Penn's New Battle

Gman_WC · October 11, 2011, 04:17:13 PM

Well my Battle 5000 worked very well on dorado for my July Baja trip loaded with 25# mono,
casting to dorado. All I did was grease the drags.
It had all of the drag I needed for a 15-30 rod and boasts having 20# of drag.
I can't confirm that or needed it.
I just opened up a new 3000 this past weekend and took it out of the box and greased
the drag washers. I put some PowerPro braid #65 on it and took it out in the delta
near the mothball fleet for some striper action. All I can say is I like the reels a lot.
I"ll post battle pic's and results on fall striper trip#2 next weeked... when I remember to take a camera.
-gary

alantani · October 11, 2011, 05:37:53 PM

you know, for all the grousing that we sometimes do about penn, they actually make GREAT reels. still, i would love to be president of penn, just for a day!

Gman_WC · October 11, 2011, 08:20:09 PM

Alan, I think that you have repaired enough Penn reels to
have at least achieved the title of Goodwill Ambassador

-gary

Alto Mare · October 11, 2011, 09:13:57 PM

Quote from: Gman_WC on October 11, 2011, 04:17:13 PM
Well my Battle 5000 worked very well on dorado for my July Baja trip loaded with 25# mono,
casting to dorado. All I did was grease the drags.
It had all of the drag I needed for a 15-30 rod and boasts having 20# of drag.
I can't confirm that or needed it.
I just opened up a new 3000 this past weekend and took it out of the box and greased
the drag washers. I put some PowerPro braid #65 on it and took it out in the delta
near the mothball fleet for some striper action. All I can say is I like the reels a lot.
I"ll post battle pic's and results on fall striper trip#2 next weeked... when I remember to take a camera.
-gary

Very nice Gary, I'm glad that you finally got out to try it. Thanks for sharing. Yes, do remember to bring the camera next time, we would love to see some pictures. Take care. Sal

Quote from: alantani on October 11, 2011, 05:37:53 PM
you know, for all the grousing that we sometimes do about penn, they actually make GREAT reels. still, i would love to be president of penn, just for a day

You got my vote

but not just for a day.

coores14 · October 13, 2011, 12:55:16 PM

Okay, so I have yet to actually use a Battle. However, I do own two Penn Sargus models in the 5000 and 8000 size. The Battle is a Sargus with the HT-100 drags and a beefier bail wire. Otherwise, the reels are practically identical to the tune of many part numbers are the same. In fact, I just ordered HT-100 drags for the Sargus using the Battle part number.
I have torn apart and rebuilt both of my Sargus' and I was rather impressed with what I found. All bearings were the sealed type with the plastic/rubber type seal that can be popped out and reinstalled. The other nice feature is the backup anti-reverse. The reel has the IAR bearing like all modern reels, but it also has a plastic arm that will come out and ratchet against "teeth" that are cast into the inside of the rotor (if the IAR fails). While I'm not thrilled that the backup is a plastic piece, it should be sufficient to land the fish. Plus, what other reel out there has the nice sealed bearings and dual anti-reverse for the 100$ price point of the Sargus/Battle?
Once I serviced the reel with fully greased bearings and replacement HT-100 drags, I started to consider replacing all of my spinners with the Sargus/Battle. I've already landed LOTS of fish on my Sargus reels and they have both held up great. I recently purchased a Saltist 4500 due to the dual anti-reverse and quality components used and yes, it's a very nice reel. But it's also double the price of Sargus/Battle and the Battle already comes with carbon drags.
In my opinion, Penn has done a good job producing a quality reel with some really nice features and at a great price. I still haven't decided if I'm going to go all Penn yet, though....

Inspiro · October 24, 2011, 08:31:03 AM

Dear all
Any updates on the battle?

I plan to get a battle 8000 to use it for medium Jigging/popping (GT & Tunas up to 50lb & AJ up to 35 lb is the strongest we may fight), I don't go more than 1 trip/month, 2-3 days that's mixed:trolling, bottom fishing, jigging, popping
It will be spooled by 80lb braided

Most seem to agree that teh Battle is an upgraded Sargus, and I've seen a report on the Sargus that critisized the inferior cast Aluminum gear.
So any news on that?

Inspiro · October 25, 2011, 11:25:45 AM

It seems people don't like talking about their battles

May be that's for good ;)or for bad

But this is not helping me

Come on fishing lovers

Regards
Inspiro

alantani · October 25, 2011, 03:53:28 PM

i think there are simply not that many of them out there. plus, most of the guys here work on conventional reels, not spinners. $:-\$

tacoma09 · October 26, 2011, 12:03:49 AM

I have had my battles for about a year 4000 and 5000 series. Both for small to medium game. Smooth drag out of the box IMHO. I will need to try grease the drags to see the difference. I really like mines.

basto · November 08, 2011, 02:52:52 AM

Quote from: Alto Mare on April 12, 2011, 08:11:51 PM
I don't think so, that is one of the reason why I asked if you were going to open it, the other reason is that I would like to see what the reel looks like on the inside, I'm hearing good things about it, but I haven't been impressed by Penn's newer models. I have a bunch of Penn SS models that I use exclusively ( not SSM) and I haven't seen anything come close to them as in dependability and value for the money. Let us know what you think about the battle after you take it for a test drive. Thanks! Sal

I have to agree about the SS models. Simple, Strong, and Reliable.

Alto Mare · November 11, 2011, 01:36:32 AM

Quote from: basto on November 08, 2011, 02:52:52 AM
I have to agree about the SS models. Simple, Strong, and Reliable.

The proof is in the pudding!

nickmo · March 01, 2012, 03:48:19 AM

I have used a Battle 4000 and 2 6000's this last season on the east coast. They performed well with not 1 problem. Largest fish caught was 40lbs. I did hear of some catching small tuna (to 60 lbs) with them.

nathanbrand · March 28, 2012, 02:32:32 AM

The Achilles heel of the Battle appears to be the inferior cast aluminum Main Gear (#8-5000SG) and Crosswind Gear (#231-6000SG). These same cheap gears are apparently used throughout Penn's lower-end salt water spinners: Conquer, Slammer, Battle, Fierce, Sargus, etc.... although I haven't personally verified that. I think if you only go fishing a couple of times a month, you'll be fine for the most part, but there have been reports of frequent surf casters having to replace the gears more than once in a single season. In contrast, I replaced the gears in my Penn 650SS two years ago for the first time in over twenty years, and I go fishing all the time.

There are many good things about the Battle, but the gears are not included, unfortunately. I think if Penn can do something to address this issue, they'll have a winner with the Battle, and a bargain to boot.