I am building a surf rod and wanted to know which way other builders face the threaded end of reel seat. In the past I had the threaded end facing the butt of the rod. This allowing the hand to touch the fore grip not the threaded end. After doing a search of the web I find seats placed both ways. Which do you prefer and why? Thank you.

I like down locking, some like up locking. It your choice. When I use to use up locking reel seats the reel kept coming loose, but didn’t have that problem when I switched to down locking. In fact this issue was one of the reasons I started building rods. It’s totally your choice.
Norm

For many decades surf casters used tape or lashed cord to secure surf reels to blanks. Strong, lightweight, and allowed them to move the reel up and down the blank until they found the "perfect" spot.

like Phil, all i use is tape, ever since i found Gorilla reinforced tape, just on fresh water reels, but should work well on surf reels..i tape the reel onto the grip and don,t intend to use a reel seat ever again, so far..lol. makes a much lighter rod..

I prefer uplocking because thats what i am used to , i add a locking collar nut but it's not necessary . When i pick up a rod i know exactly where i want the reel seat and i have never ever had the urge to move it even slightly in one direction or another , the seats i choose are light as a feather and i see no difference in that regard especially on surf rods , grips , guide sizes , style , composition & amount used along with how long you make the wraps ( Most use wayyyyyyy more thread on guides than necessary) which require far more epoxy are the things that really weigh down surf rods .

For me it boils down to rather or not it is a spinning or a casting reel.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

This will be a spinning reel. Some of my freshwater rods have the locking nut up and some have the nut down. Thanks for the reply's.

For heavy spinning reels I have the locking nut on the butt end. For lighter casting reels I have the locking nut towards the tip.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.