Kistler is having a huge sale right now on their website. Holy C$@P
Kistler is having a huge sale right now on their website. Holy C$@P
Ya that’s a good sale they have going on for sure.
1995 Ranger 481v
1995 Johnson Fast Strike 175hp
Lol, When in the hell has a Helium been a 400 dollar rod
It's a smoke and mirrors sale
Well, they are $400 at TW...Originally Posted by ManxFishing
2001 Champion 187 Yamaha 175
12' Talons, Lithiums and Garmins
All pulled by a Hemi
Trey is trying to unload some of those china blanks,,,,, Was a very diehard Kistler man when he was using NFC blanks , but when that ended I was done ,,,If you are going to use china blanks then you might as well get Dobyns as they have a great warranty , you wont find Kistler to be warranty friendly ,,not sure if true but was told Trey is going to start a warranty program like Dobyns
Trey has always done that,, high price and give you a big discount to make you think you are getting a deal ,,, kind of like when I asked him twice about the origin of his new blanks and all you get is a standard generic response that will not answer you question
Now he does say "100% Japanese carbon by Toray"but when asked if the blanks are made in Japan you get the same ol response ,,, so since he will not say where they are rolled then one can only assume that is china
I noticed he also got rid of all the shirts that said " Made In The USA "
but anyway enough of my soap box rant , below is the response I'm talking about
KISTLER has partnered with multiple elite carbon factories across the globe. These well-established carbon experts have exceeded Trey Kistler’s demands for excellence in terms of quality control, consistent actions and power as well as durability. KISTLER is now providing carbon blanks that we believe are the best in the business, period. For KISTLER and for our customers, it is an evolution into a better technology than ever before.
Trey Kistler’s 28 years of experience has enabled KISTLER to provide our customers with the most advanced designs and engineered carbon blanks that will certainly increase the cast to catch ratio for every level angler.The proprietary 45 degree angle overlay construction using 100% Japanese carbon by Toray has enhanced the performance of KISTLER Carbon Blanks making them noticeably lighter weight and noticeably more sensitive. This is an evolution that offers our customers better rod technology, better fishing,
Kistler has been increasing prices over the past few years while component quality decreased. I was going to switch all my rods over to Kistler until the prices started to soar. I can understand increasing $5-$25 for inflation, but charging $50-$100 more for a lesser rod that what was built just a couple years ago turned me off.
The Helium uses Alconite guides, which are found on most $100-$200 rods.. Just because TW has a helium for $400 doesn’t make it a $400 class rod. it’s a good rod for the sale price but I personally wouldn’t pay near retail for it.
It’s a similar business model as Ardent. Put a high price tag then discount the crap out of them with pro staff making up majority of the sales. Ardent reels are good at the sale/pro staff pricing but aren’t worth full retail. Same thing with Kistler.
Last edited by ECobb91; 07-22-2021 at 04:55 PM.
1995 Ranger 481v
1995 Johnson Fast Strike 175hp
It’s a shame. I bought my “made in USA” NFC blank helium 3s for i think 289.00
When I seen the retail prices of them yesterday I was shocked. I gave in and bought one of the z bones to try, but it appears it and the current helium use the same blank…BS if you ask me. The one noticeably listed difference are the guides they list each having. I’m no expert in rod building but have a hard time seeing the price jump justified from one to the other, from guides alone.. I’m hoping this blank feels good. Otherwise I’ll be selling It for a “legit” high quality pitch/flip rod.
A few years ago you could buy Kistler NFC blank Helium 3 rods in the mid $200 range on sale, those were awesome rods, those were the good ol days. I have several 3 to 4 year old Helium’s, they are now like Gold! The best rods I have ever owned, better than Expride, but now I buy Exprides because Kistler changed the formula.
Last edited by Hydro870; 07-22-2021 at 09:31 PM.
Glad to hear that on the older helium’s, they’ve served me well.
2016-2017 was probably their best year...building quality rods with great components and a small staff to represent them. Then the staff boomed to over 800 people (with probably half with little to no fishing or industry experience) and most of them competing amongst themselves to get sales from the general public and many of them on different discount tiers. Then they went and changed all of the powers/actions to confusing numbers and combinations that left you scratching your head. Then came the chinese blanks. It sucks that they went that route because I enjoyed their brand more than any others at the time.
I understand in some aspects why they did it to boost sales and now come out with a line of reels. Also NFC was terrible getting stuff out on time...major back logs and terrible customer service. I think NFC forced Trey's hand on changing blanks to a source that was more reliable and consistent. However, it's kind of Kistler's MO to change blanks and "start over" every few years.
Kayak Bass League - President
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Agreed, tackle tour did a review of the current helium and did rank the blank very high and spoke well of it, hopefully between that (it appears to share the same blank as the new z bone) and the upgraded guides on the zbone I won’t be left feeling disappointed.
When are Kistlers NOT on sale?
I come from the land of the ice and snow.
YouTube: PunchFishing
I don’t think you’ll regret it for the price. The difference between guides is extremely minimal. SiC has a higher hardness rating over alconite and they weigh just a little less but the difference is so minimal that most builders either just use Alconites or jump right to torzites. The cost difference In SiC and Alconite guide trains is about $20-$30..
again for the money it’ll be a great rod. Just don’t expect it to be $450-$500 quality
Last edited by ECobb91; 07-23-2021 at 06:02 PM.
1995 Ranger 481v
1995 Johnson Fast Strike 175hp
Is there a notable difference in sensitivity between the new Heliums and a Tatula Elite AGS rod? I've been seriously tempted by the Kistler sale and my 7' mmh ags would be what gets replaced if I pick one up, but don't want to go and spend the money if there's not enough of a difference to justify buying the Kistler.
I have one of the 3-4 year old NFC helium3 7’1” MH. Today i Threw the ‘21 7’0” “heavy medium/heavy” “Chinese blank” zbone today and overall was pretty happy with it. It didn’t feel noticeably more sensitive then my helium, but it felt better balanced, fished very light and like it was a 6’ rod compared to my 7’1” helium. It was very comfortable to flip and pitch with. Overall happy with it. Like others mentioned, for the sale price. I’m glad I did it. For 500+ I’m not sure id be fully happy.
Last edited by YamahaRacing55; 07-24-2021 at 11:15 PM.
Good to hear! That’s one thing Kistler does extremely well is balance their rods. Never had any rod that balanced as nicely as Kistler
1995 Ranger 481v
1995 Johnson Fast Strike 175hp
You've never fished Dobyns then...they still set the bar for overall balance.
Kayak Bass League - President
https://www.facebook.com/groups/kayakbassleague
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