There have been some disturbing instances of total main gear failure on VS reels. Not a lot, but enough to convince me that if I ever have a need for a waterproof reel again some day, it'll be a ZB.
BTW---the original Van Staals, the Stratford ones with the counterweight inside the rotor cup, were notorious for rotor cup wobble. But since most of the guys who bought them were moving up from Penns and Cracks, it wasn't a big deal.
Youse guys done been spoiled.
