Soobz

I've heard of morons actually having fires for warmth on jetties. This is really sad but lucky you were there to limit damage.

This is fascinating.

Thought I better stick in a final shot. Epoxy on. Think I will leave it unpainted.

It's a reflection or something, just checked under strong magnification and it's all smooth. I used soft/padded tools when I removed it.

Some idiot broke the tip of my Savage Black rod. I've repaired it, so I thought I'd document it. Damage was right at the very tip I wanted to reuse the tip if I could, so I had to strip back the epoxy and remove the old rod graphite, a simple scrape with stanley knife exposed the wrap I unwound that and measured the old tip thickness No wonder it broke, so bloody thin Removing the old rod section I was now not worried about damaging it so I used a hot air gun which would damage the resin of the graphite but hopefully not the eyelet but would melt any

The new Laguna 1000 is not particularly light, about 208g, (220g for 2000 - bet won't see 1000 here) but it is a lot lighter than the horrible purple version we have here atm (2000A = 265g). https://daiwaproductshowcase.com/products/laguna-lt A$80 delivered for a 1000 from Tackledirect in the US

Looks really nice, and I really appreciate they give you a spare spool and cork + EVA handle knobs. Pretty pricey though as you say. The MGX is a fair bit cheaper, still really light, wonder what you're losing.

Butt plug? but I thought it was for a reel not a rod? Is this what's used for balancing a setup then?

I have no words...

Thanks @MAH. People are claiming the Vanford is the Stradic FL in a Ci4+ body and MGL rotor to get the weight down, all else is the same as far as I can work out. Supposedly there is another bearing somewhere too but cant find it yet. $30 buys you 30g less lol. Would like to see Tackle Advisors dude do a Vanford teardown to confirm. Not convinced the X Protect does much.

Based on where he puts his finger the Pursuit 2500 is a perfect balance , but clearly to me it's a bit heavy for this rod. I think it's a lot more complex to work out balance than a single pivot point as rod angle / lure type and preferred hand position and grip will have a big effect on comfort.

Oh, this shows what I mean about the 3000 being the same size as the 2500, it's only the spool capacity that changes and the handle length. (All the reading I've done suggests the Vanford is just the renamed Stradic Ci4+ as a 2020 version because they didn't want 2 Stradics in the lineup.)

Yep

For you guys that favour the 1000s, I'm still unclear what is it about them that you like? Just the light weight? Do you prefer the smaller handle? It's interesting that Dawia mostly do not sell 1000 size in Aus anymore.

Oh and yeah if the Sol was $300 instead of $380 I would be leaning to that lol

Thing is the 3000 vanford is probably a little smaller than the 2500 Sol, its certainly a fair bit smaller than the pursuit 2500 and even exceler 2000 as I had those 3 side by side. I wish they'd publish dimensions.

You"ve got the 1000 stradic? That size scares me in that it feels so tiny in shop and worried I'd not enjoy it.

Yes, it's crazy, it's a dinky reel really, it does not need 9kg of drag, I don't really understand why they would put that much on it. I did check that you can still set it super light but I'd want to double check that. Perhaps it's in answer to the problems some people had with the Stradic Ci4+ with drag burning out that I read about. Or maybe it's to make a point that the reel is 'tough' for it's size?

Crap, I let the shop show me a 2020 Vanford - replaces the Ci4+ - it should be the same weight as the Legalis/Exceller/Fuego but it feels much lighter. In terms of smoothness and response it's night and day. It's double I was planning to spend though Sportsfishing Scene's prices are well under RRP unlike Anaconda/BCF. I didn't buy it. Yet. The Fuego feels not as nice as the Legalis/Exceler, not sure if that's an effect of magseal but it's just not smooth and the handle was really clunky on top of that (sloppy knob and sloppy connection to gear). The Vanford 3000 has the body of the 2

Yeah, I did, the Nasci 1000 is 210g and looks to be smaller than the Daiwa 2000s that are lighter, the Ultegra 1000 is $200 on special but looks well sealed.

Kinda, the Fuego and Exceler have a screw in handle, the Legalis hasn't had that update yet and has the older hex shaft style. The Fuego has a screw on knob rather than a riveted knob and possibly a bearing there, but the biggest point is you can change the handle easily. Fuego supposedly has 1kg more drag, which is interesting since it has exactly the same drag stack as the Exceler. The annoying thing is Fuego is TW exclusive in Aust and they are out of stock on all Exceler and Legalis, so no comparing. The magseal on the Fuego is meh because there is no protection for the body, so at best yo

I've fixed my broken rod as much as I can, I'll post up what I did in the howto area later, but it looks quite usable still with not too much obvious change in action (yet). This means I might as well get a new reel for the 7'3 Infeet. I'm fairly happy so far with the Penn Pursuit III 2500 on it but since the rod weighs in under 90g and that reel is 278g it's kinda wasting the weight saving of the rod. So I'm thinking of getting a reel under 200g for a really light weight rig. I'd like to keep it under $150 if I can, possibly Xmas specials might help so we can look at perhaps up to $200 r

OK, a few pics here too since this is a new design. The reel seat is like the Fuji seat on the Zing Xteme Gen II, except Daiwa doesn't have the scallops, it's 'ergonomic' and at first I thought it silly, but damned if it don't work well. Even the fact that there's no EVA is a good thing as you are more directly connected to the line, then again I wear sun gloves anyway note the hook keeper is behind the reel so that the line cant catch on it unintentionally...anyway your hand grips the curves in a very natural way, hard to show but... Oh, look who's been clean

Pics will be in My Wife's New Yak thread, but just had to say omg this thing sounds like a whip when you cast. Reel seat way more comfortable than I expected, it looks weird but works well. Didn't break the rod day 1

I'll do pics with tmoz catch