Fibreglass Owners and Users.

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Reedling
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Re: Fibreglass Owners and Users.

Post by Reedling »

At the bootfair the other weekend a chap had a glass Hardy rod that was well passed its sell by date, and I mean well well passed, and he wanted £80 for it. I noticed a Trudex he had also for sale, it wobbled and had loads of play and was cosmeticaly well worn out, when I asked how much he said £50! .and of course he quoted ebay, as many do. You cannot blame them for trying I suppose and you can always say NO.

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AndyPop
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Re: Fibreglass Owners and Users.

Post by AndyPop »

Reedling wrote:At the bootfair the other weekend a chap had a glass Hardy rod that was well passed its sell by date, and I mean well well passed, and he wanted £80 for it. I noticed a Trudex he had also for sale, it wobbled and had loads of play and was cosmeticaly well worn out, when I asked how much he said £50! .and of course he quoted ebay, as many do. You cannot blame them for trying I suppose and you can always say NO.
As a man who frequents many a car boot & fair, and who is known to have his own tackle stall occasionally, I find the "that's what they fetch o eBay" irritating to say the least. I never ever quote it as reference although to a degree it is a good market guide,. My own take on pricing is to fairly assess condition and price accordingly, knowing that if I'm buying or selling there are no listing, final value or paypal fees to pass on. A deal is a deal at the end of the day and my stand is that although the aim is to make money I really like to see someone happy with their tackle & looking forward to using it.
"Carpe Diem" does not mean "fish of the day."

Wandler

Re: Fibreglass Owners and Users.

Post by Wandler »

What is it with 'Hardy'?

Old, knackered, worn-out Hardy tackle is just as worthless as old, knackered, worn-out tackle from any other maker!

The secret is in the three adjectives.

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Nigel Rainton
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Re: Fibreglass Owners and Users.

Post by Nigel Rainton »

AndyPop,

I agree, for £20 I would have used the rather tatty Hardy and enjoyed it. If I had been selling that rod, I would have been happy to get £20.

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Nigel Rainton
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Re: Fibreglass Owners and Users.

Post by Nigel Rainton »

Wandler,

I don't understand the desire for the Hardy name, particularly their coarse fishing tackle. I use their modern fly rods and reels. In my opinion they are the best quality, simple and functional. Excellent tools for the job.

I think Hardy's lost their way when they branched out into other forms of angling, they watered down the brand. They went down market. That's why the company is up for sale !

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Kevanf1
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Re: Fibreglass Owners and Users.

Post by Kevanf1 »

The Hardy brand were always a by word for quality. That's why anything with the Hardy name on it will command a premium price. Whether that premium price is justified or not is entirely another matter.... I agree, if the item is knackered then it's knackered. Of course, if something was built to a higher standard to start with then one would rightly expect it to have perhaps lasted that little bit longer and maybe worth restoring.
Currently reading......Go Fishing For Bass and Go Fishing For Skate and Rays both by Graeme Pullen, The Kill Switch by James Rollins, Raspberry Pi Manual - Haynes, 'Make: Electronics by Charles Platt' & the 'Myford series 7 manual by Ian Bradley'

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DrJohn
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Re: Fibreglass Owners and Users.

Post by DrJohn »

Point well made.

My Father and I always regarded Hardy as quality equipment; he would n't buy himself (or me) anything other than good quality tackle.

I think like many quality brands of the past, they probably did justify a high(er) price, as price and market competitiveness wasn't such an issue.

Build to a standard and not a price.

Applies to many products of course.

John.

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Beresford
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Re: Fibreglass Owners and Users.

Post by Beresford »

SofaSurfer wrote:Wandler,

I don't understand the desire for the Hardy name, particularly their coarse fishing tackle. I use their modern fly rods and reels. In my opinion they are the best quality, simple and functional. Excellent tools for the job.

I think Hardy's lost their way when they branched out into other forms of angling, they watered down the brand. They went down market. That's why the company is up for sale !
Hardy made some very good coarse fishing tackle as well as game fishing gear. I don't think there's anything down market at all about their glass coarse rods and their Zane Grey sea reel possibly represents the pinnacle of what they were capable of. By the time they were making glass coarse rods they had already produced a split cane carp rod and an avon rod of exceptional quality.

I think they would inevitably loose their way in the world market unless they had become a very niche hand-built only tackle maker. Market forces would have meant they would have remained very exclusive with very exclusive prices. Of course once they started down the rod of bringing out new rods every year to compete on marketing terms with the likes of Loomis, Orvis and dozen of other makers all of whom are producing some excellent tackle and in some cases at much lower prices, then I think the inevitable was going to happen at some point once production had shifted to China. I think that made some people feel that the brand had become a mere façade.

Some years ago at a CLA Game fair I tired a handful of modern rods including two Hardys, both were beautifully smooth and well dampened and they impressed me immensely and at that time although I could have afforded either, both by my father, myself and the salesman were more impressed by a rod costing half the price of the Hardys, so we bought two of those instead. We had a little discussion that ten years previously there would have been no doubt that the Hardys would have been in a class of their own. The American rods from Loomis, Sage and Orvis all very capable tools.
The Split Cane Splinter Group

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Kevanf1
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Re: Fibreglass Owners and Users.

Post by Kevanf1 »

The Chinese factories are very capable of producing high quality tackle just the same as low quality stuff. Thankfully most of the stuff is middle of the market and very fit for purpose. Of course, there will always be some vendor who will pick up the lower quality stuff and try to sell it at higher than realistic prices for what it is :(

Now, that braid I purchased not long ago, from China? It is in fact marvellous stuff. Dare I say I like using it even more, much more) than my beloved Fireline??? It's so good I have now ordered some in 6lb bs in a floating format.
Currently reading......Go Fishing For Bass and Go Fishing For Skate and Rays both by Graeme Pullen, The Kill Switch by James Rollins, Raspberry Pi Manual - Haynes, 'Make: Electronics by Charles Platt' & the 'Myford series 7 manual by Ian Bradley'

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Vole
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Re: Fibreglass Owners and Users.

Post by Vole »

Polyestel ahoy: I've become an Alphista - just bought a pair of the orange light-sabres (both 13-footers) this morning, and can hardly wait to see them glowing in the sun!

Where'd I stow my flares and platform soles? :Cool: :Scared:
"Write drunk, edit sober" - Hemingway.
Hemingway didn't have to worry about accidentally hitting "submit" before he edited.

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