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Free spirit vs Daiwa barbel rods

Daiwa barbel no question​

 
BROOMSTICKS!.....BROOMSTICKS!!!!

Prepare for the storm Terry!

( I am a Harrison fan boy....and the only Free Spirit rod I own is about as much use as Harry Potter's wand in a kids toy shop!)
 
Depends, now if Daiwa did custom that would be something else.
 
depends on which free spirit and which daiwa.
the top end Basia is a sensational blank let down with quite dated flexible rings.
the free spirit barbel seekers take some beating aswell but they are let down with that stupid carbon reel seat and Micky mouse cork.
a custom seeker would be better than a standard basia but as Jon said a custom basia would be game changing
 
Built a couple of 11' Daiwa rods from the blanks many years ago also built some Tricast 11' rods. Bought them through my local tackle shop (Veals in Bristol).
 
I think you would have to compare rods at similar price points as both manufacturers offer a range of models and FS offer float rods which I am not sure Daiwa do (could easily be wrong). I like my Free Spirit, Spirit Barbel Golds but having said that I have never picked up a Daiwa barbel rod.
 
I should mention I bought my Diawa powermesh specialist barbel 12ft 2.75lb for when fishing the Tidal trent
and my Fox Duo-lite were not upto chucking the very heavy weights sometimes needed (6ozs plus)

and I was amazed at the beautiful playing action of these amazing rods
]so much so I now use them all the time EVEN with 2 or 3ozs weights and 7 or 8lb fish they are a joy to play just as the larger double figure fish and 6 ozs leads


I Know some wont like or agree with this statement but its my honest opinion that FS rods are very over rated rods 👎

​

 
Last edited:
Gerry Giles said:
I Know some wont like or agree with this statement but its my honest opinion that FS rods are very over rated rods 👎
Click to expand...
Your not the first to say that and I’m sure you won’t be the last. From my experience they are extremely alike as brands selling barbel rods.
free spirit have there top middle and bottom in the same respect daiwa do and price point they are very similar in those tiers.
the modern powermesh is a decent rod priced at 130 ish
Free spirit do the tamer with the same range of TC’s for similar money. It’s a decent rod certainly no worse in performance to the powermesh. The eclass is only another 20 -30 quid and you actually get a proper free spirit for that with their famous scratch resistant perdurable blank.
the ones I don’t like much are the very top hi s models. I can’t speak for them all but from the odd couple I have tried I’ve been disappointed with how soft they are.
 
Built on some Conoflex and North Western blanks as well.
The Daiwas were Whisker Kevlar in the light carp range - including a delightful Whisker 1lb test 11' 'floater' rod.
Tricasts were 11' and 12' ranging from 1.25 to 2.5 test.

Now we are spoilt for choice regarding blanks and test curves - all potentially confusing without actually using one.
In years past used my Tricast MLs (1.25) and CMs (1.75) for all barbel fishing. Was very happy with my Harrison Interceptors at 12' and 1.75.
 
like others have said you have to compare like for like.... have used a 15ft harrison gti float rod and it weighed the same as a pallet of bricks.. and used a FS 15ft hi s no comparison the FS was a dream to use
 
Can't comment on Daiwa barbel rods as I've never used them let alone seen them. I do have a pair of 12' Free Spirit Hi-S 2lb TC barbel rods though that are absolute blinding rods. I used these for most of my fishing last year on the Yorkshire Ouse and Trent and they handled fish to 13lb with plenty of power in reserve, but at the same time remaining very sensitive to the movement from the fish. It's a rod that you can feel going through the various steps of power in a totally controlled manner, a feeling I've not had with other rods (admittedly I've not owned many barbel rods!).

As a plus for the Daiwa camp, one of the nicest sets of carp rods I've ever owned and used were Infinity Slims in 3.25lb TC, sublime rods and a set I wish I had kept hold of :(
 
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