Non Brand Names

Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2006 6:37 pm

Looking through my tackel boxes I came across a 'Silver Surf' multiplier reel.
Made in Korea, about 15 years ago and still in tip top condition.
I was wondering do non brand names appeal to you, and do you think they are as good as branded names.

Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2006 9:00 pm

silver surf... hmmmmmm didnt leeda take that on?

Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2006 11:56 pm

All the brand name is is a lable like on clothing etc...even the bigger brands have all produced items which are a pile of crap... At the end of the day tho branded names are probaly better due to money... They have more money to spend on researching and desighning a product so that it becomes a top flight product, lots of sponsered anglers to test the product and all give there advice on improvements to be made.

Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 12:25 am

while we're on this i'll show you one problem with brand names.

I've just bought a brand new seat box called a milo carbonite, its for coarse angling. i was considering boxes made by a company called Rive however after close inspection and research of the rive's i noticed you pay £400+ for a shell. basically the storage unit for modules which you ahve to buy seperate, whereas the milo comes complete. to buy a rive is to pay for a name however you get exception build quality, however milo you get the same quality with a cheaper label happy

Member Joined: Dec 09, 2006 Posts: 50 Location: norfolk

milo boxes are great value for money and you don't need to keep buying extra bits for it i use kiley boxes and they are brilliant for wat we need tougue

Posted: Sun Dec 24, 2006 2:53 pm

kiley are very well built but their home is a river bank, something which i don't tend to fish anymore lol

Member Joined: Dec 18, 2006 Posts: 12

having used both non-branded and branded tackle i feel i can answer this one honestly and correctly.
the cheaper gear will serve a purpose upto a point. they do not last as long as the branded gear and are made of inferior materials.
they do not perform as well as branded makes,which can and does make life that bit harder on the beach.
spares for the lesser makes are often unobtainable as the product as a whole is so cheap they dont sell spares as they would`nt make any money out of it.
however, if your not too serious about your fishing then you can get away with the lesser makes,although you may have to replace them more often than the branded makes.
the lesser stuff also gets the new people into the sport for a relatively small outlay,which is good for the sport,but i find after a while people normally progress to the better gear.(natural progression)

Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2006 8:39 am

Well Cain, I feel I must disagree with your remarks about non-branded names being made from inferior materials.
While it may apply to some makes ( brand names as well ). Some makes are as good if not better quality than brand names.
My Silver Surf multiplier is a good example of this. Apart from a few minor surfsce scruff marks, it is in mint condition.
It is at least fifteen years old and I am not exactly one for lovingly cleaning and packing away my gear after each trip.
I just throw the reels in my tackle box until the next time I need them.
Apart from a light oiling every so often, that's it as far as maintenance is concerned.
I have used brand names but I don't think they make me any more, or less a skilled angler.
I have caught some really good specimen fish over the years and all on unbranded, or what you would probably call, cheap goods.
My rods are exactly the same, and while they are just rods they do what is required of them., catch fish.

I used to do maintenance work in a local Tesco supermarket and the one thing I did learn there was. Tesco branded goods were just the same as branded goods, except they didn't have all the frills.
Packaging was kept to a minimum ( you can't eat packaging ) so the cost was kept down for the customer.
So yes, the customer was getting a good deal, for example; a tin of Tesco beans for 23p instead of Heinz or similar company beans at 34p.
What most people don't realise is, these companies were providing the Tesco branded tins of beans.
It's all psychology mate, used by the companies to squeeze as much money out of you as possible.

What would be a good idea is to arrange a little test between a couple of anglers.
One using brand name gear, and one using 'off the shelf' gear.
Just to see what the results would be.
Obviously it would have to be done over a few tests to avoid the 'luck' feature.

One of the Anglers on this site 'Daiwa', fished the meet and greet competition at Southend.
He uses, as his nic-name implies, only Daiwa brand rods and reels.
He didn't win the comp........

happy

Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2006 10:32 am

no but if he had been using a proper reel he might of been able to cast far enough tougue

roll on the Penns!

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 8:29 am

Limey, I'm with you on this. My most expensive rod is my ABU uptider it cost £45 and i only bougt it as i had gift vouchers. All my other stuff is either cheap or hand me downs. my freshwater gear all came from argos and I can't tell the difference between this stuff and my bosses FOX and Nash tackle. some people like to show off their branded gear (like driving a porshe - built by the same company that build Skoda I believe big grin

) other people have a loyalty because they tried one item and it worked. then there is the rest of us, who just want something to hold the line while we try to catch.
on the day of the comp I was fishing with the ABU - because I didn't have space to use my favourite 12' Red Wolf beachcaster (£20). My answer is use what you want and enjoy yourself :wink:

G

Member Joined: Aug 24, 2006 Posts: 75 Location: durham

well said big G one of my rods cost £25 works great for me, my marra spent 160 on a rod and still cant cast as far as i can

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 12:29 pm

one other thing, at Southend most of the fish are faily close in so if you can cast 50 yds or so you will cover most of the fish. on the peir just drop it over the side - the fish are round the legs

G

Guest

Limey1 wrote:

Well Cain, I feel I must disagree with your remarks about non-branded names being made from inferior materials.
While it may apply to some makes ( brand names as well ). Some makes are as good if not better quality than brand names.
My Silver Surf multiplier is a good example of this. Apart from a few minor surfsce scruff marks, it is in mint condition.
It is at least fifteen years old and I am not exactly one for lovingly cleaning and packing away my gear after each trip.
I just throw the reels in my tackle box until the next time I need them.
Apart from a light oiling every so often, that's it as far as maintenance is concerned.
I have used brand names but I don't think they make me any more, or less a skilled angler.
I have caught some really good specimen fish over the years and all on unbranded, or what you would probably call, cheap goods.
My rods are exactly the same, and while they are just rods they do what is required of them., catch fish.

I used to do maintenance work in a local Tesco supermarket and the one thing I did learn there was. Tesco branded goods were just the same as branded goods, except they didn't have all the frills.
Packaging was kept to a minimum ( you can't eat packaging ) so the cost was kept down for the customer.
So yes, the customer was getting a good deal, for example; a tin of Tesco beans for 23p instead of Heinz or similar company beans at 34p.
What most people don't realise is, these companies were providing the Tesco branded tins of beans.
It's all psychology mate, used by the companies to squeeze as much money out of you as possible.

What would be a good idea is to arrange a little test between a couple of anglers.
One using brand name gear, and one using 'off the shelf' gear.
Just to see what the results would be.
Obviously it would have to be done over a few tests to avoid the 'luck' feature.

One of the Anglers on this site 'Daiwa', fished the meet and greet competition at Southend.
He uses, as his nic-name implies, only Daiwa brand rods and reels.
He didn't win the comp........

happy

But on the other hand :lol:

I have a salmon reel made by Leeda, who also make Orvis reels. I am also a chuck it in the bag and forget about it idle bastard.

My wife has a nice Hardy reel, present from my late father. Hers after 3 years in a box, came out didn't need oil or anything, mine came out and the spool was almost rusted to the spindle and grated at each turn.

Difference in price:

Mine from memory was about £20. Hers £70. Difference is there.

Also had a shakespeare 4-8oz F/S Rod and a Paul Kerry Daiwa Mastercast. Both rods 20 years old, Daiwa twice the price of the shakespeare. Reel seat on shakespeare fell to pieces, bottom ring bust, top ring fell off, Daiwa in perfect nick, other than top ring has had to be replaced.

PS. No I can't afford to fish for Salmon anymore, which is why I have come back to beach, will be using kit for fly-fishing for Bass in the summer, don't wan't to sell it.

Guest

Are you telling me that a Century or Zipplex rod is as good as my Zebco ?

I don't think so.

My Zebco is 4 months old and rusting around the rings. It cost £40.

My Daiwa is 4 months old and mint. It cost me £140.

My cheap reel (with no name) squeeks when I turn the handle and the bail arm sticks.

My PENN Surfmaster doesn't have this problem because it has bits made out of titanium and 7 ball bearings (sealed) and has been salt water tested..

And as for Tesco beans - they are actually a loss leader and Tesco loses money deliberately on them to get people into the store. I designed the checkout and deli scales for them by the way.......

With all things, you get what you pay for. There are some excellent budget equipment out there, but it still wont bet the upper end and boutique stuff from Greys, Penn, Century, ZZpilex etc etc.

But there again, you have got to know how to use it :-)

Guest

There is some overlap with different manufacturers using the same blanks, but you won't get the likes of Zziplex allowing themselves to be rebranded. Century make blanks for some specialist rod builders, but these are still top end rods. I used to use Daiwa AWB rods and these soon softened and I have heard of them snapping. I've not heard of a Zziplex ever snapping. As for Greys rods, they offer a lifetime guarantee on their rods, which is fortunate, as from what I've read and heard, there are quite a lot of them snapping. The cheaper gear is perfectly adequate for many people, but as anglers improve their technique or start rock fishing, the more expensive gear will start to shine. I mainly use Zziplex and Century rods and Penn reels. I also have a 7HT Turbo for extreme range fishing. I am a great believer in you only get what you pay for, but occasionally a product comes along that surprises me with it's value.