how come no one is talking about the new bantam everyone talking about the zillion sv tw 1000 g i have one but brought a bantam loved it so much and brought all three gear ratios in my opinion the bantam just out performs that zillion

41 minutes ago, corey90 said:

how come no one is talking about the new bantam everyone talking about the zillion sv tw 1000 g i have one but brought a bantam loved it so much and brought all three gear ratios in my opinion the bantam just out performs that zillion

JDM Batam, price?

Tom

45 minutes ago, corey90 said:

how come no one is talking about the new bantam everyone talking about the zillion sv tw 1000 g i have one but brought a bantam loved it so much and brought all three gear ratios in my opinion the bantam just out performs that zillion

I have multiples of both and a couple of Met's, Cory.  No matter how you slice it all of them are really great reels in my opinion and I do mean really great reels!

Fishingmickey

10 minutes ago, WRB said:

JDM Batam, price?

Tom

Digitaka - 246.53 - 22 Bantam  292.24 - 22 Zillion TW HD 1000H (out of stock)

FM

Thank you?

I have all Jdm -  Zillion SV, Zillion HD, Bantam, Metanium. 
 

Met wins hands down but they are all super nice. 

6 minutes ago, Cbump said:

I have all Jdm -  Zillion SV, Zillion HD, Bantam, Metanium. 
 

Met wins hands down but they are all super nice. 

These are the best four that I own as well. They each have minor differences but to me the bantam and zillion sv on the jdm sites are just the best deals currently. One for rods that want a heavy reel and one for rods that want a light reel.  
 

scott

I feel like I have mine matched up pretty well. 
 

Zillion HD with Dobyns Extreme 746

 

Zillion SV on Erhler Tat Elite AGS finesse

 

Bantam on Orochi XX Diablo Spec R

 

Met on orochi xx perfect pitch

One of the many things I love about Dobyns, with a xtasy 755 all 4 of these reels are perfect on it. Definitely made me a believer in how balance affects my enjoyment. 
 

scott

I've got all the newer Daiwa reels and as soon as Digitaka gets an 8:1 Bantam in stock I'm going to buy one. I'm curious to see how the newer Shimanos palm. Previous models didn't always palm well for me because of how the gear box sits. I'm hoping these will be better, other than that the ones I've had have been great reels. Daiwa reels just normally fit my hands better.

2 hours ago, softwateronly said:

One of the many things I love about Dobyns, with a xtasy 755 all 4 of these reels are perfect on it. Definitely made me a believer in how balance affects my enjoyment. 
 

scott

You know I’ve had nicer looking rods but it’s hard to beat any of my Dobyns. Plus they are close to me. 

3 hours ago, Jrob78 said:

I've got all the newer Daiwa reels and as soon as Digitaka gets an 8:1 Bantam in stock I'm going to buy one. I'm curious to see how the newer Shimanos palm. Previous models didn't always palm well for me because of how the gear box sits. I'm hoping these will be better, other than that the ones I've had have been great reels. Daiwa reels just normally fit my hands better.

if you can palm the 21 zillion than you can palm the bantam easy

22 minutes ago, corey90 said:

if you can palm the 21 zillion than you can palm the bantam easy

It's not that I can't palm it, I have pretty big hands and can comfortably palm larger 300 size reels. The gear box just sits lower/differently on a lot of Shimanos and the ergonomics just don't always work for me.

22 Bantam is the real deal and i have 4 Metaniums and a Zillion.Good enough that i don't mind the extra weight.

On 3/10/2023 at 8:23 PM, Jrob78 said:

I've got all the newer Daiwa reels and as soon as Digitaka gets an 8:1 Bantam in stock I'm going to buy one. I'm curious to see how the newer Shimanos palm. Previous models didn't always palm well for me because of how the gear box sits. I'm hoping these will be better, other than that the ones I've had have been great reels. Daiwa reels just normally fit my hands better.

The frame is exactly the same as the 18 from what I can tell. I have both an 18 and 23 and they feel identical. 

I don't mind the weight since it's such a solid reel. It has such a satisfying *ching* sound when you turn the handle and the cast button pops back up. It's almost as solid as when you release the slide on a 1911. The weight difference isn't that bad when compared to the metaniums and zillions. But yeah, it's pretty heavy compared to a MGX2 

They are nice reels.  If I wanted a solid and mooth reel for braid and open water casting I would get one.  I have that covered and my normal fishing and junk fishing involves a lot of skipping and target casting work.  I've been skipping baitcast reels for 10 years and still manage to make all sorts of bad skips mixed in with many more good ones.   A centrifugal reel will turn that one bad skip into a game over for that spool of line for me so I stick to sv spools and other stronger braking profile magnetic or magforce z options. 

Love my Daiwa's but have been eyeing the Bantam for crankbait duty. I just think 27 ipt is a little too fast, even with a 95mm handle.

you guys like turtles

Which would you recommend for ripping chatterbaits and lipless in heavy grass Zillion HD or the Bantam? Admittedly I lean more towards Daiwa but I am curious to add a Shimano to my arsenal. Both seem to fit the Goldilocks zone for price and performance.

1 hour ago, 928JLH said:

Which would you recommend for ripping chatterbaits and lipless in heavy grass Zillion HD or the Bantam? Admittedly I lean more towards Daiwa but I am curious to add a Shimano to my arsenal. Both seem to fit the Goldilocks zone for price and performance.

Bantam for me personally. I like the HD for pitching due to the power handle. 

On 3/10/2023 at 6:15 PM, Cbump said:

Met wins hands down

Disagree in this. They are all the same caliber, and the JDM Zillion is less expensive and less finicky when casting.

37 minutes ago, waymont said:

Disagree in this. They are all the same caliber, and the JDM Zillion is less expensive and less finicky when casting.

I’ve had no problems with any of them as far as finickiness. 

4 hours ago, 928JLH said:

Which would you recommend for ripping chatterbaits and lipless in heavy grass Zillion HD or the Bantam? Admittedly I lean more towards Daiwa but I am curious to add a Shimano to my arsenal. Both seem to fit the Goldilocks zone for price and performance.

I have both reels and don’t think one is better than the other for what you’re doing. So if you wanna stick with diawa, zillion hd is perfect. If you wanna try shimano you’re matching up nicely. I think the bantam is still significantly cheaper too. The regular zillion and the bantam at these jdm prices are almost impossible to beat. 
 

scott