Comparing the Penn 85 and 285

[George4741]

Since there have been several recent posts about 85 Seaboys and 285 Delmars, I figure some forum members are at least mildly interested in both reels.  I've had an 85 for years and just acquired a 285, so I decided to note the differences between them.


A 285 with black plates, metal spool, and a small but nicely shaped handle on the left.  An 85 with brown plates, plastic spool, and the typical 24-85 handle on the right.  Neither one has inner beauty/reinforcing rings.


The disassembled reels with many of the parts laid out.  Most of the parts are identical, with the notable exception of the bridge/sleeve, side plates, and spools.  All parts, including the sideplates and spools, are interchangeable.


The 285 uses the 3-60 bridge and jigmaster gear sleeve and the 85 has a 3-85 bridge and squidder sleeve.  I've switched the bridge/sleeve assemblies between my reels and they function perfectly in both.  There is no advantage in having different gear sleeves in these reels.

The 85 and 285 are so similar that I wonder why Penn didn't simplify their line and offer just one model.  Both reels were available with metal and plastic spools and, when configured the same way, are useful for the same purposes.  Hmmm, I wonder....

George

[john2244]

Thanks for the review George, well done.
John

[Alto Mare]

Thanks for sharing George.
The 85 that I have has the torpedo style handle and the handle screw is slotted .
I bet that 85 has less backlash, due to the smaller diameter sleeve gears.

[George4741]

Thank you, John and Sal.

I bet that 85 has less backlash, due to the smaller diameter sleeve gears.

Sal, I've never thought about that, but you're right!

[Ron Jones]

I noticed the difference in gear size when working on mine. The 85s dog is rather long, did you have to swap dogs when you swapped bridge/sleeves George?

Thanks
Ron

[George4741]

Ron,
The 85 has a 15-85 dog and the 285 has a 15-99 dog.  They are so similar that I'm able to interchange them and they function properly with either bridge/sleeve.  As can be seen in the photo, they are almost identical.

[basto]

Hi George
I know it`s 4 years ago since you wrote this, but I have only recently got interested in these reels and appreciate your article.
I hope you don`t mind me adding a little to it.
I just bought a 285 and am thinking it has a stainless spool. Scotts have kind of agreed.
Here is a couple of pics of my 285 and 85m. You can see the difference in the finish of the spools.
good fishing
Basto

[sdlehr]

Basto, looks like Penn Parts lists a spool 29M-60 in matte stainless finish for the 285. This is what you've got.

29M-60 Discontinued. Not Available   29M-60   29M-60 Spool, Metal, Stainless Matte Finish
REPLACED BY PART NUMBER 29L-85

Direct product replacement: 29L-85 Spool, Aluminum (Black) $27.35

BTW, add trim rings to the Delmar and you've got a Long Beach 60. Penn used that basic size and shape reel in a lot of their future reels, all coming from the 1932 Model K with the star drag originally. Think back to this model K when thinking about the Delmars and Long Beaches. And others. The Seagate is the same. They're all variations on the Model K theme.

Sid

[Reel 224]

Basto, looks like Penn Parts lists a spool 29M-60 in matte stainless finish for the 285. This is what you've got.

29M-60 Discontinued. Not Available   29M-60   29M-60 Spool, Metal, Stainless Matte Finish
REPLACED BY PART NUMBER 29L-85

Direct product replacement: 29L-85 Spool, Aluminum (Black) $27.35

BTW, add trim rings to the Delmar and you've got a Long Beach 60. Penn used that basic size and shape reel in a lot of their future reels, all coming from the 1932 Model K with the star drag originally. Think back to this model K when thinking about the Delmars and Long Beaches. And others. The Seagate is the same. They're all variations on the Model K theme.

Sid

I have to say Sid. You have been a great source of information true to the Alan T. tradition.

Joe

[sdlehr]

Well, thank you, Joe! I try to be helpful. I probably should have been a teacher....

Sid

[Reel 224]

Well, thank you, Joe! I try to be helpful. I probably should have been a teacher....

Sid

Vets make more money then teachers unless they go on to administration and that's not teaching. Further more that's why I went into civil engineering. But you do a great job here at sharing information, that's all that counts.

Joe   

[foakes]

Otto H. did a great job of guiding Penn successfully through many of the pitfalls that even many modern tackle manufacturers have not learned yet --

Namely, offer the same basic quality reels that a fisherman could use -- and also that his wallet could afford.

Take a Sqidder vs. a Surfmaster -- Surfmaster was introduced to allow the average working guy a chance to be able to afford to go fishing.  If I recall, a Squidder sold for $25, fair market pricing back in the day -- while a Surfmaster was around $10 less.  Not a big deal by todays standards and inflation -- but to a fellow making $100 a month -- and wanting to go surf fishing -- that allowed him to also buy a rod to go with his SM -- for what he would have paid for just a Squidder.

Mr. Henze had his finger on the market -- and wanted to make sure everyone who wanted a Penn -- could afford one.  So a few less fancy items like metal spool, double rings, etc -- would allow the average new angling consumer to buy a Penn -- and perhaps later, would upgrade to something a little nicer.

But in the meantime, Penn owned the market from lower end to higher end.  Just look at all of the quality products they offered -- that still work well today.

Smart company.

I am not that smart though -- most of this I am paraphrasing by memory -- from Mike's great Penn Chronological History book.

Best,

Fred

[sdlehr]

Mr. Henze had his finger on the market

Yes, he knew his market well. I bet old Otto was just a regular guy that hung out with his employees and the local fishing community on the weekends. He probably didn't have to go far to hear what the average person was looking for. It's market research at it's simplest. Of course, we may not have heard of some of his flops.... there must have been some. There was one early reel that I believe was listed in the catalogue but has not been found. The Oceanside (or was it the Ocean Side?). Not likely it was a flop; I think it's basic design was the same as all the others.... but there must have been a reason no one can find them today. I've seen one picture of a head plate from this reel; the reel itself was a hybrid Long Beach with an Oceanside head plate drilled to accept the post screws; the Oceanside was a take-apart reel like the Coronado and as such would not have had screws visible from the outside of the plate. This pic was on the ORCA site.

Did Mike C mention any Otto Henze flops in his books that I can't remember?

Sid

[Superhook]

Sid,

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=15659.0

You may have missed this , some Ocean Side reels are on this thread. The Coronado was Penn's most expensive small reel and the Ocean Side , being a Coronado without a star drag was the second highest 1934-37. You could by a Long Beach at a cheaper price but you did not get the Take apart function of the Coronado/Ocean Side .

Ray

[sdlehr]

Sid,

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=15659.0

You may have missed this , some Ocean Side reels are on this thread. The Coronado was Penn's most expensive small reel and the Ocean Side , being a Coronado without a star drag was the second highest 1934-37. You could by a Long Beach at a cheaper price but you did not get the Take apart function of the Coronado/Ocean Side .

Ray

Thanks, Ray. Yes, I did miss that post. I didn't really start spending any real time here until the month after that post was made.

So the Ocean Side was a Penn flop, which is why there aren't many around. Isn't it ironic that a reel that nobody wanted 80 years ago is wanted by every collector today?

Thanks for helping to get me up to speed.

Sid