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Posts: 735
Location: Apparently where the Muskie aren't | Are the titanium guides worth the extra money or no? I know they are a little lighter but is there any other advantages to them? Thanks! |
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Posts: 1679
Location: Mt. Zion, IL | I had Lonnie put them on my last predator rod. You can tell a difference since the rod is 9'8", but it isn't that much lighter than stainless with SiC rings |
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Posts: 4053
Location: Land of the Musky | Musky_Mo16 - 7/27/2017 6:42 PM
Are the titanium guides worth the extra money or no? I know they are a little lighter but is there any other advantages to them? Thanks!
IMO not at all. They are lighter and stronger but not by much. Price vs increased quality is lop sided to the $$$ IMO. I have looked at making a musky rod with them but why increase the price of the rod by so much. JMO but save your money and buy 4 or 5 more lures  If chucking 10oz lures was a finesse thing or you needed to "feel" the bite sure but we are chucking 10oz chunks of wood and rubber! ha ha
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Location: Apparently where the Muskie aren't | Tackle Industries - 7/27/2017 9:11 PM
Musky_Mo16 - 7/27/2017 6:42 PM
Are the titanium guides worth the extra money or no? I know they are a little lighter but is there any other advantages to them? Thanks!
IMO not at all. They are lighter and stronger but not by much. Price vs increased quality is lop sided to the $$$ IMO. I have looked at making a musky rod with them but why increase the price of the rod by so much. JMO but save your money and buy 4 or 5 more lures If chucking 10oz lures was a finesse thing or you needed to "feel" the bite sure but we are chucking 10oz chunks of wood and rubber! ha ha
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Agreed, that's why I asked other than weight. Because between throwing large and hard pulling baits, and having a tranx 500 on it, the few grams less isn't going to be noticeable. I'm more concerned about there durability. |
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | Hope this isn't hijacking but I've heard the most noticeable difference is when using single foot titanium guides out towards the tip of the rod due to the guide being lighter and eliminating one set of wraps and epoxy per guide. Is there truth to that? If going titanium should one strongly consider single foot guides towards the tip?
I know that with lightet spinning rods, using light Minima style guides does give a difference in feel. I haven't experienced using light guides on a musky rod to see what kind of difference it makes. |
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Posts: 377
| I have several predator rods built with and w/o titanium guides and find that their value depends on how you use your rod. I have 9' rod with a Tranx which I use for medium and big bucktails. I don't have titanium guides and not sure if lighter weight would make a big difference. I also have an 8' predator made for jerk baits. I do find that the lighter weight guides make a big difference. Finally I let my kids and wife use this pole and the lighter weight helps immensely. Sure you can save money and buy a few more lures but I intend to use this rod for a lifetime. |
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Posts: 833
| I've had predators with and without the titanium guides. The weight difference in striking. The main advantage you are going to find is in the area of body fatigue and pain. I built my last two predator customs with Titanium guides and I wouldn't do it differently. In both cases you have an excellent musky rod that ends up feeling like heavy bass gear. In the case of the heavy it is a rod that can throw up to mag sized rubber all day. For me, having a rod that can handle that kind of lure size and at the same time being so light is a significant advantage.
The new legend extreme has taken it to an entirely new level though: I recently did a custom Legend Extreme at 9'6" with the new Torzite guides and that is an even more striking change. That rod is throwing Pounders and only weighs slightly more than my Predator Heavy. (It also balances a Tranx HG well, but that is a different topic.) The real kicker is that this rod ends up only being slightly more expensive than a predator when you factor in the cost of titanium guides. I view this as a tremendous value since both the guides and blank are upgrades over the previous top of the line products.
The high end guides are not cheap, but they area definite value add to any custom, at least in my opinion. |
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| imo the best one are ss. its cheaper than most guides more tuff and more versatile.wire line can be use without trouble.big sturgeon and catfish rod are mostly ss |
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Posts: 424
| I knew titanium (frame) guides were used for SW fishing (more resistent against corrosion ).
Frankly,I always used gun smoke guide ( SS frame with sic or alconite stone ) without problem .
IMO titanium frame guides are just very expansive and nothing else
esoxone |
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Posts: 833
| Musky_Mo16 - 7/27/2017 11:10 PM
Tackle Industries - 7/27/2017 9:11 PM
Musky_Mo16 - 7/27/2017 6:42 PM
Are the titanium guides worth the extra money or no? I know they are a little lighter but is there any other advantages to them? Thanks!
IMO not at all. They are lighter and stronger but not by much. Price vs increased quality is lop sided to the $$$ IMO. I have looked at making a musky rod with them but why increase the price of the rod by so much. JMO but save your money and buy 4 or 5 more lures If chucking 10oz lures was a finesse thing or you needed to "feel" the bite sure but we are chucking 10oz chunks of wood and rubber! ha ha
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Agreed, that's why I asked other than weight. Because between throwing large and hard pulling baits, and having a tranx 500 on it, the few grams less isn't going to be noticeable. I'm more concerned about there durability.
Durability wise the guides are similar, at least in terms of the titanium. I've never had an issue with one of those guides failing and I've got 4-5 seasons on those rods. Too soon to tell on the Torzite, this is my first season on that rod, but early indications are all positive. I can't say enough about that rod.
It seems silly to do this comparison without considering the weight, though. The weight difference is more than "a couple of grams", it is considerable. At least for me, the main reason I'm using the premium guides isn't because of durability, it is because of the weight advantage. On my predators I'd estimate the rods are at least 30% lighter with the high end guides. It's enough that I won't build a rod without them. |
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Location: Apparently where the Muskie aren't | Brad P - 7/31/2017 11:44 AM
Durability wise the guides are similar, at least in terms of the titanium. I've never had an issue with one of those guides failing and I've got 4-5 seasons on those rods. Too soon to tell on the Torzite, this is my first season on that rod, but early indications are all positive. I can't say enough about that rod.
It seems silly to do this comparison without considering the weight, though. The weight difference is more than "a couple of grams", it is considerable. At least for me, the main reason I'm using the premium guides isn't because of durability, it is because of the weight advantage. On my predators I'd estimate the rods are at least 30% lighter with the high end guides. It's enough that I won't build a rod without them.
WOW!! 30% lighter, now that's something I would consider. It just seems like a ultra light rod would be pointless after you slap a 500 tranx on there. Is the titanium torzite even lighter than the titanium SiC? Because just between the SiC and torzite it is a $80 difference. If there is no difference I'll go with the SiC but if there is a slight advantage witht he torzite I'll go with those because I'm already spending $500 on a rod, no reason to cut corners now. |
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Posts: 833
| 30% is an estimate, based on feel, I've never weighed the rods, but I can feel the difference. If it were just a couple of grams I'd question the cost benefit also. Torzite is lighter than Sic. The guides are physically about 50% the size. That is based on eyeballing, so don't quote me. Sic are the same as the standard composite guides in terms of size, just lighter in weight. The Torzite are both smaller and lighter so it is an even bigger benefit.
Lonnie Murphy explained it to me that with the torzite they figured out a way to make a stronger composite material that doesn't require the same mass as the stuff in the Sic or other guides, so the overall product is a lot smaller.
Bottom Line, you are paying for a lighter weight overall set up which provides fatigue advantages as the day wears on. I'm 40, $$$ well spent as far as I'm concerned. |
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | I've built a handful of non musky rods. I don't think the rods could be 30 percent lighter by changing out the guides. Heck, I don't think guides make up 30 percent of the overall weight. But, I do believe that lighter guides make the rod feel significantly lighter. That's a long lever and a little weight savings several feet in front of the handle translates to a lighter feel at the grip. The longer the rod the greater effect. Speaking in generalities: weight towards the butt not bad. Weight towards the tip, bad. |
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Posts: 296
| There is a Hunt for Big Fish episode where Larry demonstrates the impacts of long rods and balancing. Some lead on the butt makes a huge difference in weight at the hold point. With torzites it takes even less lead... |
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Posts: 8729
| Alconite guides on all 14 of our rods. Aside from an insert that fell out after being stepped on and some wraps coming undone, I've never had a problem in 14 years.
As far as weight?? Crap, I don't know. I'd think a bit of lead on the ass end of the rod would make more difference than the 1/16 oz you're going to save buying different guides. But then I'm 48... Ask me in a few years! |
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