Drennan acolyte plus 13ft

[kingf000]

I recently bought the above rod as a trotting rod because it was highly rated and advertised as weighing only 150g, though Drennan also said elsewhere that 150g was the average weight. I don't have a local tackle shop with a good range of trotting rods to try so bought on-line. When it arrived it weighted 160g on my scales. I checked the scales using standardised brass weights which confirmed that the scales were correctly calibrated. My question is - what is an acceptable variability within the 'average' weight? Should the rod have failed on a quality check?
I have bought many rods and blanks in the past and never had such a large weight difference from that advertised. I contacted Drennan and have heard nothing back. Yes, most of the extra weight is probably in the butt section and with the weight of the reel I probably wouldn't notice. However, the cork on the rod does seem to have a large amount of filler and as filler is more dense than cork, that probably explains the extra weight. Over time that filler is likely to fall out, which would lighten the rod, but leave big holes. I've tried the rod out on my local river trotting for chub and it felt far lighter than my current 14ft 210g rod, just a pity about the 10g.

As an aside, I raised this in the maggotdrowners forum and got a lot of replies defending Drennan. One of the administrators then admitted he was a Director at Drennan so I wonder whether that Forum is simply an extension of Drennan P.R.? Drennan are very secretive about where their rods are made, not in the UK and not in Mauritius where much of their tackle is made, and as the thread morphed onto that topic, the administrators closed the thread down! Not the first time a thread on where Drennan rods were made had been closed down.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking Drennan. I use a lot of their products and been really pleased with them, it is just this one instance and more about whether the description is accurate rather than anything about the quality of the rod.

 

[Ray Roberts]

I have an Acolyte plus 13 ft and it is a very good rod. A variation of 10 grammes is to my mind perfectly acceptable in a mass produced rod and to put it into perspective it is the weight of two teaspoons of water. I very much doubt that anyone could actually feel the difference in the hand, particularly as most of any weight difference is likely to be near the fulcrum point of the rod. There could be variations in the density of the: cloth and/or cork and the amount of; cork filler, cork adhesive blank resin, whipping epoxy and wall thickness. Keeping the variation between rods to less than 8% isn’t too bad in my opinion, particularly with that amount of variables.

 

[S-Kippy]

I’ve got one too and imo it’s incredibly light no matter what it weighs. Unfortunately I’ll health has kept me off the rivers for a while and I’m not really sure it’s quite the rod I wanted. First time I used it I bumped every other fish off and had to swap rods. I’ve still to make my mind up about it but super light surely means super thin walled blank so be careful. I like Drennan rods but of all the rods which have broken on me nearly all have been Drennans. Just saying.

 

[nottskev]

I'd agree with Ray here. Weight in grams is not an absolute, and not the top priority, as when it comes to ease and pleasure of use, so much turns on the balance of the rod and reel combination and the way the rod itself handles. Just out of interest - it's a dark, gloomy December evening - I weighed in my old Shimano Diaflash 13' ..... at 151g. I'm not sure how long I'd had it - bought in 1993 - when Acolytes came out, but a few grams either way were of little consequence to me, and boasts about the "lightest in class" irrelevant. It looks beautiful, has a top quality cork handle, an action I prefer to the Acolyte, has proved long-term indestructible, and has caught heaven knows how many hundreds of pounds of fish, from bags of canal roach to several accidental double figure barbel this summer. That said, I have other rods much "heavier" (we're talking grams) which I'm very happy to use as I enjoy their feel in the hand and use-in-practice for reasons beyond their weight on scales.

 

[Mark Wintle]

Richard Norris, the ex director of Drennan, isn't an administrator of MD!

For reasons I can't explain I've never been impressed with the actions of Drennan match rods but that's me.

 

[chevin4]

I recently bought the above rod as a trotting rod because it was highly rated and advertised as weighing only 150g, though Drennan also said elsewhere that 150g was the average weight. I don't have a local tackle shop with a good range of trotting rods to try so bought on-line. When it arrived it weighted 160g on my scales. I checked the scales using standardised brass weights which confirmed that the scales were correctly calibrated. My question is - what is an acceptable variability within the 'average' weight? Should the rod have failed on a quality check?
I have bought many rods and blanks in the past and never had such a large weight difference from that advertised. I contacted Drennan and have heard nothing back. Yes, most of the extra weight is probably in the butt section and with the weight of the reel I probably wouldn't notice. However, the cork on the rod does seem to have a large amount of filler and as filler is more dense than cork, that probably explains the extra weight. Over time that filler is likely to fall out, which would lighten the rod, but leave big holes. I've tried the rod out on my local river trotting for chub and it felt far lighter than my current 14ft 210g rod, just a pity about the 10g.

As an aside, I raised this in the maggotdrowners forum and got a lot of replies defending Drennan. One of the administrators then admitted he was a Director at Drennan so I wonder whether that Forum is simply an extension of Drennan P.R.? Drennan are very secretive about where their rods are made, not in the UK and not in Mauritius where much of their tackle is made, and as the thread morphed onto that topic, the administrators closed the thread down! Not the first time a thread on where Drennan rods were made had been closed down.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking Drennan. I use a lot of their products and been really pleased with them, it is just this one instance and more about whether the description is accurate rather than anything about the quality of the rod.

I was given a 15ft Acolyte five years ago overall the cork is of good quality so Drennan may have taken cost out of the product by cutting corners. IMO the older Drennans are of a better quality than the current range of products. I recently purchased a couple of 11ft Duos 1.25tc the rods have a nice action but the rings were of poor quality indeed the tip rings on the Avon section were unlined which I subsequently had replaced.

 

[kingf000]

Richard Norris, the ex director of Drennan, isn't an administrator of MD!

For reasons I can't explain I've never been impressed with the actions of Drennan match rods but that's me.

Yes, apologies he's a site supporter.

 

[kingf000]

I was given a 15ft Acolyte five years ago overall the cork is of good quality so Drennan may have taken cost out of the product by cutting corners. IMO the older Drennans are of a better quality than the current range of products. I recently purchased a couple of 11ft Duos 1.25tc the rods have a nice action but the rings were of poor quality indeed the tip rings on the Avon section were unlined which I subsequently had replaced.

I have a Drennan supertench rod over 20 years old. It is great and the cork is far better quality.

 

[kingf000]

I have an Acolyte plus 13 ft and it is a very good rod. A variation of 10 grammes is to my mind perfectly acceptable in a mass produced rod and to put it into perspective it is the weight of two teaspoons of water. I very much doubt that anyone could actually feel the difference in the hand, particularly as most of any weight difference is likely to be near the fulcrum point of the rod. There could be variations in the density of the: cloth and/or cork and the amount of; cork filler, cork adhesive blank resin, whipping epoxy and wall thickness. Keeping the variation between rods to less than 8% isn’t too bad in my opinion, particularly with that amount of variables.

The reason I'm concerned about weight, as well as looking for a very light centrepin reel to go with it is because I am prone to repetitive strain injury in my right forearm and worried that even small extra amounts of weight could trigger it. I've used the rod in 2h stretches but yet to test it with a full day trotting. As I said, I've had many rods, some mass produced, and the variance from the quoted weight for this rod is much higher than I've ever seen before. I've also made around 30 fly rods, buying blanks, cork handles, reel seats and guides and they've always been within around 2% of the quoted weight. It just looks as though the rod I got was the combination of the heaviest blank, heaviest cork, heaviest reel seat and heaviest guides. Even so, I have a struggle in accepting that any average could be 150g. For 1 rod of 160g you would need 10 rods at 149g.

 

[Aknib]

Maybe Drennan have added a couple more wraps to beef up the blank thickness in response to all the breakages and forgot to update the spec sheet?

Actually ignore that, I have form on this subject and it's probably of no help whatsoever in which case I apologise unreservedly

 

[Dave Webster]

This thread has been brought to my attention.

If anyone wishes to read the full thread on Maggotdrowning.com please feel free to do so here and you will see what the author had to say and make your own opinions up from there:

Drennan acolyte plus 13ft weight

I recently bought a Drennan acolyte plus 13ft rod as I found my current 14ft rod too heavy for trotting all day. I was attracted by the quoted weight of 150g but when I got the rod it was 160g. Still light compared with my previous rod but 10g higher than reported. On looking carefully at the...

www.maggotdrowning.com

As an aside, I raised this in the maggotdrowners forum and got a lot of replies defending Drennan. One of the administrators then admitted he was a Director at Drennan so I wonder whether that Forum is simply an extension of Drennan P.R.? Drennan are very secretive about where their rods are made, not in the UK and not in Mauritius where much of their tackle is made, and as the thread morphed onto that topic, the administrators closed the thread down! Not the first time a thread on where Drennan rods were made had been closed down.

What a crock of (moderated comment)

Dave Webster
Administrator
Maggotdrowning.com

 

[S-Kippy]

Tell it like it is Steve….and stick another pack of bangers on the barbie.

 

[Kevin aka Aethelbald]

It just looks as though the rod I got was the combination of the heaviest blank, heaviest cork, heaviest reel seat and heaviest guides. Even so, I have a struggle in accepting that any average could be 150g. For 1 rod of 160g you would need 10 rods at 149g.

When comparing a 150g Acolyte to a 160g Acolyte of the same length, with a reel on each, I defy anyone to notice the difference.

My view is that with light-weight rods, most of the perceived weight is swing weight, or leverage.

The Acolyte has a very low swing weight, but if you use your expertise in maths to figure out how a variation of 10g might be distributed throughout the length of a 13ft rod - the bulk and weight of which is concentrated towards the butt end - it follows that most of that 10g variation will be found in that part of the rod. And some of the 10g will be behind the reel or balance point, thus reducing an already imperceptible difference in swing weight even more.

Anyway, why wait? Just snap the tip off your Acolyte and the weight problem is solved.
.

 

[John Aston]

A third of on an ounce is a cause for concern ? When even a light 3000 reel weighs 30 times as much ? Must dash , off to weigh my rod bag and forceps - been worrying about their weight all night

 

[kingf000]

This thread has been brought to my attention.

If anyone wishes to read the full thread on Maggotdrowning.com please feel free to do so here and you will see what the author had to say and make your own opinions up from there:

Drennan acolyte plus 13ft weight

I recently bought a Drennan acolyte plus 13ft rod as I found my current 14ft rod too heavy for trotting all day. I was attracted by the quoted weight of 150g but when I got the rod it was 160g. Still light compared with my previous rod but 10g higher than reported. On looking carefully at the...

www.maggotdrowning.com

What a crock of (moderated comment)

Dave Webster
Administrator
Maggotdrowning.com

So you you deny that one of the Forum's Site Supporters was a Director of Drennan until 10th August 2020? Not surprising that he took the standard company lines of why the RRP of a rod is over £200 that costs around £30 or less to produce. IMO, conflict of interest should be made as clear as a possible, as should anyone else who posts who have a connection with a particular tackle manufacturer, whether employed or sponsored, as any post from them would not be without possible bias. As to where Drennan rods are made, why so secretive? They clearly aren't made in the UK and not in the only other manufacturing country listed on their website. They may be a UK company but nearly all of their manufacturing capability is outside the UK in countries with low wages. Maybe that is why they can make a gross profit before taxation of £2.5M on a turnover of £9.9M including £1.9M administrative costs, research and development being written off against gross profits, £750K paid in dividends and £200K paid to the highest paid Director.
Yes I get pi55ed off when company's misrepresent their products. If I buy 3 packets of average 50 bean seeds from, say, Thompson and Morgan, and I end up with 47 in each packet, I would be equally pi55ed off.

 

[kingf000]

When comparing a 150g Acolyte to a 160g Acolyte of the same length, with a reel on each, I defy anyone to notice the difference.

My view is that with light-weight rods, most of the perceived weight is swing weight, or leverage.

The Acolyte has a very low swing weight, but if you use your expertise in maths to figure out how a variation of 10g might be distributed throughout the length of a 13ft rod - the bulk and weight of which is concentrated towards the butt end - it follows that most of that 10g variation will be found in that part of the rod. And some of the 10g will be behind the reel or balance point, thus reducing an already imperceptible difference in swing weight even more.

Anyway, why wait? Just snap the tip off your Acolyte and the weight problem is solved.
.

I don't need to snap off the end of the rod, though the whole top section weighs 10g so I'd need to snap off the whole lot. All I need to do is to wait for the relatively large amount of filler to fall out of the cork handle.

 

[Dave Webster]

So you you deny that one of the Forum's Site Supporters was a Director of Drennan until 10th August 2020

Once again making things up as you go along.

Anyway, this isn't my platform so I'm going to opt out of any further replies. However, should you wish to continue to attempt to bring Maggotdrowning.com or the Forums into disrepute, we can take it further if you wish down the official route.

Dave Webster

 

[Peter Jacobs]

There appears to be an ulterior motive behind this thread that does not concern FishingMagic.

I think that this is best settled directly with Drennan International. Accordingly I am closing this thread from further comments.

 

[Kevin aka Aethelbald]

I don't need to snap off the end of the rod... All I need to do is to wait for the relatively large amount of filler to fall out of the cork handle.

Edit: just seen the above - enough said, PJ.
.