A customer wants me to replace all the guides on his three Fenglass Downrigger rods with Carboloy guides. He seems to smash out the rings on just about anything I replace them with so he wants a quality guide with no insert. First of all, who still carries carboloy guides? Second, anything else anyone would recommend for the abuse this guy delivers to these rods? Thanks!

CARBIDE "CARBOLOY"
RING GUIDES (CSBG : 8MM(~$5) to 18MM(~$16)
TIP-TOPS (CSBT : 7-64ths(~$4) to 20-64ths(~$11) of an inch)
available at:
MUD-HOLE 2005 Catalog, page 65. Higher List Price than SMRW.
SMRW (Summer Moon Rod Works), page 22. Less expensive, if available.

The RING itself is very hard and corrosion resistant and next to indestructible, mechanically speaking. BUT the carboloy ring is sometimes stronger than the WELD holding it to the guide frame. If you / he hits it hard enough, anything can break. But these Carbide / Carboloy guides are often the go-to choice for hard-core tackle abusers. ... I had a carbide tip-top fail at the WELD once, but not a guideweld, and never did a carbide ring itself crack or deform.

Does he pass swivels thru the guides, that he knocks out the rings, or is it against the gunwale that he smashes his guide rings? ... If it's against the gunwale, the various folded-frame / turbo style Hardloy guides (BLRLG) might work. ... Maybe tackle abuse has to be excluded from warranty. IMO. Good Luck, Marc. -Cliff Hall+++



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2005 06:53PM by Cliff Hall.

Marc,
What is the rating of the Fenglass rods? Carbaloy guides are heavy double footed and if the rods are too light in the tip section
those type of guides might kill the action and performance with the added weight of guides and finnish.

Like Cliff said, they are just about bullet proof! A good choice for one who is very hard on their equipment!

Good luck!

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2005 09:04PM by Raymond_Adams.

Marc,
The carbaloy guides do have some problems in the weld area as Cliff has stated. In my experience it seems to be a corrosion that weakens the weld and causes failure. It is a strong guide, though, slightly on the heavy side. Maybe with some maintanance ( wash-down) after use, he can avoid the corrosion problem. And as Cliff also stated, we can get them for you. Steve (SMRW)

Marc,
I am not sure that carboloy guides are the answer for this customer who is obviously tough on his gear but I do not think that I have any better suggestion. Carboloy has some definite advantages as pointed out above and were very commonly used a number of years ago but they tend to be pretty brittle and break or sometimes even shatter like glass when hit on something hard.

Thank you everyone. The rods are fairly heavy fenwick Fenglass Downrigger rods. I don't think he cares about weight. I have replaced a few guides on these rods with Carboloy's a few tyears ago and they have held up so far.

I don't think he is passing swivels through them. I think he abuses them at the launch or in transportation. I think they tip over and hit the parking lot or he grabs six rods like a bundle of branches and shoves them in his truck.

"I tell ya, those rods just don't get any respect!"

Thanks again,

Marc