What's your FAVORITE aspect of vintage Penns

Started by Gfish, November 13, 2017, 09:50:50 PM

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Gfish

Love vintage Penn reels. Why do they stand the test of time so well? Design?, Materials?, Ease of maintenance, repairs & upgrades?, Frakenreel potential?, Ubiquitousness(they're everywhere)?, number avalible?, Worth(personal & monetary) as a collectors item?
What's your favorite aspect of vintage penn reels?

Mine's the eccentric system, especially the seemingly crude and simple jack. Very dependable part. Never had to replace one yet. Only had to do a little material removal when installing upgrades( ss bridge plate, ss yolk, aluminum side plate).
Gfish
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Alto Mare

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thorhammer

That's a really good question Gregg, and hard to answer..."yes" is probably it....I'd say design, because a 1937 9/0 isn't a lot different from a 2017 model functionally, and a 1937 with an oil change will still get it done. And you can get parts. Not too many other things you can say that about that have moving parts; see if your Stella is still performing unchanged and with spare parts available in 2097. Naw.

Bill B

Hard one to answer.....gonna have to think about this for a while... :-[    Bill
It may not be very productive,
but it's sure going to be interesting!

JRD

That they still catch fish when many guys around you are angry at their $250 reels for not being the right size, weight or just not fishy  ::)

Maxed Out

#5
 Ditto on what Randy said.

Otto built his reels to last from day 1

 Sturdy yet simple was the basis for every model introduced under Otto's watch. If you could service a long beach 60 then you could easily service a 16/0 and every Penn reel in between

Some of the more modern models (lever drag,etc) are much more complicated and out of the realm of your average weekend mechanic (like me).

 I just like the old Penns for simplicity and dependability and of course....the bling  ;)  ;)

 Ted
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Shark Hunter

Sal nailed this one to a Tee.
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Yogi_fish808

#7
Quote from: Maxed Out on November 15, 2017, 07:22:24 AM
Ditto on what Randy said.

Otto built his reels to last from day 1

 Sturdy yet simple was the basis for every model introduced under Otto's watch. If you could service a long beach 60 then you could easily service a 16/0 and every Penn reel in between

Some of the more modern models (lever drag,etc) are much more complicated and out of the realm of your average weekend mechanic (like me).

 I just like the old Penns for simplicity and dependability and of course....the bling  ;)  ;)

Ted,
without a doubt even the larger old/new internationals would be fairly straight forward for you to pick up pretty quickly. I haven't opened up a VSX yet but the earlier gen gold reels weren't too bad at all after following the tutorials found here.



My favorite aspect(s) is the same as what got them to be the benchmark for shoreline fishing here in Hawaii....durable, easy servicing, functional and wide parts availability.

foakes

A Penn is like an old friend --

You know, those few good ones -- Always there, quiet, capable, sturdy, never gets rattled, steady, ready to go, has your back.

Many of our newer blingy-flashy-good looking reels require parts that are not available anymore, or $80 of braid, or constant tinkering and tuning.

Our old humble friend just leans quietly in the corner -- until we are done with the rest of the expensive reels -- and then sez, "C'mon, lets go catch some fish, Old Son".

I was taught never to leave an old friend for a new one.

Much more to a Penn than just solid parts.

Just like an old friend...steady and sure.

Best,

Fred
The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

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Decker

#9
In addition to what others have said about quality of design and materials...  I like the "lego" aspect of them in my hands.  Take them apart, part them out, thrown them in a ziplock bag.  Put them back together good as new.   Use them, hose them down.  

The part numbers are very organized, and schematics are easy to access.  After a few reels you start to memorize part numbers.   You begin to appreciate that the reels are an assemblage of components, especially seeing that Penn sold models by different names that are only slightly different.  What follows is an understanding that you can come up with somewhat unique arrangements of those components.  

Then there are the innovations in frames and gears, that breathe new life into the whole scene.  I can't wait to see how 3D printing comes into this.  

In Penn reels, old meets new, spanning generations, and when one puts food on your plate, it really hits home.

basto

#10
I like the way the moulding of the model numbers and the scenic vintage tail plates last so well over many years of use. The new ones are printed and the printing wears off just with handling and fishing after a couple of years.
I also like the mechanism. Time tested, simple and easy to maintain.
DAM Quick 3001      SHIMANO Spedmaster 3   Jigging Master PE5n

Keta

I like bringing a 50 year old reel (and much older) on a boat and hearing the comments on "old school" gear, then passing off a nice fish and hear how much those looking down on the "old" reels like them and their "slow" gear ratios.  I have converted a few people over.
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