For the love or for the money?

[Mandelstam]

Am i starting to get crazy?

/Karl

So, do you feel good about spending a little money on your reel?  I feel good about mine.   

BTW, I DO love my kids.
  George

Oh, yes I feel good about spending that money! And I too love my kids. I'm actually planning on giving this particular Penn to my son along with an old glassfiber rod my grandfather left me when I was a kid and which I also plan to restore and spend too much money on..  All is as it should be I guess.

[Irish Jigger]

Karl, you have a PM.

[George4741]

It's just less money I will leave to my ungrateful kids.
So, do you feel good about spending a little money on your reel?  I feel good about mine.   
BTW, I DO love my kids.
  George

Six in one hand and a half dozen on the other...The kids will have your money and the reels

You're SO right, Sal.

Karl, There is a balance between making your reel serviceable and completely restoring it.  You will make the right decision, I'm sure.  As an example, I bought an old Long Beach reel, ugly, corroded and pitted.  I replaced the drag washers and screws (I hate buggered up screws ).  It was still ugly when I finished, but the spool had better freespin than any other reel I have.  It was as serviceable as any other Long Beach.  Then I sold it at a garage sale for the same price I paid for it.
  George

[alantani]

i got an e-mail once from a guy with an old reel, i think an ocean city.  he said his dad gave it to him when he was a kid.  well, his father just passed away and he would like his son to catch a fish with it and wanted to know if i could fix it.  he got a standard service charge, but it took me all afternoon.  and it was worth it!

[Mandelstam]

I'm a gear head, I'll admit it. I love looking in catalogs at all the new neat little gadgets that come out. But I'm at the same time getting tired of all this hysteria about owning the latest gear. And if you pick up a fishing magazine here in Sweden you get the feeling that they're all sponsored by the gear companies to promote their new stuff but calling it "independent tests".

It's like watching the commercials for new toothbrushes. I mean, how many times can you reinvent toothbrushes? The thing reached it's perfection long ago. Same story with razors. Is five blades really better than three?

It's all about "planned obsolescence" (just learned the term today..). - "Instilling in the buyer the desire to own something a little newer, a little better, a little sooner than is necessary." I question the phrase "a little better" though..

That's why I feel so much satisfaction in restoring my old reel. It's maybe fifty years old, but I can get it working like new again! And it will work for fifty years more! Now how do you like that, Mr Planned Obsolescence?

[Joker]

Just read through all the posts. I too, sat with such a problem.

My brother-in-law,n may he RIP, left me an old Shimano Speedmaster. I then decided to restore it to its former glory. The parts worked out more than the monetary value of a new one. But when I caught my first fish with this older model I was chafed. The feeling was priceless

Now I have the same problem with an old 15/30 TSM3. A work horse of note. The parts will be more than a new one, but I'll forge ahead in my quest to restore it.

[johndtuttle]

When you land a fish with your perfectly working resurrected classic it will all be worth it.

Even when I land fish with something I just did a little tune up on I feel better connected to the experience as that smooth drag is a result of my efforts etc.

I can't make a whole reel, but I can rebuild one with some help from my friends. It's like your first car...it may not be a Ferrari but you know every nut and bolt in the thing and when it purrs...you can take a little more pride in all that you do with it. It's no longer just "driving to the store" or "winching in a rockfish" without the slightest understanding of the tool.

Look at it as entertainment too...if the parts are cheap it's a relatively inexpensive way to entertain yourself (on your hands and knees under the table looking for a tiny part  ).

best

[Norcal Pescador]

Look at it as entertainment too...if the parts are cheap it's a relatively inexpensive way to entertain yourself (on your hands and knees under the table looking for a tiny part  ).

[bluefish69]

The worst part that I lost & I lost 2 of these was a Dog Spring for a 140 Squidder.  The 2 Cats couldn't find them.

The cure was buy 10 to replace 1. Now I have spares.

[lyt]

My 2 cents....

You can always just buy one.....  but where is the love and true value?   To me, the true value is working on it myself, if I can.   I could buy anything, but then I don't love it as much.  And surely, if you do pass it on, it will be remembered as "your" reel...   not something just bought.

There is something call pride of ownership, that wal-mart and quickie mart has all but killed

Of course there are limits, but in general I keep and work with what I have and fix it if necessary, in the end it will be cheaper and better....not always..... but usually.