I just wondered if any one has tried the "gold cermet " guides by Fuji. There neat looking but they look like they wear out fast . Fuji says they are smoother. I haven't loked on the vickers scale but i doubt it beats 2400 to 1400 .

What does wear out mean? Best guide ring material available, almost the most expensive, the Fuji Ruby Reds if you can find them are the only ones which cost more.

I haven't seen hardness values on the guides so I really can't comment there.

The gold is thru and thru the ring. Not a coating. They certainly don't "wear out fast".

They are slightly heavier than SiC rings in the same frames. 10.8 grains vs. 9.8 grains on a size 12 double foot for instance.


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Better to have and not need than to need and not have.

I thought they had some sort of metal matrix composition but are said to be harder than SIC rings.

SiC is harder than Cermet. Cermet's advantage is that it can make thinner (lighter!) rings.

I've never used them as running guides (they're out of my budget range, though I am contemplating it for two high-end fly rods I'm working on), but I've come to LOVE them for tip tops. The reason I love them is that they're much more durable than SiC. SiC is great, but it doesn't like being banged around -- the rings chip -- and since I'm a klutz, I bang my tip tops on stuff all the time. Just last week, I boinged the top of a fishing rod against a fence -- I was looking over my shoulder at something, wasn't watching where I was going, and the next thing I knew it looked like I was trying to win a fencing match. Cermet stands up to this kind of abuse much better, in my experiences anyway, than SiC does.

I use a Fuji titanium/cermet top on every rod I can. I only wish they made them in larger sizes (ring and tube). If they did, I'd never use anything else.

I have them on 2 spinning rods, 7' GLX & 9' IMX, and absolutely no wear after 2+ years of use. These guides are the very best that you can find and the only ones that I will use! JMHO

My titanium framed cermets have lasted since around the time since braided line started to the present. Have caught soooo many fishes with that rod and NO wear.........................not a single thing to complain about except for a couple of bent frames which i promptly bent back into shape. BTW...I bent the frames taking the rod out of a rod case.