Carbon Fiber Reel Handles

[mwh33]

Does anyone change out all their reel handles for carbon fiber handles? I just bought 2 for reels that I acquired with 80mm handles and was wondering if it was worth upgrading all my reels.

[fishballer06]

Considering I have 20+ casting reels, there's no way I could afford to swap them all out. I would recommend trying it out on one or two reels before you go changing them all out. There's so many different brands and lengths, so I would do some research. 

[LuckyHandsINC.]

I only do it for aesthetics. I can't imagine much of a performance upgrade, a little extra cranking power. Maybe also a small gain in IPT. 

 

I have also seen bantam(shimano product manager) from the other forum recommend not going too long.  He said when reels are designed the handle length is not just chosen arbitrarily. There is actually some engineering that goes in to the choice of handles. Some guys will throw a 110mm on a reel that started with 80mm and the reel can't handle it. If a reel starts at 80mm maybe only go to 90mm.

[iabass8]

 I do it on some. It's purely for cosmetic reasons. If you get a quality carbon fiber handle, there is some weight saving but it's very small. You will not gain any inches per turn by making your handle longer.  I put 90 mm handles on every reel own. I like the size.

[rippin-lips]

I change all of mine to 90mm carbon handles. That's my preferred length and I like the look of carbon. There are cheaper routes instead of carbon you can also look into. 

[Jeff H]

Yep...gotta have 90mm minimum.  Don't care if it's straight, swept, Carbon or Aluminum, has to be 90mm!

 

I've got some Hawg Tech handles and prefer the 90mm straights but the 94mm are nice too.

[bigturtle]

there are very cheap carbonfiber handles on ebay, like $10 each, if you really want it.

[cottny27]

Bass Pro Carbonlite handles for $15. I believe they are 85mm 4 bearing handles.  I've got up to .20 oz shaved off a reel, but it's not really noticeable.  I just like the EVA knobs. 

[FrankN209]

I have 2 hawgtechs, 1 avail and 1 Livre handles. 

[buzzed bait]

i too have quite a few carbon handles, but not quite all my reels. all of them are 90mm - 102mm.