Several weeks ago I asked some of the more expeirenced of you your opinions of the CUI product line. After recieving mixed reviews, I took the oppurtunity to to examine them myself.

I must say that I am impressed, The reel seats are of similar quality to the more expensive makers and are indeed graphite not plastic as suggested by one respondent. To the gentleman that stated that the seat "smeared" when he attempted to clean it with de-natured alcohol, I would suggest he check to see if either the cloth or alcohol itself were contaminated as I did not have the same problem.

The guides I recieved are also quality items and offer the additional savings of time as the feet are all pre-ground.

Those who said that CUI is not FUJI are correct, but niether is the price, They are however quaility products at very reasonable prices. I feel this savings will allow me to sell more rods. If some wants to pay the extra money to have his components say FUJI etc, I will be more than happy to take his money, is it necessary, no,

CONCLUSION:The fit and finish of the products are great, I give CUI Products an A for quality and A+'s for price and service.

I have built a few rods from CUI graphite blanks and have found that they are not far off from some of the bigger names. I have to agree with you when you say if people want to pay to see a name let them, but its not neccesary.

John, Welcome to the world of chat boards!

While a great place to gather and weigh info, you will always find a few willing to damage a company's reputation in a public forum with their personal issues. The best test is always as you have found - try any product you have interest in yourself and you be the judge.

The statement you get what you pay for is entirely true. A low graded Fugi item is similar to a low grade item by any other supplier, so if I choose the cheapest item available in graphite, no matter who the "name" is, that's exactly what I get. I have to think these items are all coming out of same factories, some with "names" on them, some without. I have found it more important to buy the best quality I can for a reasonable price and build a relationship with my supplier (whoever they might be) so that should there be any problem with product, I can work through it with them. There are several suppliers out there that I do not return to, but bashing them on a public board is not the way I choose to conduct myself or my business. I have always felt it reflected more on me than the person/company I was ranting about.

I have bought CUI for years now and the quality is good, price is good and those guys treat me as if I were an important customer - even though I know I am not a high dollar customer for them, where some I have bought from make it seem a bother to fill my smaller quantity orders. I guess I feel as though CUI has not gotten so large that they have forgotten what it feels like to be a small rodmaker looking for as much as quality for the dollar as they can find. While I still try other makers here and there, my money is well spent on CUI products.

Whatever you choose, best of luck to you!

I have not used their products. Maybe at some point in the near future they can help pay for this board since they seem to getting so much use out of it. Same for Fuji.