Kastking Thread

[JA1990]

Hey raiders, thread maybe a good home for all kast king talk.

i purchased a kastking mela 2 4000 on eBay for a cheap price and I am pretty impressed. Along with some 'godline' braid it seems to cast smoothly from my daiwa aird 5-9kg.

My cons would have to be that instant stop has a bit of back play and the 4000 is smaller than a standardshinsnp 4000, I am fairly happy with the smoothness of the reel and I look forward to catching some fish. For a cheapy don't be skeptical. I would really like to check out the sharks and mako reels.

 

[chokpa]

Funnily enough my mela and blackhawk just arrived. The 400 mela is more like a 2000 shimano. Little bit disappointing. Looking forward to putting them through their paces. 

Blackhawk has good reviews on YT. Very keen to try this. 

[fishymee]

hi guys I purchased a  triton dualis with high ratio and low ratio yes its a two speed  so far I'm impressed but time will tell 

[Guest Guest123456789]

Purchased three kastking reels and quite a bit of their braid and Fluoro. Short term ok - long term completely crap. Yes I know how to service reels.

for reels stick with shimano Daiwa Penn braid there is one outright winner it's daiwa J braid - anything else you're making the wrong decision.

[JA1990]

Well I took my mela out for a proper session and inevitably one of the 2 handle bearings crumbled. This involved me pulling it apart, measuring it up and purchasing a better one off eBay. 

I could of sent it back to Krap king but by the time it would of taken for correspondence I simply measured and ordered a new bearing. 

For those that are interested the bearing size is 7x11x3.

Other then the drama seems like a nice reel. I also fixed the back play issue. The little spring needed tightening.

Regarding brand name, I am a daiwa supporter, it's my makita, my Toyota, my Quintrex. 

But I don't mind crossing the skeptical bridge and trying new krap.

Edited August 7, 2017 by JA1990

[Guest Guest123456789]

9 hours ago, JA1990 said:

Well I took my mela out for a proper session and inevitably one of the 2 handle bearings crumbled. This involved me pulling it apart, measuring it up and purchasing a better one off eBay. 

I could of sent it back to Krap king but by the time it would of taken for correspondence I simply measured and ordered a new bearing. 

For those that are interested the bearing size is 7x11x3.

Other then the drama seems like a nice reel. I also fixed the back play issue. The little spring needed tightening.

Regarding brand name, I am a daiwa supporter, it's my makita, my Toyota, my Quintrex. 

But I don't mind crossing the skeptical bridge and trying new krap.

Hahaha I'm glad I'm not the only one who's lost money experimenting with new 'krap'. Wait until you realise the components around the shaft aren't marine grade aluminium but krappy iron.

[anthman]

hi all, i like to think of myself as bit of a kastking "konnoisseur" (spelling intentional).

i've purchased and used kastking's:

- "superpower" braid - 4x weave braid from 4lb through to 50lb

- "max8" braid - 8x weave from 10lb through to 80lb

- sharky II reel - 1500 size through to 3000

- kodiak reel - 5000 size only

- blackhawk telescsopic rod (8 ft) - havent really put this through its paces

my general experience has been positive amongst the sea of cheap cheap low quality chinese gear. Quality control is the biggest issue, so its just a matter of what has a higher chance (from reading reviews) of failing and avoiding that.

for example:

Braid:

- the superpower braid is fairly average, largish diameter, about as strong as its rated strength. an OK product.

- ..VS the max8 braid, handles very nicely, little bit (~5%) stronger than its rated strength, an acceptable product for everyday use.

Reel:

- sharky II - pretty robust reels, though susceptible to quality issues (i have 4, 2x have minor problems).

- ...VS the kodiak reel - very well built, super strong, finish is excellent, smooth as silk - though double the price of the sharky (at the time).

it would seem the "premium" products are where its at. often there will be sales on aliexpress where you can pickup some good deals (along with a further % discount via using cashrewards). 

 

happy to answer any queries people may have of the products.

 

also - to respond to the Mela reel comment; reading the reviews of the reel on Aliexpress and a shop, its pretty clear that its a crap product, if i was to ever buy a reel from kastking again, it would be the kodiak (on special). the stealth (baitcaster) gets some good reviews, but i dont use BCs so i cant comment beyond what user feedback is available on the internet.

Edited August 16, 2017 by anthman