I have older Shakespreare Ranger rods and an Ugly Stik I purchased either mid 1980s or early 1990s.

I do not know what the rod guides are or if they will stand up to the use of braided line.

I stopped fishing around the time braid was becoming popular in my area. Life got in the way.

Now I'm 60 and fishing again, but all I have are my old rods. I seem to remember back then some of the guys having issues with rod guides using braid, but I can't remember what it was.

I know the rods I have are not worth much, but I have had them for decades, and made many a memory with them in my hands. I sure would like to actually try the braided lines, as I'm still fishing Trilene XL(still a good line). But not at the risk of damaging my rods.

I'm a big time braid user but on those older rods I would not use it. Guides have come a long way since then. Your best bet would be suffix advance mono due to it's lower stretch.

Thanks, dodgeguy.

 

I have an older rod that had guides that do not have inserts. They are all metal, stainless steel I think. I wonder how braid would do with one of those? 

 

For the record, I'm not planning to use it for braid, but I am just curious if the all metal guides would hold up.