I have been reading on this and other sites about the claims made for wet drags (usually with Cal's) or dry drags. I have a reasonable notion who ships their reels wet, and who ships them dry. Is there a Charkbait position on this weighty issue? Some debates (Ginger or Mary Ann?) will never settle, and this is probably one of them, but I am curious. Mark, what do you do with your reels?

With my own reels, I leave 'em dry if that's the way they came and the manufacturer intended. I've seen some ruined when folks ladle on too much. For those using, typically its best to use a tiny bit, evenly applied, and then wiped off. That would leave enough to do what's intended, to smooth the initial run.

Having said that, also note that there are plenty of folks who know far more than I and who spend more time working on reels than I do. But those that I trust to work on my gear approach grease as I mentioned...conservatively.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Chark,

Thank you.

I tripped over a 16S at a post - Christmas sale, which will soon be off to Cal Sheets, and was reminded of the issue by doing a bit of reading on Alan Tani's excellent site.

I could be wrong but I believe that Avet is the only major company that uses dry drags. Accurate began using Cal's grease on their carbon fiber drag washers a few years ago. Penn now uses Penn grease on their drags. Shimano leaves the canvas drag washers in their single speed TLDs dry but I believe they grease everything else with their own teflon grease. I began greasing Avet drag washers a few years ago after I got in far too many Avet reels with serious corrosion under the drag washer. I use a small amount of grease then wipe it off. I believe that it makes the drag smoother, does not reduce the top end of the drag -- and helps fight corrosion.

I think you're right Bill. Avet's are dry on the front side. I did add a very small bit of Cal's on my MXL Raptor, no negative to report. But, the trick is to keep it to a minimum I believe.
GS<
MS