Kids today: No appreciation

[TJAndrews]

My thirty-something nephew was here today, and the topic turned to fishing reels. He said he like open-face reels the best, so I came inside, grabbed my Quick 331, and showed it to him.

He got this bemused expression on his face, and said "Wow. That's OLD!" I told him yeah, close to 50 years.

He shook his head. "Well, I'm harder on reels than you are. When one breaks, I just buy another." I started to tell him that hauling in smallmouths and walleyes from the St. Lawrence River can be tough on a reel too, but this one was made rugged enough to take it and keep coming back for more, but he didn't want to listen. His mind was made up. He was convinced that I've been fishing with the same reel for nearly fifty years because I go easy on it, and that was it.

Kids today. They wouldn't know quality if it bit them on the nose.

[Benni3]

Well my friend I have gotten alot poo from people using my vintage gear,,,,,but that's ok,,,,   I'm catching fish,,,,,,,

[Gobi King]

the problem is they have not seen or experienced anything else, so they do not have anything to compare to?

it is like you grew up apple pie from McDonalds and never had a from scratch apple pie.

Your taste buds are used to the $1 apple pie from fast food joint, once you have a home made apple pie the first time you are confused, this is different, you don't know if you should like it or not

At some point your brain starts to rationalize your choices.

[philaroman]

take the main gears out of your respective reels
rub 'em tooth-to-tooth a bit
then reassemble yours & go back to fishing
while he plays w/ his new sinker

[Brewcrafter]

Show him a Zippo and tell about the time people would keep a lighter for the majority of their lives...I grew up with the phrase of comparing objects to Bic Lighters.  For example - for awhile I owned an 80's era Ford Tempo when I was tight on income (basically a rebadged Mazda at that time).  And cars of that type we would refer to as "the Bic Lighter of cars" basically meaning they were disposable, you used them until they stopped working then got a new one because they were basically designed to fall apart at some point.  I don't know if Bic invented the disposable genre (shavers, pens, lighters) but they certainly seem to be identified with it for folks of my age. - john

[ReelFishingProblems]

Not all 30-somethings feel that way.

I love my modern reels, but love the durability and design of the old ones.

[thorhammer]

And Thea's vintage ceramic in the backdrop!

[festus]

There is one young fisherman on YouTube in his twenties who is a fan of old school gear, Penns, Mitchells, and DAM.

[ReelFishingProblems]

And Thea's vintage ceramic in the backdrop!

Whatever allows me to buy more fishing gear than I need

[Gfish]

Thankfully my Dad was from the "build- it -to -last" faction of do it yourself'ers. Never seemed to hesitate to show me garbage vs quality. I remember my friends would see stuff in the garage. Like; "Whoa dude, your Dad made this?" It was more like "overbuilt this". Nothing fancy or complicated though, just old school heavy and bulky.
Raised like this, it's hard to shop for durables nowadays, without resorting to the "vintage"(sic) market.

[thorhammer]

Hey I resemble this remark....I fish 90 % reels 20 years old or older, and my wife says I'm 12. Just ask her.

[Ron Jones]

The reality is there is enough money being made and manufacturing is efficient enough to support the throw away economy. At the end of the day it makes sense. The new Battle reel is about 100 bucks and can catch most anything a not hardcore fisherman would be after up to and including smaller pelagics. If you shred that thing and have it repaired you're spending what, 50% of the purchase price and don't fish for a bit? For most people, the better choice is to spend a couple hours wages more and get a new reel. When Quicks were being built, the economics were different. Because of the labor involved, even the cheapest reels were a days waes or more, and most people lacked the disposable income that many enjoy today.

That reality means we are doing better, it just creates a different mindset that what many of us grew up with.

The Man

[oc1]

NOT joining the throw-away economy wouldn't be an easy thing to do.  Figuring out how to not participate would be a full time job in itself and your family will be none too happy.  Thank goodness we can pretend a little with old reels and such.
-steve

[Shark Hunter]

Hey I resemble this remark....I fish 90 % reels 20 years old or older, and my wife says I'm 12. Just ask her.

lol

[nelz]

The reality is there is enough money being made and manufacturing is efficient enough to support the throw away economy. At the end of the day it makes sense. The new Battle reel is about 100 bucks and can catch most anything a not hardcore fisherman would be after up to and including smaller pelagics. If you shred that thing and have it repaired you're spending what, 50% of the purchase price and don't fish for a bit? For most people, the better choice is to spend a couple hours wages more and get a new reel. When Quicks were being built, the economics were different. Because of the labor involved, even the cheapest reels were a days waes or more, and most people lacked the disposable income that many enjoy today.

Along those lines, it can't be denied that there's still plenty of high quality reels made today. They are very costly though, but the quality, refinenment and performance that goes into them is impressive and surpasses most vintage by far. That's why "hot rodding" old reels is so popular. But on the economy class side, the vintage reels are vastly superior!