Carbontex Vs. Dartainium In Shimano Reels

[*Hootie]

From what I have been able to find, searching, they both are carbon fiber. So why do you prefer Carbontex if they are the same? Is there really any benefit in swapping them out?

 

Hootie

[Trey Harpel]

You might gain slight drag power switching to carbontex since they are slightly thicker drags..

Every reel I own has carbontex and I've been VERY pleased with the swap..

You can either run them dry or with cals drag grease..

[craww]

Dartanium is the only material I've seen actually breakdown and come apart. This happened to me once on a two year old reel, but none the less carbontex is so cheap I figure why not. I will say the stiock shimano drag is just as smooth out if the box than any other brand I own.

[aavery2]

I don't know what they are made of, but I can tell you that the dartanium drag washers look and feel nothing like a carbontex washer.  The dartanium tend to smash down and come apart/  You will get a small drag pressure increase with the carbontex replacements if for no other reason than  they provide a little more material contact.  I also believe they are smoother  and stay cleaner  longer than the stock washers.   

[tomustang]

If it ain't broke/braking don't fix it. That being said, after a couple years of annual services you might have dartanium washers degrade or become more brittle. The carbontex option is a cheap alternative for better strength and drag power, I can't comment on the drag because I don't really tighten my drags. From what I've read from other reviews for Carbontex is they are more powerful, don't know how much more powerful (pound vs pound comparison) but I will have to take their word for it.

I replaced dartaniums out of one 51e because I had a grip issue with it tearing down a reel, now I know I have hand problems but the washer was weaker than the others, it needed to be replaced and te carbontex was a cheap easy option.

Now was it worth switching all of them out after I tried one, not really. In time when there is play money not ready to be spent ill outfit all my other reels with them for a longer lasting washer.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

When you look at the two side by side you can easily see the texture difference. "Dartanium" may or may not be a carbon based material but it's characteristics are nothing like the Carbontex, which in my experience in the real deal. Upgrading to them is relatively inexpensive and the surest bang for the buck in upgrades in general.

[Fishwhittler]

Dartanium is a graphite-based material that's not remotely like carbon-fiber.  Having seen what Dartanium will do to reels given time, the first thing I'll do in any future Shimano reels I purchase will be to upgrade the drag to Carbontex. 

 

This is a mild case of what Dartanium can do to gears:

 

 

Gear from a Curado 50E.  Most of that residue is on the surface and came off fairly easily, but there were a few places where the Dartanium left minor pitting in the brass, as you can see in this pic:

 

 

The copper-colored spots are what I'm talking about.  They're slightly below the rest of the gear surface, though they're not deep enough to affect drag performance.  Like I said, this was a fairly mild case that left little damage.  The worst case I've seen I had to scrape part of the drag washer off of the gear, and then it left considerable pitting in the brass.  Dartanium is very smooth, but I'm not a fan.

 

Here's what Dartanium looks like compared with carbon-fiber.  The Dartanium washers are the two on top.

 

 

Those washers came out of a Citica E.  You can get them from Tackle Trap, and they do also increase drag power by a significant margin.  I figure they bump drag power to at least 15#, probably more; all I know is I can't budge the spool when I've got the carbontex drag locked down.

[Jaheff]

I read it on the internet Fact's..

 

Penn did 100 hour tests, of constant pressure on their drag material, with no i'll effects to the carbon fiber. This is why they call their

drag washers HT-100. Penn and Smooth Drag, buy their carbon fiber sheets from the same factory.

[baluga]

I use the stock dartainium washer for light to ultra light setup.  It smoother and gives more degree of drag adjustments compared to carbontex.  I use carbontex when I needed more drag.

[SirSnookalot]

I don't tighten my drags down very often, the stock ones last a long time.  Over the last 10 years I've replaced the drag washers in only one reel, a 4000 stradic used in saltwater, it's caught a lot of fish, this is my most used reel.  The reel probably is about 5 years old, I just replaced the washers recently with ones from my backup spool which I never use anyway, back to performing like the reel was new.

[War Eagle 44]

I've just recently started switching my stock drags for Carbontex but so far I've been very pleased with the switch. Don't get me wrong, I've never had a single problem out of a Shimano Dartanium drag, I switched just because I like to tinker. I don't agree that the Carbontex washers aren't as smooth or have less adjustment range than stock washers. If you grease the Carbontex they feel just as smooth to me, but of course this is just MHO. I've just installed a set of Carbontex washers in my Symetre 3000FJ but I haven't had the chance to fish it yet.

 

I've tried them both greased and dry in baitcasters and I've determined I prefer them dry, YMMV.   

[TrippyJai]

I upgrade to Carbontex because the Shimano Dartanium drag washers start to break apart. Fishwhittler pretty much summed it up. In terms of performance, they are both equally great until stock drag starts to degrade.

 

I want to mention that the Shimano Dartanium 2 is not really an upgrade, but rather a fix I believe. It would always get stuck inbetween the ratchet and the main gear making it hard remove the main gear and when it starts to break apart, it gets on other parts in the reel. That's another reason why I upgrade my Curado Es.