I am planning a buid on a S781-MHX. My goal with this rod to minimize weight. I am going to go with either Recoil or Minima guides, a split grip style handle and want a very light weight reel seat. I wanted to use the Pac Bay Minima seat, but ran into(what I think to be) a problem. THe butt dia of this blank is 0.295", and the smallest inside dia. that I can seem to find the Minima seat in is 9.5mm or 0.374". Is there any way to make this work?? I was also thinking of using a skeleton reel seat with 4 epoxy ramps(fore grips, ramping down and back up between reel seat, and rear grip), but I think this will defeat the purpose of my build. Any suggestions??
Thanks
Josh

The Minima seats are not very light, especially in the smaller ID sizes they weigh almost as much as a regular seat. For what you want a split Tennessee handle would be the way to go. I make mine using the foam core carbon skinned system, they are super light and you never have to worry about the cork compressing.

For a very light, compact, and reliable spin seat consider the Batson "pipe style".
Trim with the new FBWC or ACC winding checks also from Batson.

Here are some links;
[www.schneidersrods.com]

[www.schneidersrods.com]

Best wishes,
Ron Schneider
Schneider's Rod Shop
Mountain Home, Arkansas
[www.schneidersrods.com]
mtnron40@yahoo.com
870-424-3381

Josh,
I would make sure that the real seat fits my hand comfortably, and go from there. A hand is always the same size, regardless of the blank diameter. For me, a spinning reel seat needs to fill the hand a bit to be user-friendly for all-day use. If I were building that rod, I would use a Pac Bay Areo seat, 2 inch rear grip, 2-3 inch butt grip, no fore grip. I like the Areo because it has a "hump" that fills the palm of the hand, making it the most comfortable spinning reel seat I've ever used.
George

George Forster
Fort Collins, CO

I put a minima seat on a spinning rod and, as George mentions above, I found it very uncomfortable without the "hump" for the palm. Here's how I fixed mine...
[www.rodbuilding.org]

i'm a big fan of the minima. i find it very comfortable as is. I don't close my hand over a spinning reel so the palm of my hand is not resting on top however. I do like it that i can touch the blank with at least 3 fingers.

That said - it does need a few modifications. 1st off - cut the threaded section down almost in half, it helps to know what type of reel you will be using to space it appropriatley.

Second, from the back side of the seat, use a dremel to remove material from the sized portion. Quite a bit can be removed with a small boring bit - this will help cut back on the weight. I usually cut mine out to look like a star - so there are 5 ribs left instead of a solid arbor.

Regards,
-Justin

The SBSS, Sticks and Bones Spinning Seat, is about all I use these days anymore. It is the lightest and most comfortable I have found. It just works! You will have to make your own but this allows for the greatest degree of customization possible. I forget what issue of the mag it was featured in but it was within the last half dozen issues. Can probably find it on the Rodmakers back issue page.

I have been doing the Ergo-Skeleton using 16, 17 and 18 skeleton hardware for a few years now. Essentially it is the same as the SBSS (nice name), but uses both bits of the skeleton seat. You could also knock one up using a Super Sticker, or the sliding ring as shown in the SBSS pics.

For those that grip right over the reel (two fingers either side of the stem), the swell that fills the palm is the ergonomic feature that makes it so comfortable. Plus, as Peter mentioned, it is easily customisable to suit the user, and even to suit a particular reel.