Build the Best Fly Rod

February 03, 2020

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"Build a better fly rod" - The sentence written on the whiteboard above my desk. It greets me every morning and is the last thing I see when I leave each evening - it's become a mantra - it keeps us honest.

Below that Statement in the bottom right hand corner is a short quote put up my daughter Jessie - "In a world where you can be anything, be kind" - an altogether more inspired, but slightly less useful phrase when it comes to making fly rods.

It's a serious business...

At Swift we've always done things a little different, favouring solid design, innovation and original thinking over mass production, fashion and fickle trends.

We all pride ourselves on being the very best, not the cheapest nor the biggest. Just the best - Our direct to customer business gives us the benefit of direct relationships with our customers, and just as importantly, it means that we can utilise more of your hard earned dollars on what makes a terrific fly rod.

A sneaky shot of Trev in the workshop - he's filing down the feet of a stripping guide to allow for a better wrap.

We're very proud of the fact the components we use are superior to any other production rod - our cork grips are exceptional, our reel seats give a lifetime of trouble free service.

We invest more in time and materials in order to produce fly rods of extraordinary quality. We believe in quality products built to last.

Anyway, I'm rambling...

Last year at one of our regular "How do we make these better" chats (we dont have any meetings around here) - Trev suggested we take a closer look at the new Fuji Torzite stripping guides - I have to admit to being a little sceptical, to date we'd been using a very good titanium stripping guide produced by Alps. They're top notch.

The new Fuji Torzite stripping guide. 'Tangle Free', corrosion proof and super slick

Long story short - these Fuji Torzites are now going onto all our carbon fiber fly rods. We've topped off the new guides with a slick new guide wrap in Indigo blue (Japanese silk, translucent) Trev came up with this wrap a while back for a special rod we made for a mates 50th birthday - nice.

The new guides are Titanium also, (corrosion free) TORZITE™ allows the use of the next smaller guide size without a reduction of inside diameter when compared to SiC. (Silicon Carbide - perviously the best insert material adn what we were using originally) A size 12 SiC ring has a 8.27mm inside diameter - almost identical ID to the size 10 TORZITE™

It’s not only about a lighter ring, the complete guide including the weight of the frame comes into play. Using the next size down while maintaining the ID can reduce reduction train weights by as much as 25%. (According to Mr Fuji)

So what? - in a nutshell, Fuji Torzite Guides are ultra thin, stronger, with an improved shape, lower friction, and 40% lighter and smoother than SiC. The benefit? - they shoot line better and are less prone to tangles on shooting. And they weigh a little less - if that's important to you.

Our saltwater rods feature two of these new guides

Checkout out our carbon fiber fly rod range - 590C, 690C, 890C, 1090 and our two handers for the Torzite upgrade