I am planning to replace a size 10 ceramic single foot stripper guide on my Dan Craft 00 rod with a titanium H & H stand up wire 6 to save a little weight and for aesthetics (the rod, reel, and line weighs 1 1/2 oz, so were are talking light). But this has me thinking, how much faster are those ceramic rings and why? I have been using ceramics on everything of late, except for the 0 and 00s I am currently building. I am happy to report that the 5 foot rod will cast 25 feet with a braided 20 lb. mono. I may try some Mucilin on a 30 lb. backing to see if I can get more distance and create a full floating line (the new Sage 00 is too big in diameter to get enough line on the Forbes Micro).

I think you're going to be disappointed if you change or select guides based on how much distance improvement you'll see due to the slickness or hardness of the rings. Paper clips, bent to the proper shape and size, will give you about as much distance as the slickest ceramics. The friction you speak of just doesn't exist on the cast, at least not to the extent that it does when the line is under load.

To obtain the greatest casting distance, you want to properly select your guides based on size (frame height and ring diameter), location and weight. Those three criteria are far more important when it comes to casting distance than is the actual ring material or plating used.

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Sounds right to me, Tom. Switching to the stand up wire 6 has the other advantages to which you refer. I was curious as to whether using a non-ceramic stripper was a big deal. I don't know that the titanium carbide (not plate) will wear appreciably. REC makes a double loop stripper, but it too looks bulky.