Manufacturing prejudice?

[DireWolf53]

For those of you who prefer made in the USA you can always still buy a Thomas & Thomas rod. Glass, graphite or bamboo they are all still made in Greenfield MA.

[Brian K. Shaffer]

My point is - be prejudiced to all fly reels... not just some.
Like I was in the beginning... toward ANY and ALL Made In England reels...
Err, that Sandstone I mentioned before.

Excellent post Doug.

ALL my happy fly reels get along well... they do so well... they know.
They get outta line, and the chopping block she lands.
Don't cross me - PAWL...

I have true pawl prejudice! Now I prefer them English ones...

[Havana]

I have old Hardy reels made in England,and some odds and ends. I believe there are two types of things - good things you use and great things you want to pass on. I wouldn't want a quartz Rolex to pass on, it's soulless. I have Hardy reels to love and use and hand down. Maybe some of the others, but I'm attached to what went in to making them.

[Greg Reynolds]

...I wouldn't want a quartz Rolex to pass on, it's soulless...

I like watches and have more that I need. One is a 1979 Heuer chronograph with a Valjoux movement that I've owned for over 40 years--it loses over a minute a day and always has. My Bolova Precisionist quartz, among the most accurate watches made, loses <10 seconds per year. The Heuer certainly has character, but I'm not sure that counts for much if you need the exact time.

BTW, I have a tall case clock with an 8-day English movement made between 1790 and 1810 that keeps better time than the Heuer.

[Godfroy]

[Short Tip]

You guys know there are trout in Korea and people fly fish for them there, right?

https://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/g ... ing-guide/

thanks for the link, that's a terrific article. Now I have a new bucket list item, need to go to Korea and catch some of their native trout..

Korea makes a lot of good fishing tackle..
http://www.doyofishing.co.kr
makes Lews, Abu, BPS and Pfleuger
http://banax.co.kr
makes Quantum and Okuma

http://www.yellowstoneangler.com/gear-r ... t-shootout
"Many of the best rods are built in one factory in Korea. The Hardy rods are designed in England, the Douglas rods in the USA, the Loop rods in Sweden."

I went to look since I couldn't remember the history, per wiki,

In 1967 Hardy Brothers was bought out by the Harris and Sheldon group and in 1985 renamed the "House of Hardy Limited." It was later merged with a former Hardy employee's fishing company and renamed "Hardy and Greys Limited" in 2004.
In 2013 the company Hardy & Greys was sold to Pure Fishing, a division of conglomerate Jarden Corporation, that was later renamed Newell Brands. Newell sold Pure Fishing to Sycamore Partners in 2018.
** end wiki

by this point Hardys is just a brand like any other.. Sycamore Investments' website says,

Pure Fishing is a leading global provider of fishing tackle, lures, rods and reels with a portfolio of brands that includes Abu Garcia®, All Star®, Berkley®, Chub®, Fenwick®, Greys®, Hardy®, Hodgman®, Johnson™, JRC®, Mitchell®, Penn®, Pflueger®, Sebile®, Shakespeare®, SpiderWire®, Stren®, and Ugly Stik®.

In a way it's kind of impressive, to have assembled all those names..
They still advertise jobs for Penn in Philadelphia, for engineering and manufacturing ? didn't know that..
https://www.purefishing.com/careers/philadelphia/

I spent a fun 5 minutes perusing their job postings. I'm now considering a new career as a Trout Bait Operator, Bait Mixer or Soft Bait Technician. Wish me luck!

In a previous life I was a manager for Gander Mountain. One of my guys drove a pallet truck into a freestanding display of Gulp! bait in jars, another Pure Fishing product. I will never forget that smell.

[jhuskey]

Manufacturing prejudice, we all have a few, don't we? I surely do, but I'm okay with that.

[Oxbow]

To put everyone that judges Hardy reels made outside of England based solely on the manufacturing process is putting all of us in the same box, which is quite an assumption. I for one assume the Korean Hardy reels are just as good, maybe better than ones produced in England. I would have no idea of that as I do not own a Korean made reel to compare. I buy Hardy reels made in England because fly fishing is more than just fishing to me. It takes me back to a simpler time, which is where I want to be when I leave my house to go fishing. My Hardy reels remind me of the past and I like the look of them. I am not at all caught up in the "latest/greatest" gizmo out there no matter how good it is - at least when it comes to fishing. We all do things for our own reasons which is why life is so darn interesting.

[Godfroy]

Two weeks ago I needed some parts for a no longer made but originally made in England Hardy fly reel. Pure Fishing provided me all the five parts I needed at very reasonable cost within a couple of days. The owner may have changed but there are still individuals within the company capable of providing the level of service I associate with Hardy.

[Pfphantom Pfisherman]

Wonderful thought provoking discussion.
Enjoyed it immensely gentlemen!

[Doug K]

Two weeks ago I needed some parts for a no longer made but originally made in England Hardy fly reel. Pure Fishing provided me all the five parts I needed at very reasonable cost within a couple of days. The owner may have changed but there are still individuals within the company capable of providing the level of service I associate with Hardy.

thank you, very happy to hear that.. impressive.

[jim royston]

Machining wise, there is virtually no difference in quality between, let's say, the Redington Grande, a $300 reel and a Hatch Finatic 11, a $800 reel. The internals are more impressive in the Hatch. But that would not be out of reach for Korean factories.

[Brian K. Shaffer]

Yes - look at LOOP. I have the Opti Creek, Runner and Dry Fly.. made in Korea and executed well.
They are just not as durable... in the long run.

No super durable hard as nails finish on the Rockwell scale like Abel said once.. or what Orvis said about the DXR.

I am gonna push for reels to be made more durable, like Charltons. They never look used - because they cannot be scratched.
they can but its really hard

My dollar will go far to the next reel manufacture that can deliver that kind of solid durability...

[woody osborne]

i am planning on getting a Hardy Cascapedia for 5 wt bamboo rods. i'm planning on English made, only.

[samsonboi]

That’s nice.

[Webfly]

...I wouldn't want a quartz Rolex to pass on, it's soulless...

I like watches and have more that I need. One is a 1979 Heuer chronograph with a Valjoux movement that I've owned for over 40 years--it loses over a minute a day and always has. My Bolova Precisionist quartz, among the most accurate watches made, loses <10 seconds per year. The Heuer certainly has character, but I'm not sure that counts for much if you need the exact time.

BTW, I have a tall case clock with an 8-day English movement made between 1790 and 1810 that keeps better time than the Heuer.

But Greg, it's lovely to imagine what's going on inside that Valjoux Heuer. It also sounds like it's ready for a tune up, just like a well used Hardy Reel. By the way, I think that you would really like my 80's Solunagraph tide watch. Was wanting a Heuer made Orvis Solunar, but they went off the map in value...

[PYochim]

For those of you who prefer made in the USA you can always still buy a Thomas & Thomas rod. Glass, graphite or bamboo they are all still made in Greenfield MA.

Or an Abel, Hatch or Bauer reel. They're made here also.

[Shoeless Joe]

“Manufacturing prejudice” ... that sorta of reads like some slanted, New York Times, page-1 lead-in, no? ... how about something far more innocous; say, Manufacturing preference?

I’m with my pal, Brooks, who so eloquently spells it out, below. Yea, Brooks & Dan Fogelberg-
From sire to sire
It's born in the blood
It's breeding
And it's training
And it's something unknown
That drives you and carries you home

With the exception of those Stanton Sims-commisioned 3” St Geo replicas & of course, the gorgeous 1/0 Brunswick & the 4/0 Cascapedia replicas, my affections for (post-2000) Hardy offerings simply went away ... and the same for all post Brackett-era RL Winston rods ... and all non-German-built HK & non-German & Swiss-built Sig Sauer firearms.

When the bloodlines are severed, so too is the soul - i.e., the tradition; the historicity; the nostalgia & again, my affections. That’s not to say that recent Hardy & Winston offerings or for that matter, U.S.-built HK & Sigs aren’t fine items, it’s just that my preferences reside elsewhere.

...back in '97...Hardy was still hand-pouring reels then and also a few were machined back then...From my perspective, the reels that were hand-poured in Alnwick had an old-world mojo that the machined reels didn't have. And in the early 2000's when Hardy started chucking up reels in CNC machines in Korea, to me, all the history, tradition (the 'mojo') was gone entirely...When I was in Alnwick in '97 getting to do hands-on reel building with the hand-poured reels, it was with craftsmen that I drank with at the local pub at night (until very late), dined with, listened to old Hardy fishing stories, admired their skill and patience at their benches as they cracked open molds, cleaned up castings, drilled and tapped pieces. It was a craft, not an industrial “contract”.

[Fred62]

Would “Manufacturing Prejudice” be considered a reel hate crime? First post, and possibly last...

[PYochim]

Would “Manufacturing Prejudice” be considered a reel hate crime? First post, and possibly last...

Fred, some may feel that way.