I am building a Cabela's SLi 8'6" 5wt (1.39oz) and am trying to make this the lightest 5wt outfit I can.
(It will be teamed w/ a Lamson-Waterwoks ULA P2 reel) Single foot recoil guides and now I'd like to add
a nice lightweight (preferably wood) reel seat - any suggestions ?

You didn't give much info. Uplocking or downlocking? I'd get with a REC and Struble with a good discription of what you want. Unstabilized woods would be lighter, but more prone to water damage. Good luck with the rod. Keep thread and finish to a minimum.

I have no preference for uplocking or down locking reel seats, either is OK w/ me.
Butt diameter of blank is .350

If you really want it to be the lightest 5 wt. possible, then you should find a Struble or REC aluminum, small o.d., cap and ring seat (i.e. downlock), and turn a regular cork insert and grip for it--no burl cork. (I think you can order a cork insert from REC....?) You could do the same thing with a Fuji SKM16 seat, but I'm guessing that the small o.d. aluminum/cork combo might weigh just a tad less than the Fuji. Then, use short wraps on your guides--no extra decorative length. Start your wraps just a couple turns before wrapping over the foot. Then, as soon as you're done with your locking wraps, tie off. Skip the hook-keeper wrap (the guides function as great hook-keepers), skip the inscription area, and skip the epoxy altogether. Use three coats of Permagloss for your guide finish. It will be plenty durable, and it has a really nice understated matte look to it. Just remember--thin coats.

If you really want to go over-board, use Pearsall's gossamer silk for your wraps. Because it is smaller diameter than regular "A" nylon, it will necessarily save some weight, plus it looks really good under a few coats of permagloss (no CP). Because the silk is so low-profile, three thin coats of Permagloss is typically enough to make any thread ridges invisible.

Please understand, I don't generally get this crazy about weight. We're talking about mere fractions of an ounce; it is so little weight, in fact, that you'd likely never notice it during a day of fishing. But, your post did say that you wanted to make it as light as possible, so I let my mind wander a bit.

Hi Paul,

I too am an ultra lightweight fan - most of my fishing is with 2 or 3wt rods. For light weight reelseats I would recommend as follows:

1. REC "Master series" PLNR with sliding bands;
2. REC "Classic series" AUSL;

Both of these are really for 0-4wt rods, but that does not mean they wont work great on your 5wt. I have used both, but for what you are after I would suggest the REC "Classic series" AUSL. Also look at the :

3. REC "Classic series" ABGS; OR
4. REC "Classic series"ABS,

But they will be a bit heavier. If money is no object consider the Bellinger ULSB 660 NS CORK CORE - [www.genuinebellinger.com]. This is a gem of a reel seat, but about $130.

Hope it helps.

Gavin

Oh Paul, I forgot to mention, if you are dead set on reducing weight what I sometimes do is use a cork reel seat, but take the sliding bands off and use cable ties whenever I put the reel on. This is more for 000wt stuff though, but does make a significant diference weight wise!

Paul, I don't know if you turn your own seats or not. I'm just throwing an idea out here, If you want to save weight on a wooden reel seat you may want to remove some of the wood. There are a couple of ways to do this: 1) is to use a flex coat arbor inside the wooden insert. or 2) you could remove some of the wood in the insert by splitting the seat like Tom Kirkman did in this photo [www.rodbuilding.org] . I don't know how much weight you will actually save but if you split the seat it should save at least 15-20 percent of the original seat. One other thing you may want to look at is the wood itself, Cedar is 1/2 the weight of say Bocote, Wenge weighs less than say Bloodwood and so forth. It's just a thought.

I know this is late and may trouble some, but the lightest reel seat is a Fuji, carbon fiber spin seat. Just shorten and epoxy in the butt cap they sell for them. You can make up- or down-lock.

Yes, they are not pretty, but they are well made and light...

Hive