Quote:
Originally Posted by ChiefLinesider
No reel is flawless. They all break. .
|
Yes, I suppose that is true. But truth be told, I have had fewer mechanical problems with my Penn 706z's and Fin-Nor Ahab 16's (both packed with grease), both of which have been subjected to the same level of wet/immersed fishing that my Van Staals have.
If you are going to pay $700 for a reel, and then plunk down $35-$50 a year to have it serviced, it
SHOULD be flawless.
Van Staal's should be held to a higher standard, and I think the company could do a better job of improving the value proposition.
My pet peeves about the reel:
1) Fix the goddamn drag
2) Fix the line winding problem (belly in the spool)
3) Redesign the drag knob. It's too hard to manipulate in colder weather and the edges contribute to line tangles. A lot of Montauk guys get around this by filing the edges down, but it looks fugly.
4) Put the counterweight back inside ... I can't tell you how many times the line has gotten stuck at the base of the exterior counterweight on the newer models (easy fix with epoxy, but should I futz around with a reel I just paid $700 for).
5) There should be a more durable finish that is scratch resistant. All my VS's look like $hit. Because they are anodized, they can't be refinished. So VS should really think about powder coating or some other heavy duty scratch resistant finish.
Threaded Mode