Hi guys. I've been reading about Fuji's Rapid Choke concept with interest and would like to try it out. However I don't have any K guides on hand. Has anyone tried this concept with regular Y guides? Specifically I'm thinking of doing a 6'6" light spin rod with the following guides :-

YSG 25----->
YSG 12-----> for a shortened reduction guide train but positioned so the outer edge of the rings are in-line
SG8--------->

LSG 6 > 5 running guides

FST 6 > tip

Would I gain any benefits of the Rapid Choke concept?

Any comments would be appreciated.

Cheer
Linus

Yes you can use other guides! several custom builders have been doing so for at least the last 5 or 6 years
I have been using Batson's for that long with outstanding results.

Lighter guide trains equate to less forward weight allowing for better balance of the rod.

less added weight to the blank allows it to be more responsive, shorter dampening times, crisper actions and and should result in longer casting.

overall lighter rod is less fatiguing and more comfortable to fish with.

With Only K's and not using the KR guides it makes it kind of tough. It's best to have a 20 or 16 that is as high as a KW 30. If you use only the KW in a 20 or 16 you won't get the height. Me and another builder are working on a KR setup or rapid choke for surf rods so we are having issues with these certain things.

Linus, that setup will work beautifully. Play around with the spacing to suit the rod, you'll find that's a very good starting setup all round, for up to your 2500- 3000 size reels.

John is right. The idea of the KR is a little like "replacing" a 30 stripper (or larger) with a small ring OF PROPER HEIGHT to begin the line choking process much sooner and bring smooth flowing line down on the blank faster. A standard Y-frame (or even a K) in a small ring size will be much lower than a KL-H and will need to be positioned further out...negating the advantage of "rapid choke". Some of the reduction trains we are constructing in our experiments with rapid choke are as short as 11 inches. That's pretty fast choking, but also very dependent on the height of the ring.