Good evening all, I’m building some NFC 8wts and plan to use REC guides. Right now I’m looking at Fuji titanium torzite stripper guides 16-8 (I was recommend 16-8 for these guides also wanted input on that opposed to 16-10 or 12-8), is the SIC close enough in weight to save a few bucks or does anybody have other lightweight options they recommend? As far as the REC runners I was going to step them down to 3s, my plan now is 16-8-5-4-3’s to tip. I know a lot of this is preference on casting style but with lack of experience using these guides it’s hard to decide, they will primarily be used for 10-40lb tarpon, snook and reds. And I’ve also got the REC tip tops, haven’t made my own loop yet and interested in learning about that too. Thanks in advance and tight lines!

You will never feel the difference between Torzite and SIC on the first couple guides of a fly rod. I doubt if the difference could be accurately measured. Differences in weight on the lower third or so of a rod have to be major in order to be significant to the performance/feel of the rod. 16-8 then one size to the tip will work well too.

I like Fuji SIC KW 16 & 8 with REC double foot 4s then 3s on the tip section (just a little less weight if it really matters) and a large tip top. There is hardly a difference in weight on the SIC or Torsite, its up to you what you want to spend. You could also do REC Cerecoil double foot guides for strippers a 20 and a 10, they have a thicker ring so the ID is more restricted than like a Fuji guide. The most important noticeable thing about fly rods is tip weight but the overall weight due to the components, other than the blank, is the grips and reel seat. The overall finished weight I would be shooting for is about 3.1 oz for everything complete on an 8 wt. I don't like the way REC tip tops look so I usually use an Alps/Forecast large loop one or a Fuji Arowana (KG) in a 7 ring. The ceramic KG guide is actually lighter than any large loop fly tip top.

Lance, thanks for the tiptop tip. I haven't used an Arowana on a fly rod, but will. TNF shows a natural frequency advantage of titanium vs SS tiptops on spin blanks, should on fly as well.

Thank you both for the input! I was thinking the same thing on having a 4 then 3’s, going to go with that instead. And I’ll take a look at the arowana tips. I went with the nfc carbon grips and AT 3k reel seat should be a pretty light setup, how many 4s would you run before 3s just one?

The ID of #5, #4, and #3 snakes are larger than the ID of your 8 mm ceramic guide, I see no reason to use them.

I built the NFC LMX 8 wt fly rod. I tapered the guide size and used double-foot Recoil guides for running guides. Alps as the stripper and second guide. I think it was R2622 Alps Regular XN Titanium Guides

Titanium Double Foot Guide Ring Size 16 1 I used Alps
Titanium Double Foot Guide Ring Size 12 1 I used Alps
Recoil RSNX Guide Size 5 1
Recoil RSNX Guide Size 4 1
Recoil RSNX Guide Size 3 2
Recoil RSNXGuide Size 2 4

There isn’t a great difference between the Torzite and SiC in cost. I think the Torzites look more appropriate on a fly rod because of the thinner rings with a color that blends in better. There is probably a slightly reduced chance of cracking a ring with them, too.

I d0 cerecoil 16-12-8 and 2’s to the tip for an 8. I like the smaller guides. The Fuji torzite SF also cast very nice on my 8/9 but rod tubes are @#$%& on them. I think they pass knots better than the snakes, which surprised me. I am no longer a distance caster

As Tim Scott suggests, I have also built with non-tapered running guides after stripper (and on higher weight fly rods one additional stripper-like guide). and it work just fine.