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When is old fishing gear better than the NEW stuff?

2K views 21 replies 18 participants last post by  BobP 
#1 · (Edited)
HI All,

Am thinking that i am happy with my old gear. My 7wt zero g works the same as the day i got it. My fly vice still holds a hook. In fact some of my old fly reels i sold i now have a hankering for.

So when is old gear better in some cases than the newer stuff?

I know the old bfr reels are still good reels perhaps not desired as much but they still fish fine. Old abel reels bombproof. Sage xp rod oh and dear i say it the law vice...

Seems that the newer reels made these days whither top of the line or mid range all look the same, machined to within a 1millimeter to hit the 30gr weight etc etc.

Am thinking the american philosophy that i read somewhere that sell all the high end rods you own and reinvest in one or two handmade bamboo rods has some appeal... well until i broke one.

Old hardy rods maybe no one can dispute the craftman ship yet they never sell for what they are worth probably just in case maybe a section breaks.

Anyway just wandering if anyone else has examples of OTHER gear that they would hold onto regardless of the newer stuff coming out?
 
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#2 ·
I have three Orvis BBS reels. I bought an Access Mid Arbour which seized while putting backing on it, sent it back and got a refund. It was heavier, not as well engineered and not as reliable as the BBS, which would still sell today if it was still in production.

A true classic, which for many river anglers who own them will never lose its appeal.
 
#3 ·
It happens to me John with loads of gear,not just fly fishing stuff.
Now and again you buy something and just love it.
Here's my short list.
Sundridge sea fishing coat,still open the cupboard door and look at it,just class.
My new vice,the old cheapo did the job but the Snowbee is brill,still just holds hooks but just like to look at it and say wow.
Korum mk11 coarse fishing day shelter.
Four piece Shakespeare travel fly rod.
Four items that still make me chuffed to own and use:D
 
#20 · (Edited)
Old'ish Sage rods are hard to beat, especially the SLT and TXL models.
SLT? TXL?
Modern rods them!
Still use my original sp's, and rpl+'s loaded with my original Tibor everglades!
Now add that little lot up at 1995 dosh, and convert to to-days value.
Old stuff better than new?
Without a doubt.
regards
bert

BIG P.S!!
Just remembered this photo!


Is to the left, RPL+#7, with Tibor Everglades.
And to the right RPL+#8 with same Tibor.
2014 Cuba, bonefishing.
regards
bert
 
#5 ·
One answer is "when you are on a tight budget"
Another- "when someone thinks they will like fly fishing but doesn't want to commit moneywise until they have given it a try"
My personal answer - "when your family were thrown out of Aberdeenshire for not spending enough, you tend to get away with the minimum expenditure possible. My go-to rod I built in the 1970s using blanks smuggled out of a local factory in the early days of carbon fibre. The Intrepid Rimflys I have used since the 1970s are still functioning perfectly and give me no problems, so I can see no good reason to replace (I must admit the howl from the ratchet when a fish strips line gets my neighbouring anglers clutching their ears in disbelief). My Barbour Gamefair still keeps me dry given an annual dose of Renapur"
I could go on ad infinitum, but I suspect I am saying more about myself than about my fishing tackle.
 
#6 · (Edited)
For too many years I made the mistake of constantly trading in my current rod for the latest new toy, sometimes regretting it pretty soon afterwards. Then I broke a rod and had to go back to a 20 year old rod and suddenly realised that it was perfect.

I've stopped playing that silly game and bought back some of my favourite older rods that included:

Sage SLT 9' 5wt
Winston Biit 9' 4wt
Sage SP 10' 7wt

The 20 year old rod, (more like 30 now) was a Caudle & Rivaz 9' 6" 7wt, a cracker of a rod that really suits my fishing and still in use as a sea trout rod after a refurb by Renee Foxon. I also still have my 21st birthday present a 9' Hardy Perfection Palakona that I use from time to time.

I find these perfect for what I use them for and have resolved not to chase newer gear any more, I was sorely tempted by the Sage Circa currently advertised on here having had a cast of Tigermoth's but resisted. :eek:mg:
 
#7 · (Edited)
When is old fishing gear better than the NEW stuff?

Perhaps when you have an original Normark Titan 2000 float rod as new in its original bag and Normark rod tube.

Or a Davenport and Fordham Peter Stone Ledgemaster as new circa 1968.

Still use both when the mood takes me.

Both have something that most new rods don't have.
 
#8 ·
When it comes to rods ,the very early ones were much to heavy to fish with
bar a couple of short cane jobs all my rods in regular use are 21st century,I think
Now reels I have 40 year old rimflys Marquises and Viscounts all still doing sterling service ,no need to replace them ,I have tried all jinds of modern middle of the road reels and they do nowt for me .
Vice I am on my second one started with a cheap Veniard and the bought a thompson sometime in the 70s ,with the new set of jaws a while back I an good for my lifetime ,does all i need !
 
#9 · (Edited)
My salmon spinning rod for use with a multiplier is a 30 year old Kunnan Carboglass and my favourite grayling trotting rod is a 13' of similar vintage from the same manufacturer. I've only just had to scrap my Sportex Legermajor rods that I've had since 1966. My bass rod is a Derek Townsend "Lite Bass" from the 1970s.
 
#10 ·
That's the trouble with nostalgia - it isn't what it used to be.

Sometimes our emotional attachment to stuff gets the better of us. I'm not saying everything new is necessarily better, but if you're life depended on catching tomorrow, I bet most of us would pack the car with top quality new ?

I collect guitars and have some great vintage instruments. I love to play them, but when Jeff Beck calls me to join his next tour, I'll be taking my 4 year old top of the range Gibson. It won't let me down. :cool:
 
#11 ·
Intrepid Rimfly - Old tobacco box of my grandfathers I've had since early sixties.

Right- here's the idea - lets all stop buying new tackle for the next six months and fish with what we have got.

It will achieve two things
1. Save us all a fortune
2. It will bring the price of game fishing tackle tumbling down.




Douglas
 
#12 ·
Mrnotherone well speaking for fly rods some of the older sage rods 10ft 6wt etc made 10 years ago thereabouts are the same weight as the "newer" wander rod models. Am not a guitar player but I thought old fenders are meant to better than the new ones? Didn't Eric Clapton get burned trying to rescue them from his house when there was a fire? Cause of the rarity factor?


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#15 ·
Mrnotherone well speaking for fly rods some of the older sage rods 10ft 6wt etc made 10 years ago thereabouts are the same weight as the "newer" wander rod models. Am not a guitar player but I thought old fenders are meant to better than the new ones? Didn't Eric Clapton get burned trying to rescue them from his house when there was a fire? Cause of the rarity factor?

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Perhaps the analogy doesn't work too well. There are old instruments that are fabulous and also a lot of tat being passed off as good, just because it's old. I'm sure there is plenty of older tackle that's excellent, but my point is that sometimes our attachment to something clouds our better judgement.
 
#13 ·
I have 3 pre 1930's 5 string Banjos, I restored my self and the tone on these is better than the modern ones, I built a Cello Banjo last winter and it has a great tone, but all my rods and reels are modern the rods home built on a variety of blanks , best one a TFO lefty Kreh, I have an Orvis Rocky Mountain
made by BFR, no Idea when that was made, and a Hardys Viscount 120, still decent reels, I try hard not to be swayed by the magazine or catalogue hype
but then I'm a tight git,:wine: easker1
 
#16 ·
About 2 years ago I purchased an old Gary Loomis IMX 9ft 7# and it is a fantastic rod. I think it was probably made in mid to late nineties but am not sure. I use it all the time as it is so light and powerful and it compares with anything around today IMHO.
 
#18 ·
Depends how far you go back, I have a spit cane rod that's lovely to look at but in comparison to my really old carbon rod is pants.

The best thing about old stuff though is you can abuse it and not care too much if it gets scratched or a bit bent out of shape. Trouble is tho' you get rather attached to them too.

But there are two sports in fishing; catching fish and catching gear. The first really doesn't need to speak to the second as much as it does.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Nostalgic value guessing am attached to my snowbee waders. Sad to say it but I enjoy the challenge of patching the holes after a season and they nice and spacious. And well after patching keep me as dry as a new pair would :)

On older things being better heard the orginal simms jackets were very good compared to the newer stuff. Having not owned any myself only what I have heard.


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#21 ·
I have a number of rods between 20 and 30 years old which I still use regularly.

I mostly built them myself and have no intention of changing them any time soon.

They are built to my liking with proper lined rings which have never needed replacing......I simply do not know why they have fallen out of fashion in favour of snakes:eek:mg:
 
#22 ·
When it breaks, because it is then so old you've forgotten what it cost you in the first place.

Must be something wrong with me because I've never got so attached to an item of tackle that I wouldn't change it if necessary. Not from a "fashion" perspective, but because I feel it can do the job my current gear does but more effectively and therefore more enjoyably for me.
 
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