Hi. I was just wondering when or if torzite becomes a desirable material for guides? I’m fishing with 50lb braid and fighting lake sturgeons (anywhere from 2-5, maybe 6ft). I am having another rod built for me and can ask Erik K, but I’d like some input before I go to him.

Does the torzite rings make the sensation of a fish bite more sensitive?

They’re the best guides available, lightweight and strong. Not sure if a human could tell any difference in sensitivity, technically they should be more sensitive… lightweight and a harder ring material. I’ve noticed that braided line is a bit louder as it runs through the Torzite ring.

[www.fujitackle.it]

No, they will not increase sensitivity.

Under pressure from hard running fish you might find an advantage but otherwise nice to have but not needed in terms of what you can actually realize.

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Thanks guys!

Torzite is extremely slippery , more so than any other guide ring material on the market right now imo . I use Torzite on my surf rod builds and they perform incredibly well , most will not be able to tell a difference between ring materials . CTS did a big write up about Torzite and you can see for yourself how it compares to other ring materials .

David,
Fuji’s Torzite may well be the very “best thing since sliced bread” in the guide ring arena, but at what cost? Fuji is very proud of their “flagship” ceramic ring material and the cost represents such. Their Alconite ring material has never let me down; UL freshwater to heavy saltwater use without a hiccup. I guess it all boils-down to how finely you want to split hairs.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

I’ve used them on several of the rods I’ve built for myself since they came out. However, they are too expensive for me to use on rods that don’t really benefit from their performance characteristics of being lightweight, corrosion resistant, and casting really well. For instance, I saw little benefit to using them on a topwater bass rod. Those 3/4 ounce and heavier lures fly just fine on aluminum oxide guides. The rod is heavy enough that the benefits of lightweight guides would be mostly negated. Sensitivity is relatively unimportant with topwater lures. I also don’t take the rod on any saltwater trips. Conversely, I really like Torzite guides on medium-light crankbait, jerkbait, and drop shot rod builds. These are on premium blanks and minimizing weight while maximizing casting distances for some flight challenged lures (especially jerkbaits and balsa square bills) were primary objectives, Generally, I’m putting them on blanks that match their advantages and premium pricing. These include SCV’s and Eternity RX10’s (certainly, an XRay or HM is in this class). I’m not going to buy a mid-level blank and put premium guides on it. I’m also not going to build on a premium blank with economy guides. I didn’t mention economy blanks because I don’t see any reason to invest the time ot takes for a custom build on one unless it’s a first “learner”. I would also never use anything but woven carbon fiber skinned or natural cork grips with Torzite as EVA and composite cork are heavy options.

Good to see Americans supporting American businesses

Wow thanks guys for the info

I don't believe Fuji says that Torzite is any harder or smoother than Sic, only that the rings can be more thinly formed resulting in less weight. They're not worth the cost for my purposes. And although adding guides to a blank won't "increase" sensitivity. Using the lightest possible guides will reduce it the least. Bet you'll never feel it. Lol



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2023 07:23PM by Lynn Behler.

Fuji admits Torzite is not quite as hard as SIC but it's definitely more slippery . The fact that it offers a thinner ring is just one advantage . You can witness for yourself just how much more slippery it is compared to other ring materials on the CTS blog. I only use it on my very best highest performing surf rod builds because it's definitely not cheap . As somebody else indicated you can get the larger sizes heavily discounted but the smallest running guides in the KB and KT designs are very expensive and never discounted . Don't forget Torzite only comes in Titanium frames so that's a big part of the expense as well .

Here is an additional thought on Torzite, I believe that I’ve tested Torzite guides for durability and wear about as well as is practical without intentionally misusing them and the rods. This includes TSA handlers (perhaps, the worst regimen you can put a rod through), float planes, small aluminum boats and canoes, saltwater, braided line, novice fishing partners and their feet, thousands of casts, dirty water, trailering them out of rod lockers, blowing sand, and large fish. I have never suffered damage or noticeable wear. I find them to be very dependable.

David Riesenbeck Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi. I was just wondering when or if torzite
> becomes a desirable material for guides? I’m
> fishing with 50lb braid and fighting lake
> sturgeons (anywhere from 2-5, maybe 6ft). I am
> having another rod built for me and can ask Erik
> K, but I’d like some input before I go to him.
>
> Does the torzite rings make the sensation of a
> fish bite more sensitive?


No, Torzite is not worth it on your Sturgeon rod. I have caught a lot of White sturgeon, some in excess of 10' on a Hardaloy guide built rod using 50 lb braid with NO grooving.

Kerry Hansen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> No, Torzite is not worth it on your Sturgeon rod.
> I have caught a lot of White sturgeon, some in
> excess of 10' on a Hardaloy guide built rod using
> 50 lb braid with NO grooving.

As much as I like Torzite guides, a sturgeon rod (which is nearing to top of my build list as I live near and fish HellsCanyon) would be one of the last rods I would prioritize for their use. I didn’t come out and say it above, but the advantages I mentioned mostly don’t parallel sturgeon fishing.

Still using a rod I built in Florida in 1985 to jig wrecks with salmon jigging spoons, it has Fuji SV DF Aluminum Oxide guides. I use 80 lb. braid, Penn 320 GTi reels, up to 3 lb. sinkers below Bonneville Dam for oversize sturgeon, a few close to 10 ft. No grooving, no failures of the lighter weight guides.

To convince yourself how tough ceramic guides are do this little test. Take a large ring ceramic guide insert, does not make any difference if aluminum oxide, Alconite, sic, or whatever else, and try to cut it with a metal file, or hacksaw blade. I’ll guarantee you can’t cut it or scratch it. If it holds up to this abuse, it will certainly hold up to braid.
Norm

To me, hardness doesn’t seem that important of a factor in choosing between ceramic guides. Braided line carrying diatomaceous algae is probably the worst case scenario for scratching or grooving guides (salt crystals are less hard). This would be similar to the paradigm of inmates cutting cell bars with dental floss and toothpaste. The silicate component of diatoms is about 6.0 hardness on the MoH scale. Relatively inexpensive and fairly durable aluminum oxide guide rings rate about 9.0 on that scale (other hardness scales hold the same relative comparisons).

From what I can find zirconia (not necessarily the same as zirconium) has no industrial standard definition to allow for a measure or comparison. It appears that many grades and formulations exist under the term. All are probably much harder than 6.0 on the MoH scale, but strength properties may greatly vary. The other guide materials such as SiC and silicon nitride are more easily compared. They are far harder than stainless steel and anything that should come into contact with a rod guide. I’d rather give up a little bit of irrelevant hardness at these extreme levels to get a guide that is less prone to breakage and is slicker.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2023 02:29PM by Kendall Cikanek.

This seems to have turned into a " Is Torzite the only ring material that holds up to braid " thread which is unfortunate .

For most anglers virtually any semi modern ceramic ring is more than adequate to handle any modern braid of any strength and diameter without grooving . Torzite is something that is chosen when somebody wants the absolute lightest and slickest ceramic ring material currently offered it's not something that I would choose for the vast majority of rod builds .

It's unfortunate that it is only offered with titanium frames as I would be curious to see the pricing differences if it was offered with stainless steel frames compared to other ceramics with stainless steel frames . I think they would be a little more expensive than SIC but not near as expensive as they currently are with titanium frames .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2023 01:55PM by chris c nash.

I’m not seeing that conclusion in the posts.

chris c nash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Torzite is extremely slippery , more so than any
> other guide ring material on the market right now
> imo . I use Torzite on my surf rod builds and they
> perform incredibly well , most will not be able to
> tell a difference between ring materials . CTS
> did a big write up about Torzite and you can see
> for yourself how it compares to other ring
> materials .


Chris, Do you have a link to the CTS article? I looked through their site and didn't see it. Very possible I missed it.