Hello, I am planning on building a rainshadow 1087-4 switch Rod and thinking of using recoils. Any thoughts on these guides for switch and spey rods? Thinking of using recs snake guides and Fugi ti sic strippers to reduce noise? Or go with all Rec recoils including tip top?

Also, according to the batson guide spacing the guide sizes are 12,10,4,4,4,4,3,3,3,3 but after reading some past posts, can I go from 12-10 then 3s all the way?

Thanks!

Recoils are a very good guide, would be right at home on that blank. Yes, I would go with your second option of 12-10, then 3's rest of way out, but, the 3's could be a bit "large", 2's would work as long as your knots/connections will pass thru them. If your worried about possible Ice in the guides, then stick with the 3's. The weight difference between a 2 or 3 is really not all that much.

I would also go with the Fugi stripper and second running guide also in a Fugi or an equilivent brand. You could use the REC Recoil strippers, just becomes personal choice at that point. I never liked the look of the REC Recoil strippers, so my advise might be a bit bias.

If you decide to use conventional guides for the first two, I just finished a rod with the light colored REC's for the running guides (9 wt, used #3's), consider the Alps titaniums for the first two. Colors match well, and the guides really are handsome, well finished, guides. You will have all titaniums for superior corrosion resistance.

Sid -
You might take a look at the size of reel you intend to use, and consider a 16 -12 for your first two guides. A 12 seems a bit small for a 7wt switch.
I use recoil snakes on my switch rods, and AT Titan ringlocks for the stripper guides. The Fuji's should be good. I like the extra security of the ring lock guides. The recoil stripping guides are a bit noisy, but at least you don't have to worry about an insert popping out.

Agree with Bryan on sizes. Disagree on AT titanium. I find AT titanium the most pliable, most easily damaged of the titanium guides. At least in single foot spin guides. I have no experience with the double foot Titans.

Thanks for the input guys! The 7wt batson is equivalent to a 5wt two hander (correct me if I'm wrong) ? If so, on my meiser 5 wt switch I have a size 12-10 stripper and works ok with my 3.5" Pflueger trion reel. I'm planning to purchase a 3.5" bougle for the rod. What are your thoughts on the guide size for that reel? Thanks

I'd still use 16-12. But it's your rod! You may not ever notice that a 12 is on there rather than a 16.
I'm currently building a meiser 4/5 Highlander Classic, and will go 16, 12, 4 (or 5 - I forget), 3's to tip. Think also about the shooting ability of these rods, and your stripping guide's ability to foster (and not hamper) that ability. Larger guide may help wrangle tangles and loops while shooting, and might have less drag as that line comes whipping up from below.
This may be a bit overboard, but built an 11' 7 wt Meiser meant for overhead delivery (think beaches), and used 20 -16, and it works great.

Michael - I've found the Titans live up to their name. Very strong, and plenty stiff. Haven't tried the single foots, and likely won't now. At the risk of hijacking Sid's post, have you found a good, stiff single foot ti guide that might be suitable for fly rods?

Re the ti single foot fly guide, I have no experience with them other than the old Fuji ti-SIC guides I've used on spinning rods, and they appear bullet proof, like their Y titaniums are.. I have used dBlue size 5's ti single foot fly style guides on a spinning rod and have seen no issues. The single foot titanium guides I was referring to are the single foot "Y" style guides for spinning rods. I have bent/broken two size 8 AT NIA guides under loads that I thought were quite minimal. My experience with the Fuji titanium Y style guides is that they are so stiff as to be almost impossible to bend, very tough. Much different than AT titans. The newer Alps single foot titanium guides appear to me to be a little less rigid than the Fujis, but have a very high yield strength that should mean they will be a very tough guide. As stated before, the double foot titanium Alps guides I used for reduction guides on the new fly rod are a very finely finished, great looking guide, high polish. Of course I have no durability experience yet, but it's hard to imagine that there would be any issues with these guides on a fly rod.

I would not hesitate to use the new Alps TIPF titanium single foot fly guides on a fly rod if I were going to use a ringed guide because I've use a lot of Alps guides and never had a single issue. I am more of a fan of wire guides for fly rods, however, and think REC's are the top guide of that type right now due to their unique ability to be flexed and snap back.

Bottom line is that all titanium is not the same.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2015 09:54PM by Michael Danek.

Thanks guys. Your thoughts on the recoil tip top? And size? Or should I chose a different tip top brand? Thanks

Sid,
Generally speaking, I prefer NOT to use a recoil tip top. For most rods, I prefer a guide with a liner in it. The bulk of the heavy rod stress and line stress happens at the rod tip. By using a ringed tip, the rod is quieter, and the line will show less wear and tear from heavy use.

Be safe

Thanks Roger. Any recommendations? thanks