a change...Thanks

I'm done.

I came up with the pistol grip rods too. But other than plonking around for sunfish, I have to say that I don't miss them. Most of my rods are 6'6" to 6'10". I would have to say that 6'10" is my ideal if it is balanced.

You alluded to someone not being able to set the hook because they might at some point loosen the drag. The point is that no one is loosening the drag before the hook is set any more than you are back reeling before you set the hook.

True to a point, but I have probably a dozen or more good quality 5'6" to 6'6" rods that aren't pistol grips and that are from at least the 2000's. I favor Japanese rods because they still sell shorter but modern rods. Many of my shorter rods are Megabass, not exactly outdated and cheap. In the US you can still buy 6'6", but shorter rods are rare here unless you are wanting UL trout and pan-fish rigs.

Heck, I've landed Flathead cats on 10 lb line with a reel that has 9lb of drag. My son last year boated one near 30lb using similar gear. Neither of us noticed any lack in just using the drag. I get it if folks want to back wind, but to say it works better is BS. Likely that was true 40 years ago, but no longer. Good luck finding the gear that even works like that anymore. And you better stock up on donor reels if you do. What I hear from the OP is an old guy (I'm 64 and am one too) who is grumpy because his antique gear isn't respected anymore. But hey, like in everything else, time keeps moving on. That said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with keeping the old ways alive. There are guys who like fishing with the old wooden pin reels too and all power to them. There are guys who love cars from the 20's, who shoot old re-curve bows from the 60's and who are devoted to hunting with rifles from the 1700's too. But none of those people dare to make the argument that they do so because it is more effective than the modern stuff. This is the same.

Seems to me that if you have to loosen the drag to let a fish run, you have already successfully set the hook? Do you back reel before you set the hook?

I use 5' 10" Megabass MH Jigging Special rod for vertical spoons and jigs when fishing for bottom hugging Stripers. No advantage to longer rods at all when vertical jigging, in fact the shorties offer better leverage and control over the larger fish which are always going to come up under the boat. I also use a 6'1" Destroyer Speed tip Special (solid tip) when throwing Texas rigs into brush where accuracy trumps casting distance. I also use a 6'3" Evoluzion Super Griffin MH/M for throwing top-water and various cranks in places like brush and stump fields. I'm sure there are other good uses as well. But I guess my repertoire is sort of limited.

Yep. If you are looking I might suggest starting at Ichiban Tackle in Japan. I have bought a lot of stuff from them and they have always been very good about honestly reporting the condition of their used gear and for the most part are cheaper than The "Bay".