Having taken up fishing in 1965 for many years my rods were equipped with hard chrome rings. The only rod I encountered problems with was a Garbalino float rod I purchased in the early seventies. The rings groved very quickly and the blank became very soft after a few seasons use. I was given an Alan Brown 10ft 6in Avon built on a Hilton glass Sportex blank it is a lovely through actioned rod having tried it for surface fishing on a small estate lake. I did think of having the original hard chrome rings replaced but decided against it a bit like putting racing wheels on a classic car I guess.
