I have been using the Surfmaster 70 for three years now, if you are looking for quality you wont find much better for the price!!! Working over Beach or Rock venues it delivers the power when you need it. Starting at the front, the bail arm is firm to latch back, lestening the chance of a crackoff. The bail is tripped externally and does need a firm turn to make it trip, i normally trip the bail by hand anyway. Drag settings are easy and most of all repeatable, the drag is very easy to clean, just give it a wipe. The spool is aluminium, with a fairly short skirt, this is a problem area if you are clumsy, line around the shaft for a crackoff is not advised. Spare spool supplied is a grafite material and is a lot more shallow than the main spool. Very handy when using Braibed lines. The gears and bearings are rock solid, keep them lightly greased and the will go on for ever ish, with a fairly low gear ratio Surfmasters will give a good acount of themselves. The body is alloy not plastic like some reels, so it can and has taken some bad knocks. I have used them for long beachcasting 5mtr rod, and for uptiding of the boat, yes i got a lot of ribbing but that day the lads with multipliers had a lot of problems with birdsnests. An overall score I would give it a 9/10, a deepper skirt would take away all the worry of a crackoff.