I was looking at the Sea Guide web site for what they have to offer for fly rod strippers and butt guides in titanium frames. There are several, the pictures of which are on the site, along with their specs. However, there are no explanations (except for one) regarding their use. The frame designs are different, but other than looking different from each other, why would I pick one over another based on those designs? Are those different designs strictly cosmetic in nature?

Also, unless I am missing where the information might be, there is no information that I can find stating what the inserts are made of. I see descriptions of the frame materials and the coatings on those frames, but nothing about the rings. The guide that looks like the most suitable for me is their TiBG. Does anyone know what the rings are made of?

With the SeaGuide titanium double foot guides you have a choice of either silicon nitride (RS) or Zirconia (LS) ceramic rings. For example, the TiBRSG has a silicon nitride ring and the TiBLSG has a zirconia ring. As far as frame style, some have a sloping ring, like the Fuji KW, making them more tangle free, while others have a straight up down ring, like many of the more traditional double foot guides. There are also lighter frame to heavier frame options.
Norm

Silicon Nitride. I purchased some myself today with titanium frame. At least in Europe the inserts are Silicon Nitride .

Ernie, all the info you need is on the RodBuilders Warehouse site, search TiBG and it pops right up.

Thank you all. I feel a lot better now! :-)

SeaGuide had a nice catalog with lots of good information about their products. It has explanation of their rings. Also the different styles of guides.

I can't find it anymore on their website or the RodBuilders website.

If you search for SeaGuide 2023 catalog it's available through Yumpu.

The SeaGuide Titanium/SiliconNitride guides are a quality product. I recently got some single footed ones that I believe to be as rigid as the similar Torzite offerings. I found the really early SeaGuide titanium frames to be malleable or to bend around without breaking. The current ones have improved a lot over the early ones in this regard. I pressed firmly on both brands, and without going all the way to destructive testing, they seem equivalent. There appears to be a lot of value here.

(About to go on a little bit of a rant)

I've been debating for a while moving over to Sea Guide Ti SIlicon Nitride instead of the Torzite... Mostly because Fuji is made in China and hasn't manufactured out of Japan for a while now so where is all that Made in Japan premium price tag going?

Don't get me wrong those Torzite are still my favourite BUT with the prices of everything going up. I've had customers walking away unless I was willing to build the rod at a loss !!!!
Usually if a customer is looking for a budget friendly rod where I know I will barely break even, I just send them to EDGE rods since their pricing are just unbeatable nowadays.

Since Fuji plays the Torzite monopoly game, I am really starting to lean towards Seaguide given all the positive feedback I recently saw and product improvement, if pricing are competitive enough I'll switch over and get a bit of margin on builds. I literally had to return an order of Fuji parts because 2 customers walked away when I dry fitted the new TCH reel seats and told them the total for the build. It will be VERY interesting to see what happens in the future with Seaguide's product line.

I can certainly understand Fuji playing the Torzite monopoly game, they invented it, and were evidently smart enough to get a long time patent on it. I've looked into the Sea Guide Ti spinning rod reduction train and running guides in the past. And based on what I've read here and in other threads, they're evidently a quality alternative, at reduced costs. The same goes with the American Tackle Ti Forged guides.

Wanting a black or dark colored guide frame, but wanting to save a bit of money on the guide train, I picked up a set of KR concept sized guides for a spinning rod I was building for myself. I went with black Ti frames, and Pentalite rings. Suposedly, Pentalite is as hard as SIC. At least according to American Tackle. I do know the Pentalite rings are very slim. While I haven't actually measured them versus the others, the Pentalite rings look to be visually thinner than the slim SIC rings on Fuji T2's, but not quite as thin as a Torzite ring.

I think the Fuji's are a touch nicer than the Ti Forged, but that could just be because of the Fuji name. The American Tackle Ti Forged guides are quite nice. The Ti's aren't the same heights as Fuji's for their corresponding sizes, but with a little bit of playing with guide spacing, they sure seem to cast as well as Fuji guides, to me. Cost of the Ti's are about 70% of the cost of the Fuji T2's. Although, at the time I purchased them, American Tackle didn't offer a matching titanium framed tip top. Which I found to be a definite bummer. I haven't looked recently, so that may have changed.

Definitely worth consideration if someone is looking for a titanium framed guide, at a lower cost than the Fuji's

Ray Morrison Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SeaGuide had a nice catalog with lots of good
> information about their products. It has
> explanation of their rings. Also the different
> styles of guides.
>
> I can't find it anymore on their website or the
> RodBuilders website.
>
> If you search for SeaGuide 2023 catalog it's
> available through Yumpu.

Thanks for the info on the 2023 catalog, the link for the 2024 catalog doesn't work for me: [www.rodbuilding.org] "Sorry, the file you have requested does not exist. Make sure that you have the correct URL and the file exists."

As for Rodbuilders website, there are many items in the catalog that are not listed on Rodbuilders Warehouse but the customer service provided by Arthur is top notch and he has always gotten me whatever I requested-- just a heads up for those wanting something listed in the catalog but not listed at Rodbuilders.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2024 12:19AM by Robert Francesconi.