Shimano Vanford Review
When taking part in any sport or pastime, you’re going to want to get the best equipment to enhance your experience.
When you get better at your chosen sport, you can justify spending more on better gear and equipment but because you now know more about the world of your sport – you can often get lost with reviews and the amount of available products for sale.
Fishing is no exception to this. One of the key components when it comes to the best fishing gear is getting the best spinning reel and there are so many types of fishing reel on the market!
Luckily for you, we have tried and tested the Shimano Vanford spinning reel, and we’ve compiled our review to help you in your search.
We’ll take you through the product information and specs, what we thought was great about it and how it holds up against the previous model.
So, get comfortable near the water and read on for our Shimano Vanford review.
Summary Table
This Review At A Glance
The Shimano Vanford is the newer model which seemed to takeover from the previous Stradic Ci4 range of spinning wheels.
For the purposes of this review, we will often mention the previous model to give you the best look at the Shimano Vanford. After all, you can only know how something has developed if you know about its past.
How Do They Differ?
Your typical Stradic FL is a different fishing reel entirely from the Stradic Ci4s on the basis that the design, technology and features differ.
The Stradic FL is within a Hagan body and is basically an amalgamation of magnesium and aluminum. Ci4 on the other hand is made up of carbon graphite which significantly reduces the overall weight of the reel.
However, both reels share “parent” technology and design, they both have their differences.
What Were Our Initial Thoughts?
Simply looking at the spinning reel at a glance, you are struck straight away by a visually pleasing and idyllic appearance. You can certainly see where the Shimano Vanford drew its color scheme from as it resembles the Ci4 quite a lot.
Right away, we took the reel out of its box and tried it out at a very basic level. A couple of spins with the crank ran smoothly and felt natural. In fact, we’re sure this was helped out by the new and updated rotor which is so much lighter than its predecessor.
This is likely due to the change in materials. This is a magnum light rotor as opposed to the previous carbon graphite – and due to this lightweight, the cranking itself felt lighter and much more smooth and certainly, we encountered less resistance.
Under the hood, we notice Hagane gear with X-ship technology. In fact, the Hagane gear and X-ship bearing systems allowed for a much lighter and easy-to-use feel which stabilizes the reel during use too.
It’s now a good time to get into each part of the reel itself and dive into much more detail.
Let’s Discuss The Body
Starting the examination with the body, we have a graphite frame which is bolstered with carbon fiber. The advantages to this are many but perhaps the largest advantage is the supportive durability that it has.
What Shimano with Ci4 technology has shown is that even in the toughest conditions during fishing, it holds up.
Additionally, due to the lack of metals (such as steel) and in plenty of contact with water and the elements – the risk of rust and general corrosion is lowered significantly.
What About The Rotor?
As we said, the rotor has had a facelift and is now much more upgraded from the previous model.
All experienced fishers will know that fishing can be very exhausting over several hours, and this new rotor saves you some of that energy by allowing for minimal effort being required for the rotor to spin over the spool.
Of course, the additional advantage to this is its pace. It provides a much quicker response, and we experienced a clearly noticeable simplicity to the task.
Shimano Vanford’s use the Shimano bail as opposed to the one piece bail and continues with simplicity with no aero-wrap. We actually preferred this to making things overly complicated for little return.
How About The Spool?
Even though the Shimano does not have aero-wrap, it does have a fantastic spool which is the AR-C spool. Its lip is angled and allows the spool to let the line go without any problems or friction resistance.
What does this mean? Well, at its most basic – a much smoother and much more fluid cast of the line and potentially some decreasing wind knots. This is further aided by the long-stroke-spool which gives you further distance advantages.
The porting is tough and harsh, but it does allow for weight reduction, so these facets in many ways cancel each other out.
And What About The Drag?
Our model had the cross-carbon drag, but others will be felt – this is dependent on size. Our particular model is the C5000.
The performance is unmatched with so many reels that we’ve used, and you can get around 25lbs worth of drag. The smaller models will have less and potentially significantly less drag than this. Be sure to check which model you’re looking at first.
Waterproofing – A Potential Problem
With the changes in the technology, the one problem we have encountered with the X-protect meant that unfortunately, there was some wiggle-room for sealant.
Basically, it was not as tight as some previous models have been and allows for some water to become trapped, and when this comes to saltwater, this can be a serious issue.
Should this happen and water intrudes upon the reel, there is a possibility that the bearings can quickly rust and corrode.
Having said that, we did not encounter this, and the chances are low due to their smart design.
How Does It Hold Up Whilst Fishing?
Initially, we enjoyed the light weight of the Shimano Vanford and this continued even into use. It is such a smooth and enjoyable cast with the reel.
Even with its light weight, the reduction of its predecessor’s size has not meant that the strength and durability has reduced along with it. In fact, it’s almost the opposite result.
It feels sturdy, powerful, and you almost feel “at home” whilst using it in your favorite fishing spots. What amazed us is the ability to cast much smaller lures than usual but at incredibly improved lengths.
When you’ve finally hooked a fish, the strength and durability is easily noticeable. You can get a great handle on it, and you have peace of mind that this isn’t going to fail on you.
Can I Use This For Saltwater Fishing?
Yes, the reel sizes all have their uses for certain fish and areas, but Shimano have designed them all to be for salt and freshwater fishing!
What’s The Deal With The 500 Reel?
As we said, each reel has its own purposes. The 500 reel inclusive is simply designed for ice fishing.
What Are The Pros And Cons Of The Shimano Vanford?
As with any product on the market, there will always be upsides and drawbacks, and this product is not immune to this.
We’ll start with the cons as we found very few, but they are important to note.
First, it is concerning that the waterproofing isn’t as sealed as we’d expected. Although it’s claimed to have a pretty much impenetrable design, if there is a chance of corrosion, it’s difficult to justify purchase when there are plenty of safer options.
Next, we were not keen on the idea that the smaller reels failed to have carbon drag washers. Only the higher ones do. In many respects, it does make perfect sense when it comes to certain fish and fishing areas, but the lack of choice was slightly disappointing.
If we’re going to be really critical, we would also say there were a few features from its predecessor that it has changed but seemingly unnecessarily. They are not deal-breakers, but it sometimes made us look back and question what exactly the thought process was.
Now, here’s where the Shimano Vanford won us over –
It is so lightweight but also powerful. We had little concern when we were using it that it was going to become damaged before we’d ever got a chance to properly use it!
The extra casting length has given us a new appreciation for the technology used in this model and at a very basic level – this product looks the part! Fantastic color scheme and a top design. We are impressed!
Summary
The Shimano Vanford spinning reel is a great product and will surely make any avid fisher happy when they use it. We hope this review has been helpful in your research on fishing gear! Happy casting!
