I have not tried the simple spiral yet. I am wondering how the 2 methods compare. I prefer the Forhan method (I think). It seems to make for a smoother transition to the 180 guides. Also does anyone change the guide sizes when using Forhan's method. For example on a 7 footer instead of 12 double foot ,10,8,8,6,6,6,6,6,tip - use 8 single foot,6,8,6,6,6,6,6,6,tip. ?

There is no transition with the Simple Spiral. The line goes where it naturally wants to.

The Revolver Rod uses the 0 - 60 - 120 and 180 degree transition which has been around a long time and is proven to work well. You will have side loads on the transition guides in this sytem, however. That may or may not be a problem for you. On lighter rods it is doubtful that it will hurt anything. Also, on the true Revolver Rod the first guide is actually offset a bit away from the side the transition guides are on to ensure that the line is coming onto the reel from a true 0 degree axis. This keeps the line from stacking heavy to one side on certain types of crankbaits.

You should play around with guide sizes to arrive at the configuration that you feel works best for you.


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I have used about every spiral wrap method out there. The Roberts, Revolver, Quick-change, O'Quinn and then the Simple Spiral. They all work fine but in my attempt to get rid of anything not really needed I went to the Simple Spiral after the article first appeared. I cannot say that it works better than the others, but it works at least as well as any of them and does the job with fewer guides and less hassle.

On the subject of line paths. The O'Quinn gives you the straightest line path of them all. It was my preferred method at one time and works very well. But I didn't like having so many guides on axis other than 0 and 180.

My Simple Spirals have nearly as straight of a line path and as the rod is loaded the line gets straighter and straighter. I have never had any problem with the first 180 guide loading once the butt has enough pull on it to load that area. Not a big deal to me. The system just plain works and does so without undue hassle.

The Revolver Rod is known to work and I doubt Rich Forhan would use it if there was anything wrong with it. So no matter which type you choose you will have something that has been used and proven over many years now.

Ralph O'Quinn spent many years tinkering with various spiral wrap methods. The "O'Quinn" spiral was outlined in an earlier RodMaker article. It has a lot of devotees, particularly in the surf rod field.

However, when Ralph first walked into my shop and saw the Simple Spiral, he said, "Well, that's really all you have to do, isn't it?" It's what he uses now and he only builds his casting rods in spiral configuration.

One last interesting experiment you can try is this - use small rubber bands to attach your guides all along the top of the rod as you normally would if you were making a regular conventional casting rod. Make sure they're snug enough to hold the guides in place, but no so snug that they won't move with a little effort. Now string up the line through all the guides and load the line until max pressure is reached. Let the guides spin to their desired locations without any help on your part. Then, wrap them where they ended up. The name of the gentleman that first mentioned this to me escapes me at the moment, but I suspect that his method will also work well. I have not tried it personally, however.

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Well as I understand the simple spiral - the first guide is at 0 degress and the 3rd is at 180 with the one in between at 90. Is this correct?

Sort of. The place where many foul things up, is seeing the bumper guide as the 2nd guide. It is, and it isn't.

The set up is performed with the bumper being an additional to, not part of, the regular spacing. You'd set it up so that the first guide is at 0, the 2nd at 180 and all the rest at 180. You could fish it like that and it'll work fine. But, you can go in and add the "bumper" guide to keep the line off the blank. It would indeed go at 90 degrees on most rods, but you do not adjust the spacing of the previous set up when you add it. In other words, the bumper guide is not figured into the guide spacing of the rod. It would normally fall between two guides that are only about 8 to 11 inches apart on most rods, putting it about 4 or 5 inches from the first 0 and the 180. Under load, it will not have any side load on it.

I've had people show me set ups that they thought were the Simple Spiral. They were not. What they had, were the standard single 90 degree transition system that has been around a long time (and works okay). But that 90 degree guide in this instance will carry a side load.

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I let the line tell me where the guides go. I put the tip top on at 180, then put guides, with tied rubber bands, on as a spin rod, 180. I then static test it, when I like the spacing I flip the butt guide, up to 0. Put a load on the blank and check for the bumper guide. Some times I also move the first 180 after the bumper so the line is closest to the blank under pressure.

Tight lines
Willie Rods



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/21/2007 11:06AM by bill boettcher.