I am considering fitting Rec Recoil snakes on my next rod, but before i spend a lot of money - are they worth the extra $$ ?

Thank you
Peter

Just curious - what about them makes you consider them?

If weight is a concern, maybe the PacBay "thin wire" snakes will be a good lower cost alternative to the RECOIL guides?

I'm not saying the RECOIL guides are not good guides or worth their money, but if what you're after is weight reduction, there are other alternatives before you step up to the high cost of those specialty guides.

Of course, if you want their unique flexability and durability, then go for it. I've only cast one rod with those guides and it did feel very light and crisp in the hand, but I attribute that more to the quality of the blank than the guides themselves. Light guides will never hurt a blank, but they won't turn a corolla into a corvette.

You might send REC a note asking for a sample guide. I know they've included them in every order I've received from them this past year. Then you could decide for yourself.

You might also look at the tungsten wire guides from Snake Brand. They are *very* good guides and less than half the price of the RECOIL guides.

Bob

Well Bob,

my main reason for considering Recoil snakes is that they have no surface coating and therefore there is no coating to get worn ?

I know the Snake Brand snakes - I received sampels a while back - the black nickel and bronze are very nice - too bad the bronze does not come i tip-tops and strippers as well. The crome snakes are slightly thicker than black/bronze. The "teardrop" shape is beautifull.

Michael told me that he is working with a new guy to make thinner crome plating.

For the rods which I will build with black guides/seats etc. I will definately go for S.B. snakes and tip top with a Mildrum stripper. Just liked the Recoil idea with no coating.

Peter

Re: your 2nd point.

I can't believe that could ever happen, nor have I heard a report where it has actually happened in the field. I guess it proves the old saying - if it gets repeated enough it becomes a fact. If you think about it hard enough, it's laughable that someone would believe that. The guides on a fly rod are never under that much stress. I mean - sheesh. How silly.

Sully - you should know better than to pass along such rumours, heh heh.

Bob

They are not undersized.

This photo shows two snakes guides, the REC RECOIL on the right and a standard snake on the left.

[www.globalflyfisher.com]

Bob

Back to the original Question, I've put the Recoil guides on my last three rods, 2 SageSP's and a Winston. In short they are super! Very light. pre-ground feet, and beautiful. I would love to try to "deform" them with a trout, but can attest that they have served me well with up to 5#'ers. Go ahead and use them on your rod, you won't be sorry and you won't ask yourself in the future what if?

Bob,
I wish I had kept the print out of the REC recoil specs. A while ago, REC posted the specs for their Recoil guides alongside the specs for the "other brand". The specs for the "other brand" was surprisingly close to the specs of the Hopkins & Holloway snake guides. They did a straight across comparison (size 3 to size 3) on wire guage, weight, etc... Unfortunately, they did not print the overall height and width for the "other brand". They did, however list the specs for the Recoil guides. Guess what? The Recoil size 6 was almost as small as a Hopkins & Holloway size 3. Now, I know that each manufacturer uses different sizes (pac bay probably uses sizes different than either of these other manufacturers), but I think that was a valuable piece of information that was left off. And while you're at it, compare something that is similar, like one of the Hopkins & Holloway thin wire or the Pac Bay thin wire guides - and they're still a fraction of the price of the Recoil guides.
Wes