I am not too much into brand loyalty, but I also want a quality product. If I were to choose a brand to go with it would be a toss up between Shimano and Diawa. What say you?

Wayne when I was tournament fishing I had bought a few high end Quantum reels. I wore the most expensive one out and was going to take it to a repair shop to get it fixed. The guy @ the repair shop informed me that all Quantum products have a lifetime warranty and that if I would box it up and mail it back to Zebco/Quantum they would repair or replace it for free. I sent it back and they sent me a new one. Their reels used to be really tough, that reel in particular; a Pro 1C, was fished with 2 to 4 days a week for 2 to 3 years and probably spent 50% of that time in my hands sitting on top of an American made AllStar IM6 WR1 worm rod, casting, pitching, and flipping before it needed replacing......I still have that reel and plan to use it as part of my tournament fishing gear when I get back in the game....

I'm hearing good things about Abu's Revo., anybody got any info.

Temple Fork Outfitter (made by Gary Loomis) and Lews reels have been the best and longest lasting I have found. I used to be all shimano curado and carrot stix and Abu Revos/Orras on falcon rods. I'd check them two out if I were you! Not too expensive and will last you a lifetime

THat's good to here. I have several American made AllStars that I bought back in my tourney days and I worry about replacing them. I feel that to get rods of the quality they were made I'd have to cross over the $300 mark to get this quality. The current production AllStars are all made in China and from what I am hearing they are junk......... I figure the Chinese connection will be their demise just like Bottomline; the now defunct fish finder/depth finder company. They had the greatest product in their field in their hay day but went across the water to build them and through the extremely poor quality that they were produced over there this destroyed a once proud American owned and manufactured product/company.......I owned one of their better units in the early 90's and when I turned it on it seemed I can remember an American flag waving on the start up screen with the caption "Proudly made in America".......If I remember right.......

Wow, brand loyalty? For, not really: against, sometimes. I have fished a lot of great reals from some great companies, but some companies just seem to create junk as far as I can tell. The "good companies" all seem to have their junk product in the line.

Lews is one of them that fall into the junk companies for me. I cannot seem to get one with bearings that last more then a couple of seasons. Quantum to me is just Zebco on steroids, not something I would consider high end for sure. Still, some of the top end Quantum reels are probably worth a second look.

Shimano and Diawa have proven far more reliable for me, but even they have their cheep items. For them, spending a little more money does help, while with Zebco and Lews, spending money does not seem to help. As for Quantum, well let's just say the one bad apple I found in the barrel did spoil the whole bunch and I have not gone back again.

I sure wish that Quantum would have told me about a lifetime warranty when I called them for help. Somehow customer service must have missed that.

On the other hand, some other companies, lessor companies that have their products made by others (Bass Pro and Cabelas for example) seem to have some good rods and reels for lessor money. Perhaps not great, but worth the money.

I guess my first line does sum it up for me, a bad company is a bad company, but a good company still has some bad apples to sort through.

I have found Ardent reels and Kistler rods both made in the USA to be very reliable I have one of the 1st Ardents and am still using it.

I am brand loyal. All Daiwa reels for the last 33 years!!! I have Daiwa and St. Croix rods but I am sponsored by Kistler which I find to be the best American made rod out there even though they have a couple of rods that are made over seas but that is ok too!

Jeff

I'd have to look at the warranties again but I used to be a big fan of Quantum reels because they had a lifetime warranty on them. I bought several of their high end reels back in the 80's and 90's while I was tournament fishing. I eventually would wear them out after fishing with them 2 to 3 days a week or more for a few years. The first one to give up I was going to have a local reel repair shop fix and they told me to box them up and send them to Tulsa, OK Quantum's HQ. They would either completely rebuild the reels back to like new condition or replace them......I don't know if they still do this but I'd like to find out.
My rods are all American made Falcon and All Star. All Star went across the pond to China I believe and from what I've heard their quality left with it........I wouldn't give $100 for a truck load of their rods now. When I get ready for some new equipment my priorities will be American made and a good warranty.

I have to say Lews. I love the lightweight and compact feel of them. I can cast them a country mile and I've always had terrific customer service from them. Although some say they aren't "high end" I've never had any issues with their rods or reels.

I definitely couldn't choose. I love both of those brand, they do many things wells on both sides.