Saltigas have arrived
 

A 4000 and a 4500 have arrived. Might order one of the bigger ones as well if people want to see them.

The 4000 is $669.95 and the 4500 is $699.95.

A bit more rugged then I expected. I might have to buy 1 for myself.... :hee:

then, you're going to need another rod.

Yeah, and a pistol to hold up the gas station across the street, too...:hihi:

Aw, the hell with it, Pete - go for the whole nine yards and treat yourself well.

You know, no matter how hard you try, you can't take it with you when you go.

And life's just too short to fish with lousy stuff...:smokin:

Pete, any chance you could get an extra spool for the 4500? I spoke with another shop owner that sells Daiwas. He has had the spools on order for one of the Saltigas for almost a year without receiving them. If you can get one, I'll take one!

I'll give them a call today and see what the wait time is. If they have them in stock ready to ship I'll order a couple.

:bsod:

I have an analogy for what calling Daiwa customer service is like, but this is a family site so I'll have to edit it.

Like a monkey !#&%ing a football. "What reel?" and "a spare spool?"

They're going to call me back in the next few days with a "rough estimate as to when they MIGHT arrive". :confused:

Wow
 

Wow, I can not belive people pay $700.00 for surfcasting reels. Way too rich for my blood. I thought VS were expensive. I have never seen this $700 reel before. Any pictures? I have been telling a co-worker that we should go into buisness and hand make small amounts of high price reels. Maybe all titanium and charge $1000.00 a piece. I am sure someone would buy them. All hand made in the USA. I know Fly guys pay upwards of $700.00 for fly reels and they are even simplier to make than a spinning reel or a conventional reel, really not much to them. If I had the time I think I could make a buisness out of retro fitting upgrade parts for all the reels that are out there now, esp. with all the complaints with the 1000's of Penn products out there voiced in another post. Probably patent infringement issues involved though. Although I have seen many upgrades for the Penn jigmasters and 112H and 113H. I think Newell made a bunch of stuff and Accurite too. Frames, spools, etc. They just used the guts of the Penn reels and made everything else. Not enough hours in the day though for me at this time in my life. :doh: Paul

Um, someone is waay ahead of you.

Charlton is already making limited edition solid Titanium 8500 fly reels.

The are selling for around ten grand or something silly like that.

PM start with parts for a Nautil....

pete, i can't hear you. you say that too softly. i know a guy that puts all of his lungs behind it.

You know a guy small in size but large on stature and beer cunsumability :hihi:

Billy - the Nautil might have been OK if they didn't make it out of plastic :hihi:

PM - I was thinking ceramic / carbon fiber / aluminum. Ceramics are now use in engine blocks - certainly durable, carbon fiber - might be a beyotch to work with, aluminun - that's all you... But I figure we have enough engineers and metalurgists here to hammer out a design that would have have long casting, simplicity (how simple is a VS?), and high dunkability and high survivability - whaddya say guys. Us irrelevants start up our own reel company? Call them PBR's :hihi: Purpouse Built Reel Co?

"Grab a PBR and wet a line" :doh: :tm:

Am I the only one thinking Pabst Blue Ribbon? :buds: :gu: :spin: :usd: :bo:

nope !!! I started on PBJ and PBR ( really Hulls beer )

No.... I remember PBR well. At least I think I do :-) There's a guy up here who build custom one off fly reels out of titanium. Carbon fiber disc drags. They're like jewels. I didn't ask how much....

That's why I used that name sillyhead (got that one from my son :bl2: )...

Once, years ago, when Schoolie Monster and I were going to strike it rich building fishing rods ( :doh: ) we figured we'd name it PBR rods to fit in with the Jersey to Carolina crowd....

I give up. I'm drawing the line at the one Van Staal reel I own. I have a humble Penn 706 as a backup.

If the VS croaks or otherwise fails me, I will blow it up at the local rifle range on the 200 yard line with a very large caliber rifle (.50 BMG might do it). :wall:

I wouldn't go with the Aluminum. It is so yesterday and besides I am having a terrible time figuring out how to put a finish on it with another project I am attempting :smash: . Hard coat anodizing is really the only way to go, $$$., and very limited colors. Regular anodizing just won't hold up. Titanium is the way to go. Light, corrosion resistant,ultra strong, and you can anodize it if you want to. Downside $$$$$$$$ material cost, bitch to work with as far as machining and tool wear thus expensive labor cost's. Most everything I make at work for the last 8 or so years is made out of Titanium. All oceanographic stuff. You can't kill the stuff. I have seen it after several years at sea and no wear. Would make a great fishing reel but cost you 1200.00 bucks. At least that is what I would charge :D I figure if you are crazy enough to spend $700 you will spend $1200. Maybe someday when I get my own cellar shop set up I will take an old great reel and see if i can copy it out titanium with all the upgrades everyone wants. All I need is money and spare time :biglaugh: Paul

PM, if you made a nice titanium roller that fit on the 704, 706 and the slammers, you could retire :D

If any of you guys are serious about getting something going with a retrofit of Penns, PM me. I know people.....

I am ready to retire :D

Professor M,

If you ever make an all titanium Saltiga knock off..... I'm your first customer. I'll pay the $1200.00 !!

Whoa now. I have never even seen one of these units yet. I am just thinking out loud. I probably would need a whole year just to sit down and look at the logistics. The actual making of the initial one could take another year, and that is if you could work full time doing it. That is the problem doing that type of stuff it takes many hours you can't rush. Making a solid body out of raw stock to copy a cast part would be very very time consuming. You wouldn't belive the engineering that goes onto something like that. Copying a conventional reel would be a little easier because of the body shape but still difficult. I think something along the lines of making better upgrades to existing reels out there now would be a better choice for someone like me to attempt. Problem is I have no where to do this other than work and I don't think the boss would be too thrilled with that, but I am trying to do something about that for the future. Paul

I paid $650 for .8 signature series about 7 or 8 years ago. The price is now $850. I should have bought few more at that time. :gu: :gu:

I have a 1.2 with a few spare spools (in excellent condition) that I'd be willing to part with for a reasonable price.

Over a year ago, I viewed and read a total breakdown of a Saltiga and VS by a mechanically inclined person(an engineer). There were step by step photos with the critique. I wont get into the details of the VS breakdown because I dont want to rekindle Van Staal Wars.

Basically the Saltiga got good grades overall, not perfect, but very good. The breakdown was technically beyond my scope of understanding so some of it made sense and some of it had no significance to me. Nevertheless, a good read! :kewl:

This, I think, is part of the reason why these reels are expensive. Time=money or so the saying goes. Making these reels (even if it's not entirely out of titanium) is harder then it looks.

I wonder if the engineer was a surfcaster. I'd love to read that article.

I've always felt part of the reason the Penn Z series work so well in the surf is because they aren't as perfectly engineered as many of the various imports. If a little corrosion or wear through lots of use changes the tolerances inside a bit the reel couldn't care less. A few grains of sand inside? No big deal. Built in tolerance for abuse in the suds.

If the same thing happens to most other reels all hell breaks loose. Plus all those vulnerable bearings. Number one corrosion spot I see in both spin reels and fly reels that come into the shop are the ball bearings. Either hide them deep inside your reel (VS) or don't use many of them (Penn). Anything else is just asking for bearing failure in a reel used by surfcasters.

Here is the link to that in depth review/comparison of the Saltiga, Van Staal, and Stella:

http://www.stripersonline.com/cgi-bi...c/1/27148.html

I hope this link doesn't break any rules.

i'm fine with it joe, thanks. good info

can't understand why those penn 500 series are still around...... :bl2: