Lews David fritts cranking stick, one three fate chrome, or kvd tour cranking rod.

[IndianaFinesse]

So I can get these three cranking rods for the same price, but have not felt any of them in person.  Do any of you have experience with the 7' medium (3/8-1 ounce) lews David fritts cranking rod, one three fishing fate chrome cranking rod, or the kvd tour cranking rod?  If you have more than one of them, which one is your favorite? They are all on memorial day sales, so they all are about 60$.

[dsqui]

I havnt handles any of them but I have heard good things about the lews david fritts rod

[DomQ]

I've heard awesome things about the KVD, plus some of the pros have been using them from what I've seen

[IndianaFinesse]

The kvd is a lot better deal than the lews (150$ down to 60$), but I have heard some bad reviews on the kvd.

[smalljaw67]

8 hours ago, IndianaFinesse said:

The kvd is a lot better deal than the lews (150$ down to 60$), but I have heard some bad reviews on the kvd.

 

The Tour KVD gets mixed up with the Team KVD, the Tour is a lot better. The problem a lot of guys have is that they never used the E-Glass/graphite composite that the rod is made from, most manufacturers today use S-glass or S-glass/graphite composite. The difference is weight, the tour KVD is tip heavy but that never bothered me with a cranking rod, in fact I like a tip heavy cranking rod to be honest. Anyway, E-glass is heavy compared to S-glass, I prefer E-glass because S-glass has similar properties to graphite in that it hits a backbone and shuts off were as E-glass has a progressive power curve, it will gradually shut off. Both E-Glass and S-Glass have soft tip sections, the difference is when the rod begins loading, E-Glass will gradually stiffen up as it bends, where the S-Glass is like a moderate graphite cranking rod, it loads to a point and then backbone instead of a gradual shut off it is immediate, my deep cranking rod is an old 1992 Tour USA made by Quantum, that was when they were made in the USA and used an E-Glass blank made by Lamiglas. The rod is heavy but it has that gradual power curve, and Quantum is one of the few that use E-Glass. On the other hand the Lews cranking rod should be fine, the decision is the Tour KVD had micro guides so keep that in mind.

[Bluebasser86]

I have a KVD Tour Cranking rod 7' MH, it's a very nice cranking rod, one of my favorites I've ever owned. No experience with the other 2, but I'd have no issues recommending the KVD rod. 

[IndianaFinesse]

14 hours ago, smalljaw67 said:

 

The Tour KVD gets mixed up with the Team KVD, the Tour is a lot better. The problem a lot of guys have is that they never used the E-Glass/graphite composite that the rod is made from, most manufacturers today use S-glass or S-glass/graphite composite. The difference is weight, the tour KVD is tip heavy but that never bothered me with a cranking rod, in fact I like a tip heavy cranking rod to be honest. Anyway, E-glass is heavy compared to S-glass, I prefer E-glass because S-glass has similar properties to graphite in that it hits a backbone and shuts off were as E-glass has a progressive power curve, it will gradually shut off. Both E-Glass and S-Glass have soft tip sections, the difference is when the rod begins loading, E-Glass will gradually stiffen up as it bends, where the S-Glass is like a moderate graphite cranking rod, it loads to a point and then backbone instead of a gradual shut off it is immediate, my deep cranking rod is an old 1992 Tour USA made by Quantum, that was when they were made in the USA and used an E-Glass blank made by Lamiglas. The rod is heavy but it has that gradual power curve, and Quantum is one of the few that use E-Glass. On the other hand the Lews cranking rod should be fine, the decision is the Tour KVD had micro guides so keep that in mind.

 

14 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I have a KVD Tour Cranking rod 7' MH, it's a very nice cranking rod, one of my favorites I've ever owned. No experience with the other 2, but I'd have no issues recommending the KVD rod. 

Thanks for the info, good to hear about the e-glass.  Are the micro guides very brittle?  I have never owned a micro guide casting rod, but the micro guides on one of my spinning rods are very easily broken.  

[Bluebasser86]

38 minutes ago, IndianaFinesse said:

 

Thanks for the info, good to hear about the e-glass.  Are the micro guides very brittle?  I have never owned a micro guide casting rod, but the micro guides on one of my spinning rods are very easily broken.  

I haven't had any problems with mine. I have lots of micro guide rods and they've all been fine.

[IndianaFinesse]

Thanks, I ended up ordering the 7'4" mh kvd tour cranking rod.  If anyone else is looking for one, they are only 64$ after the 20% off on eBay from a place called Shelton's clothing.  Considering that they retail for about $160, that's a pretty good deal.

[Iluvsmallies]

Have the exact same one... you will love it 

[IndianaFinesse]

Got the 7'4" mh kvd tour edition cranking rod in the mail last week, and it is one sweet stick (especially for the 60$ i paid for it brand new).  It has the perfect bend for keeping fish pinned up on crankbaits yet doesn't feel like a wet noodle.  The extra length easily added another 50% of my casting distance to.  Sensitivity is also pretty good to.  The rod is thicker than I expected, which doesn't bother me at all but it's something to think about.  Haven't hooked any big bass on it yet, but a ton of white bass and a 30 inch channel cat put it to the test while deep cranking a couple days ago.  

 

On a side note, the seller (e-bay) went above and beyond with the packaging.  Instead of shoving it into a cardboard box filled with paper like most companies do, it arrived inside a Styrofoam rod casing that fit around the entire rod, inside a durable PVC pipe.  And just incase if the end of the PVC pipe happened to break off, the seller tied a short rope around the rod and through a set of drilled holes in the pipe, so even if the end broke off the rod could not fall out.  I would highly recommend them, they're a place called Shelton's clothing.