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Post by ultegrafly on May 16, 2006 9:45:10 GMT -5
Mr Downie, I never said you are untruthful, what I said was that if a company is expecting you to do a review of their products they will send you the best they can supply, this isn't a fair representation of their product line. If you want to do a review that is meaningful you should buy an 'off the shelf' line without them knowing and review that. I've no doubt that you (and others in the mags) give honest reviews of the products they receive, what I'm not sure of is whether the products that you are sent for review are in anyway comparative to the products that everyday consumers are offered. Kev. P.s. the name is Kev.
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Post by edenangler on May 16, 2006 15:14:34 GMT -5
Mr Kev
How the hell will a manufacturer do that? Do they have two conveyor belts: one for any old tat and a seperate one for super duper lines for reviewers only. If Airflo were capable of producing great lines, then I'm sure they would make them available to the public - maybe then we wouldn't slate them so fiercely.
If DD says the line is half decent than I'm inclined to believe him as he's a far more accomplished angler than I.
Matt
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Post by montanajoe on May 17, 2006 4:01:25 GMT -5
Why does everyone slate off Airflo.
I find their service is good, their sinking lines are excellent and their floaters are about the same as everyone else's. All my floating lines sink at the tip. I like this as it reduces line wake and catches me more fish. As for memory, show me a line in cold weather which has no memory. Early season the only line with no memory was my Airflo, my Cortland was terrible.
People must buy their products or they would not be in business. And they are innovative.
Good luck to them.
Iain
PS before i take a lot of flak for this I have been fly fishing for 30 years and have graduated from silk lines right through, so I am entitled to give my humble opinion.
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Post by rrw35 on May 17, 2006 4:03:33 GMT -5
As for memory, show me a line in cold weather which has no memory. Snowbee xs. No memory, no matter how cold it is. ...and i find it hard to believe in that TF test, the xs came 18/20 for memory, the same as the Airflo.. Maybe they are using different Airflo lines from the ones i have tried.
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Post by notanothersage on May 17, 2006 4:16:13 GMT -5
I purchased an Airflo line years ago when the clear intermediates came out. I had 4 all like coiled bed springs. I remember giving a bit of grief to Brian Leadbetter, who sent another one that was the best of the bunch. I also remember letting Vince Gwillam see what I had bought at the Chatsworth Fair. Snowbee XS thank you, enough said. In addtion to TF 'bigging-up' Airflo it also seems that Platinum XDs seem to get a fair amount of publicity. This may be well deserved, but in all the recnet features the rod used was one of these. Even in the latest TF, Chris Dawn was using it at Ravensthorpe. perhaps I'm getting cynical in my old age.
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Post by rrw35 on May 17, 2006 4:27:01 GMT -5
I have cast the Platinum xds, good rods. As you say, its all a bit suss with these magazine reviews.
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Post by alan on May 17, 2006 4:37:53 GMT -5
I seem to remember a free Airflo floater that came with TF a few years back that was very good (still traded on EBAY), but when you bought a line it was the same dismal memory ridden pile of ****. Further examination found the the free line was made on a braided base whilst the actual product was on a mono base (or vice versa). So it seems that products given by Airflo are good - those you but???
TF, isn't that the monthly Airflo catologue available through most newsagents for a small fee?
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Post by ultegrafly on May 17, 2006 7:05:28 GMT -5
edenangler, if you know anything about manufacturing processes you will know that small sample batches of products are made before large 'runs'.
As alan mentions above switching manufacturing processes between product runs does happen. I was in a similar position a few years back, I was given one of their range to review and it was a decent line with no memory, etc... but with a braided core. When the actual product hit the shelves they had a mono core and were shocking lines. I can only assume that producing lines with a mono core is cheaper, hence Airflo persisting with that method of manufacture.
Theres no grey area here, either the reviewers are giving their honest opinion and the lines they are sent are different from the off the shelf products, or the reviewers are lying through their teeth! As I said I have been a reviewer so I know which of the above I believe to be true!
But as mentioned the only way to give a meaningful review of a product is to buy a sample off the shelf!
Kev.
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