At least in my experience, I have never seen this. I have three rods that have them, now I've only been fishing them for about 2 years. But I fish a considerable amount and I've never seen them groove.

But a builder warned me they could groove once, so I checked with Angler's Workshop, Mudhole, G Loomis, and St Croix (who used them briefly on their inshore Legend Series), and to a person no one has ever encountered this.

While I do feel the builder has a little bit of a biased view in regards to REC guides...I did find a few odds and ends in chatrooms and fishing forums that could confirm this but they were very rare, and their was no control in the experiment. So I thought this would be the ultimate place to come up with a definitive answer...Between all the experienced builders on here I'm sure I can finally come to a final answer on this issue.

Afterall, I don't want to put guides on anymore expensive builds that could cause me headaches and money down the road.

So what do you guys have for me?

Thanks,
Sam

Like a lot of folks, I've seen photos and heard discussion on various forums, but I always had to wonder about whether it was actually caused by something like braided line, even though most claims were to the contrary. I really didn't pay much attention to these claims until last season when I gradually began hearing a distinctive noise coming off my line while fishing my G. Loomis GLX CP float rod that uses Recoil guides. First I thought it was something to do with my line being dirty or nicked, but as I inspected the guides closely I could see areas on a couple larger guides closest to my reel that were noticeably rough. I can't attribute it as grooving but they are definitely showing signs of wear, something I've never experience with alconite or sic guides. BTW, I only use the slickest mono I can find and never braid on my CP float rods. It annoyed me enough that I considered replacing the guides, but I just have too many projects going to bother with it right now. Buffing did not seem like an option. Unfortunate, as these guides have a lot of other positive attributes in my mind. In all fairness I should point out that these G. Loomis GLX rods are factory built and (believe it or not) they do not come with hook keepers. I mention this because I've also wondered if the wear could have been caused by me using the collector guide as a hook keeper inappropriately, although I would normally hook thru the foot frame not the guide. And it seems like the Ti would be much tougher than that; in any event I've stopped doing it. Pretty much stopped fishing the rod. Sorry I can't be more definitive. If I knew what actually caused the wear, I'd probably be more inclined to use them again, but in the appropriate context. Serves me right for buying off the shelf, I guess. :)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2013 12:14AM by Teague Parker.

Thanks for the input. I think after enough answers in this thread I should at least have a consensus to help formulate some sort of a hypothesis. I think it depends on the situation and the angler. I too have two factory Loomis rods with Recoils, but they're good so far...btw your rod is covered under Loomis' warranty I would just send it back or retie the first few guides with SiC's.

The one positive is if I find out there are longevity issues; it should occur more frequently on the first 2 to 3 guides from the reel seat, and I always use the first 3 guides as SiC then the smaller guides running up to the tip as Recoils then another SiC for the Tip top.

-sam



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2013 01:05AM by Sam Moore.

I was just about to go recoil on my CP rod i want to build, might think twice now!

Thanks Sam. I should probably send it back for warranty, but if I'm going to keep it I'll do as you say and put a hook keeper on a ditch the tennessee handle while I'm at it. Really hope I'm in the infinitesimal minority too.

I have used RECoil guides since just after release. Here's what happens ... dirt. Any line alone won't hurt them. Take braided line and get it dirty and it can do so. The dirt picked up by the line (braid) will act as an abrasive, kind of like grit on sandpaper. This is the same theory used by inmates when they apply toothpaste to dental floss to cut steel bars. Yep, dental floss cutting BIG steel bars. It takes a lot of time and patience, but it actually works. Hope this helps.

have never had a problem with the running guides and braid, but have had the TT's groove. You could see the grooves under magnification. Change to a SIC TT and problem was solved...

Regards......Doug@
TCRds

A guy I know who has a bunch of g loomis NRX rods just sent 2 spinning rods back because the recoils are grooving. He uses mono exclusively. FWIW i think the NRX rods use Ti framed SiC guides on the first few guides and the recoils are the runners.

hay Jim
Got to remember that the next time I get locked up Doooo

Bill - willierods.com

Sam,
I read your post several times.
1. You indicate that you have rods.
2. You indicate that you have recoil guides on some rod.
3. You did not clearly state if you have one or more actual recoil guides that have had a groove or multiple guides.

From reading your post, it is impossible to determine if you have a problem with recoil guides grooving or not.

So, do you have some recoil guides that have had some grooving?
If so, do you fish with braid. If you fish with braid, do you fish waters that may be muddy or contain other floating items that may act as an abrasive.

For the few instances where I have ever heard of a guide grooving, it has always been by a user of a braided line, that is fishing in waters that have a lot of suspended mud and sand, or other abrasives that get picked up by the line.
Then, the constant reeling in of the line gives a sand paper abrading effect to the guide and hence the grooving appears. But this has only been in one or two instances and has never grooved all of the guides.

So, if you are getting grooving, which guide, guides, or tip is getting grooved? Every now and then I run across folks who fish some pretty skunky water that end up grooving their tips. The solution is to use a silicon carbide tip. But other than the tip, I have almost never seen a grooving problem with any other guides.

Good luck
Roger

No I've never had an issue with Recoils guides grooving. I have them on two factory rods and two customs. I'm getting another custom done now, and was planning on using them, but didn't want to if this is a recurring theme with Recoil guides.

Like I said in my experience no, but I've only fished with my REC guides for about 2.5 seasons. No, I don't fish braid, and I don't fish much if any muddy water. But if it's an issue at all I will probably get away from using them in the future, just to err on the side of caution. Because when I'm having a custom built I like to plan for the rod to last for a long time, and to be "overbuilt" so to speak. So they can handle anything from saltwater to freshwater bass fishing with jigs and plastics, which is what I do 99% of the time.

Then I would not worry about it
The builder should know and give you a Guarantee with his rods ???

Bill - willierods.com