As an avid fly fisherman, I am quite interested in how fly fishing tackle is evolving. I recently found out about an exquisite reel from Hardy, the Zane Ti. This is a reel that many anglers, myself included, can only aspire to as it was a limited edition model that was priced at a hefty £5500.00, yes £5500.00! In the interest of letting everyone know what a reel at this price entails, here is a brief overview of what you can expect from a reel of this caliber.
key features
This elite reel is made from titanium (chemical symbol Ti), a metallic element known for its superior strength, light weight, and resistance to corrosion. It takes 6 continuous days of machining to make just the cage and spool. Titanium has the highest weight to strength of any metal or metal alloy. It is as strong as steel, but 45% lighter. This makes this product truly remarkable, especially considering that only 100 were produced. The reel has a large shaft design, which has been carefully engineered to take full advantage of the incredible strength of titanium. Not satisfied with simply offering an impressive titanium reel, Hardy’s designers also incorporated a woven carbon fiber disc into the Zane Ti’s Teflon™ drag system. The drive is superior in design and incredibly durable. The multi-drag system is also completely sealed and has a large, easy-to-use center drag knob.
More information about the Hardy Zane Ti reel
Machined from solid titanium bars, they are hand finished and polished by Hardy’s engineers in Alnwick, UK. Another unique feature of the reel is that if the reel is fully submerged in water, it loses none of its stopping power, even when fighting a big fish on the line. Also know that this reel has minimal starting inertia and take-up that is virtually instantaneous. The well-designed drag knob is large and easy to locate, even when your hands are cold and/or wet. Another important design feature is that the Zane Ti is fairly easy to disassemble for a thorough cleaning. The real one has a backup capacity of 400 meters. It weighs only 15.02 ounces (426 grams) and has a diameter of 4.25 inches (10.79 millimeters).
Title: Final Thoughts on the Hardy Zane Ti
The drag plate is knurled which makes it extremely easy to set the drag and make the finest adjustments with ease. This reel allows the angler to preset the maximum drag setting to perfectly match the strength of their tippet. Once the drag is set, it can’t be over-tightened, so there’s much less risk of it breaking. The reel also has excellent ventilation that dissipates heat quickly and efficiently.
The Hardy Zane Ti is a superlative piece of fly fishing tackle that is only available to a select few, but that can’t stop me from dreaming!
