Slawman Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 (edited) Hello all, I have become quite disenchanted with the number of nonsense product reviews online in general but for the purpose of this post, in relation to spinning reels and rods. How does someone sitting in front of a camera winding the handle of a reel and telling us how good the box looks, how shiny the knobs are and how "smooth" it feels constitute a review? These generally come with a number of links to an e-shop purchasing option... So far I have only been able to find Alan Hawk giving useful information on gear (and this forum also of course). Does anyone have any other suggestions on who is giving actual reviews on gear? Edited June 24, 2019 by Slawman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingie chaser Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Id be looking for reviews with people that are actually using the product in real life situations. Sometimes they may be in a XXXX reel vs YYYYY reel video on youtube not just on the product you are looking at. Yeh its a bit hard to determine how smooth the drag is from someone lounge room no matter how convincing they are Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Spanner Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 2 hours ago, Slawman said: Hello all, I have become quite disenchanted with the number of nonsense product reviews online in general but for the purpose of this post, in relation to spinning reels and rods. How does someone sitting in front of a camera winding the handle of a reel and telling us how good the box looks, how shiny the knobs are and how "smooth" it feels constitute a review? These generally come with a number of links to an e-shop purchasing option... So far I have only been able to find Alan Hawk giving useful information on gear (and this forum also of course). Does anyone have any other suggestions on who is giving actual reviews on gear? What rods and reels are you thinking about? Chances are that someone on here has owned or used them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 I take what Alan Hawk says with a pinch of salt too. Yes he does in depth reports of the engineering of gear but very little time tested using of the gear. Technically he prefers a high end Daiwa of a high end Shimano but read forums like the thehulltruth and you will find actual hardcore users often feel quite differently. By the way thehulltruth forum is a good forum on most fishing and boating views and opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slawman Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 2 hours ago, Captain Spanner said: What rods and reels are you thinking about? Chances are that someone on here has owned or used them. I am interested in gear in general and have far to much gear for one lifetime (at least that's what my wife says). I just like good gear and good value and value real world experience and others opinions. Right now I am interested in the new 2019 Stradic FL, probably in the 3000. Comparing it to the 2019 Certate, Sol 3 and matching it up with a 1-3 kilo bream rod for tossing soft baits at structure in Sydney Harbour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slawman Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 2 hours ago, JonD said: I take what Alan Hawk says with a pinch of salt too. Yes he does in depth reports of the engineering of gear but very little time tested using of the gear. Technically he prefers a high end Daiwa of a high end Shimano but read forums like the thehulltruth and you will find actual hardcore users often feel quite differently. By the way thehulltruth forum is a good forum on most fishing and boating views and opinions. What I do like about his reviews is that they are fact based and considered and most of his reel reviews are done after at least a few hours of fishing and a few fish to boot (at least that is what he states). I take no more than that from them. I like the Hull truth forum as well, my google searches often land me there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 19 minutes ago, Slawman said: I am interested in gear in general and have far to much gear for one lifetime (at least that's what my wife says). I just like good gear and good value and value real world experience and others opinions. Right now I am interested in the new 2019 Stradic FL, probably in the 3000. Comparing it to the 2019 Certate, Sol 3 and matching it up with a 1-3 kilo bream rod for tossing soft baits at structure in Sydney Harbour. I've used stradics for years, once a charter operator choice. My favorite fun outfit this season has been a Daiwa black 2-4kg bream rod with a ci4 3000 stradic for legal kings and bonito. Personaly I think a 3000 stradic with 9kg of drag is overkill on bream. I have a sol which first gave me propblems on its first session when the bail arm came apart dropping the bearing and washers into the drink. 6 months on it had the main gears replaced at a cost of $140. Was told by the tackle store ( I no longer use ) it's my fault for not checking all the screws were tight before use, also that I had mistreated the reel to damage the geers. I have bought several Daiwa reels at crazy sale prices knowing that when I break them I will ditch them, unfortunately this is a common thing I've found with them. Shimano repair and servicing has always been a good experience for me, not that I've had many issues. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slawman Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 The 3000 weighs the same as the 2500 which I thought was a bit funny and has the same drag? I have never experienced service from Daiwa but the number of problems others have posted puts me off.... At this stage definitely leaning towards the new Stradic, I will put the 1000 on my list to check, thanks Jon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xerotao Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Comparing a certate to a stradic is crazy talk as the certate is around double the price! also if you check tackkeadvisors youtube he actually checks the weight of the reel to what the website or box states. Its sad that we dont have enough australian tackle reviews as the market is much much greater overseas in jpn or usa even europe for that matter. And we just get little trickles of leftover stuff or renamed overseas models or rods and reels 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 37 minutes ago, Slawman said: The 3000 weighs the same as the 2500 which I thought was a bit funny and has the same drag? I have never experienced service from Daiwa but the number of problems others have posted puts me off.... At this stage definitely leaning towards the new Stradic, I will put the 1000 on my list to check, thanks Jon. I've got a little bone voyage travel rod waiting for a new stradic too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slawman Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 14 minutes ago, xerotao said: Comparing a certate to a stradic is crazy talk as the certate is around double the price! also if you check tackkeadvisors youtube he actually checks the weight of the reel to what the website or box states. Its sad that we dont have enough australian tackle reviews as the market is much much greater overseas in jpn or usa even europe for that matter. And we just get little trickles of leftover stuff or renamed overseas models or rods and reels Interesting you would say that and I would have agreed a while ago however there seems to be a massive difference between manufacturers and the way they mix and match their technology. The Certate is supposed to be almost a Saltiga if you look at the parts but I wonder how much different it would be to fishing the Stradic? Is the extra $300 your are paying for longevity? Reliability? I don't know but I would like to.....! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savit Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Both Daiwa and Shimano European (never checked US) tackle catalogues are more complete than Australian e.g. they both include weight of the rods even for the cheap ones, and it is easier to make a decision, or at least get a better idea what they are selling before going to tackle store. Even Australian Jarwis Walker is shy to provide the drag rating on some reels despite reels are quite ok for light/general fishing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xerotao Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 1 hour ago, Slawman said: Interesting you would say that and I would have agreed a while ago however there seems to be a massive difference between manufacturers and the way they mix and match their technology. The Certate is supposed to be almost a Saltiga if you look at the parts but I wonder how much different it would be to fishing the Stradic? Is the extra $300 your are paying for longevity? Reliability? I don't know but I would like to.....! You would be paying for r and d Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Hi, Apart from Alan Hawk, I use U Tube. I also subsribe to Fishing Magazines. I believe the best thing is research the product you are going to buy. And keep researching till you are satisfied, before you spend your hard earned $$$$$$$$$$$. Cheers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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