Build a better product and the world will beat a path to your door.
Have you used an Ardent? They are fine reels, a little heavy, and ugly as hell. Last I checked it was fishing, not a beauty pageant. I recently got rid of my Ardent, and never had an issue with it. I could cast a mile, brakes were easy to adust, and it could take an abuse. I highly reccomend an Ardent reel.
My point was peripherally pointed at the Ardent or any other American product for that matter. Rewarding mediocrity is a straight line to a dead end. Subsidizing ineptitude hurts the consumer.
Has Ardent been subsidised by anybody? Not that I know of. If Ardent builds a bad product they will not last long, and they shouldn't. I am pulling for them, I hope they can raise their level to ABU, Shimano and others. If they do I will buy their reels. And if they can do that they will create better jobs for the people in that area who are working for minimum wage without benefits. And that is what it needs to happen to get this economy fixed, the small guy with a vision, and a dream and the guts to make it happen. Not the multi million dollar corporations who are fueled by greed and have sent so many good jobs over seas.
There are many products coming into this country now that are inferior to the ones that were once produced here, but we have to buy them, we don't have a choice because their cheaper prices drove the US companies out of business.
I think if a person loses a good paying job to a foriegn product it will change their attitude about supporting the US companies.