What do you all think of stainless steel guides that don't have any inserts?? Like the ones on Browning's Hi Power rods, they are SS304 guides by Pac Bay.

I have a HiPower, and while I don't like the guides, there's no denying the weight difference between them and a set of Hialoys or something similar. I have a Ryobi Zauber 1000 on mine spooled with 30# PowerPro and am not all that concerned with guide wear. If anything, I may have to replace the tip top guide a little sooner than I would if it were a set of Alconites or something, but I'll worry about that $10 when/if it becomes an issue.

If it happens during the first year, I'll take the rod to BPS and exchange it for a new one. If it lasts over a year, I will have gotten my money's worth out of it and won't mind spending the $10 for a new tip.

Those are the minima4 guides. I use them on a lot of custom builds. They are super light weight. I've used them on MH jigging rods down to ML spinning/drop shot rods with both mono and braid and have had no problem with guide wear. They are a quality guide and nothing to be afraid of.

I'm not afraid of guide damage myself. I was mainly asking about how it would wear the line if I use fluorocarbon or co-poly, or even mono. Also how it would affect cast distance. It's good to know it would handle braid though.

See, about 15 years ago I read that SS guides on rods were not good at all. Line friction among other things was just bad. This was in a Bassmaster magazine. And I know that it has been a long time since then and things have mproved significantly, but I still get caught up in what I think I know sometimes so I'm just scheptical is all. I have never tried any SS guides at all due to that single comment all that time ago.

Ya I know what you mean. Sometimes it's not as easy to keep an open mind regarding the "better mouse trap" than something totally new. Braided line is another material that has made leaps and bounds over earlier versions.

So, being lighter in weight aside, do you think overall that they perform well without the inserts, or would you rather have the inserts??

I'm trying to stay open minded about it, but I'm leaning towards inserts being my preference, which it always has been.

As in much of the stuff on this world, how good are plain ( no insert ) stainless steel guides ? as good as the quality of the stainless steel it´s made from and how well made is the guide.

I like them well enough to use them on a drop shot rod I'm building for personal use. If I were building something like a deep cranking rod that might have line under pressure on the guides continuously as I cast and retrieve I'll opt for alconites or SiC guides.

Pac Bay SS304 guides are hard chromed, so your line isn't running over pure stainless steel. These guides have been used for years on Fenwick HMX line of rods (until recently). I've used them with mono, copoly, fluoro and braid. They hold up just fine. They are supposed to be lighter than guides with ceramic inserts but I never really noticed. Good guides. If you like the rod, go with them.