I recently killed a set of spool bearings using my Tatula 100 saltwater and want to make it so I can use it in salt in the future. I’ve narrowed down my choice to 2 ceramic bearings the Boca orange seals or the hedgehog air hd. The Bocas have a rubber seal and the hedgehogs don’t. I’ve seen the hedgehogs have a bit better quality but is the rubber seal with boca worth the slightly less quality level?

Bocas are nothing else but overpriced garbage. I don't even know how people consider them in 2025. Probably because of 10-15 years old youtube vids, or something.

Air HD's are amazing. The choice is pretty clear.

I run Air HD spool bearings in salt MH reels.  

Look at it this way - seals = saltwater in, steam out.   The salt stays in the bearing.  

With unshielded bearings, you flush them with a drop of oil after every trip.  

 

Shielded bearings are simply a salt concentration mechanism in spool bearing position in salt reels.   They're fine to use for salt drive bearings.  

 

If you're in the salt, you might want to try full ceramic from aliexpress. Can be had for like $10 a pair, and from the couple i tried, they worked fine in freshwater.

I run full-silicon-nitride spool bearings in most of my salt reels, and they're great, but we've covered the noise of full-zirconia ceramic on many other threads.   

Zirconia load rating is also 20% lower than steel, SiC, or SiN.  

Recent prices for silicon nitride on A/E have gone up to $32/ - first time I bought them, they were $12/