# Where are you PENN?



## JWS.HOOKEM (Jun 24, 2008)

Hey, someone from PENN please please join this thread! When are you going to produce and market a saltwater reel that matches Shimano in functionality and WEIGHT? C'mon! Use a little AMERICAN KNOWHOW and get with it!
I WANT AMERICAN!!!

:flag:
:texasflag


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## MattK (Feb 9, 2006)

Lol, you do know that Penn was bought by Pure Fishing right? Same company that owns Pflueger, Shakespeare, Abu Garcia, Berkley, Mitchell, All-Star, Spiderwire... which are all made in *cough* Asia


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## Kevin70 (May 24, 2010)

MattK said:


> Lol, you do know that Penn was bought by Pure Fishing right? Same company that owns Pflueger, Shakespeare, Abu Garcia, Berkley, Mitchell, All-Star, Spiderwire... which are all made in *cough* Asia


I know some Abu Garcia reels are still made in Sweden (6500 C3 and Record at least).


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## Dan Thorburn (Dec 18, 2013)

Shimano American Corp employs 185 Americans. Then we have over 50 at G.Loomis in Woodland, WA, and several at Power Pro in Colorado, and several at Pearl Izumi which is also in Colorado...I think we have over 300 total here in the US.


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## Lexy1 (Jul 12, 2012)

Dan Thorburn said:


> Shimano American Corp employs 185 Americans. Then we have over 50 at G.Loomis in Woodland, WA, and several at Power Pro in Colorado, and several at Pearl Izumi which is also in Colorado...I think we have over 300 total here in the US.


Now we need a Shimano reel that is "made in USA". It would be awesome.
I think I'm just dreaming ...


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## Tunanorth (Nov 18, 2011)

*reels*



JWS.HOOKEM said:


> Hey, someone from PENN please please join this thread! When are you going to produce and market a saltwater reel that matches Shimano in functionality and WEIGHT? C'mon! Use a little AMERICAN KNOWHOW and get with it!
> I WANT AMERICAN!!!
> 
> :flag:
> :texasflag


Apologies for not seeing this earlier.
A few more specifics may help.
What kind of reel; spinning, lever drag, star drag, 2-speed lever drag?
Where does the weight need to be; within 10 percent, within 2 ounces, identical, or actually lighter?
Any other specific parameters?


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## Tunanorth (Nov 18, 2011)

*reels*



MattK said:


> Lol, you do know that Penn was bought by Pure Fishing right? Same company that owns Pflueger, Shakespeare, Abu Garcia, Berkley, Mitchell, All-Star, Spiderwire... which are all made in *cough* Asia


 Penn's makes over 40 models in the USA, including;
All International lever drags, all Torque lever drags, all International baitcasters, all Torque star drags, all "Z' series spinning reels, all Torque spinning reels, 12/0 Senators, 14/0 Senators, and Baja special 113HN's.
Several new USA-made models will also be introduced at the ICAST show in July.


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## MattK (Feb 9, 2006)

How many current models does Penn make?


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## Tunanorth (Nov 18, 2011)

*reels*



MattK said:


> How many current models does Penn make?


Quite a few; in general the "threshold" for Penn's US production is at $249.
However, there are two models under that price that are US-made, and two models over that price that are not, but its a good rule of thumb.
You can also tell which models are US-made in the catalogue and website by the American flag icon.
It economic reality that inexpensive models like Squall, Defiance, etc. are not produced here.
Penn faced a choice; produce these models offshore, or simply stop making them, but the market demands lower-priced items.
Interestingly, the threshold for "made in Japan" for most of the Japanese manufacturers is at $349, but for at least one it is at $500, otherwise they too are made in China, Malaysia, Viet Nam, etc.


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## cfulbright (Jun 24, 2009)

The weight was a killer for me on the 2000 Penn battle. Nice reel, and yes I can hold 9oz up.....but the rotating mass made it unfishable with artificial's. I returned it after one trip.


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## JWS.HOOKEM (Jun 24, 2008)

*American Made...PLEASE!*



Tunanorth said:


> Apologies for not seeing this earlier.
> A few more specifics may help.
> What kind of reel; spinning, lever drag, star drag, 2-speed lever drag?
> Where does the weight need to be; within 10 percent, within 2 ounces, identical, or actually lighter?
> Any other specific parameters?


I currently use Shimano Chronarchs and Cores 100 series. Im sure an AMERICAN company using AMERICAN labor and AMERICAN pride could out-do the Asians. Needs to be same or less wt, 6:1 or 7:1 gear ratio. Keep the suggest price under $250 and 
We'll buy 'em by the boat load!


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## rjc1982 (Sep 27, 2005)

JWS.HOOKEM said:


> I currently use Shimano Chronarchs and Cores 100 series. Im sure an AMERICAN company using AMERICAN labor and AMERICAN pride could out-do the Asians. Needs to be same or less wt, 6:1 or 7:1 gear ratio. Keep the suggest price under $250 and
> We'll buy 'em by the boat load!


There's no doubt that an AMERICAN Company using AMERICAN labor and AMERICAN pride can build a quality product, but not for the same price as a product manufactured overseas. The fact is that labor costs are far lower overseas, that goes for all products not just reels. I work for one of the largest automotive parts manufacturers in the world and we had to move almost all of our production overseas because we were being priced out of the market. Everyone wants "Made in the USA" products with "Made in Taiwan" prices. You can't have it both ways.


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## fabian31268 (Jul 31, 2005)

*made in america*

if labor cost is cheaper over seas why are they skimping on quality?


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## cva34 (Dec 22, 2008)

fabian31269 said:


> if labor cost is cheaper over seas why are they skimping on quality?[/QUO Mo MONEY!!!!!!!!!!


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## CoralSeas (May 2, 2012)

cfulbright said:


> The weight was a killer for me on the 2000 Penn battle. Nice reel, and yes I can hold 9oz up.....but the rotating mass made it unfishable with artificial's. I returned it after one trip.


Battle uses an all metal Rotor which is desirable for many reasons (toughness and drag etc). The new Conflict series uses a graphite rotor in the smallest sizes for near shore fishing.


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## handi2 (Jun 22, 2014)

Try the new Conflict reels. They are really nice but are the same thing internally. One thing about Penn is that you can get parts. Try that with Shimano..!!

I use mostly Shimano myself but working on reels on a daily basis Shimano sucks in the there parts department. Shimano doesn't want you to have a reel that lasts over 5 years.


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