Ardent Edge design issue

[dustlane]

Today, I was out fishing with my son. I was using my Edge throwing a swim jig when I noticed that the reel handle wouldn't turn. I looked down and saw that all the line had piled up in the middle of the spool. It was piled up enough that it was hitting the frame which prevented the spool from turning. After further inspection, I found that the pawl set screw was gone along with the pawl spacer. This let the pawl slip down into the line guide preventing it from making contact with the work gear. When I got home I dug out the flashlight and magnifying glass to find that the threads that the set screw uses were stripped. Ardent went with a set screw instead of a pawl cap. I would not be surprised if this design was changed to the more traditional pawl cap in the future. As it is, there is nothing to keep the set screw from working its way out and falling completely out of the line guide like mine did. Needless to say, I am extremely disappointed. I was sure Ardent had gotten it right this time. One thing for sure, they are getting close.

[eyra_kid]

Call them up. I've talked to them before and they were very helpful and responsive. I had a small issue with a line guide on an Ardent I was servicing, and they sent me the whole new assembly at no charge. I'm sure they'll take care of you.

[dustlane]

I have no doubts that they will take care of me. But I have only had the reel for a couple days. I'll just return it. The design is the big issue. I imagine that my issue will become more common once the reels have been out a while.

[StratosBrad]

Every Ardent I have ever used or worked on has had serious quality issues.

[lightningmusky]

Ardent will take care of it call them.

[dustlane]

I have no doubt whatsoever that they will fix it. Hopefully this will not be an issue in the future.

[oldman71]

I have used Ardent reels since the get go and after they took care of the thumb bar problem on the XS reels that came out 1st I have had no problems. I currently have 19 of them and they are the best reel on the market for people who have never used a baitcaster. I have had several members of the military out fishing some with wives or girlfriends and all of them got the hang of useing them real quick,

[tsuprum]

I bought a Tournament Edge at BP during the spring sale. The night that I bought it, I was playing around with it. I noticed what I thought was a lump of grease on the body of the reel. If your looking at the level wind, it was to the left. Well when I wiped what I thought was grease off, it turned out to be paint. A spot the size of my finger tip came off. I could have taken more off but I didn't.

So the next morning I returned it to BP just thinking I got a bad 1. The next 3 we pulled from the shelf were doing the same thing in the same spot.

I reported this to Ardent and I hope they correct this problem.

I really want to buy products made in the USA, especially reels but I'm loosing faith. I thought maybe Ardent got it right this time. Guess not.

I asked Ardent to update me on this issue. I have not heard back from them.