New reel... single or double handle?

[Notts Michael.]

Howdoo all.
Thinking of getting a Daiwa Ninja 3000 size reel, as all reviews I've read are positive, and the extra spool is also good at the price. as I've only ever used single handle reels, and have no experience of a double handle, what are the benefits/ apart from maybe being better balanced when tightening up to a leger weight, is it just down to personal preference or does the double handle have other plus points?
thanks
Michael.

 

[mikench]

In my view a personal preference! I have a variety of reels of each type and like them both! Curiously and against the norm my Shimano Aero 4000 feeder has a single handle whereas the match version has a double handle. I have no difficulty moving from one to the other.

 

[nottskev]

I only use single handle reels, too. I've got a few that unavoidably came with double handles - an offence against theology and geometry, cluttering the reel up to no good purpose, spoiling its looks and stopping you folding the handle down fully when packing away - but a couple of minutes with a hacksaw sorted the problem. Mind you, the saw only comes out if I can't track down a replacement single handle. Somebody else will have to tell you the plus points.

 

[108831]

I have four reels with double handles,all shimano,I prefer single handle and wouldn't buy another twin handled reel,I can fish ok with them and have caught lots of large fish with them,but to me they are unnecessary.

 

[Keith M]

It’s just a personal choice.

I have both single and double handled reels and like Mike I have no problems switching from one type to the other, I like using them both and if I am Quiver tipping, or fishing the traditional lift method for Tench where a small amount of line adjustment is often necessary I actually prefer to use a double handle for the extra line control it seems to give me as I tighten down.

I can’t think of any real disadvantages that a double handle would give me.

Keith

 

[john step]

I have both types. It has never occurred to me that I favour one type more than the other.
I always thought that the single type with a lump opposite the handle was for balance. Could be wrong?
Similarly I have presumed the double handle was for this function?

Either way its no odds for me.

 

[Notts Michael.]

Thanks for the replies, and the fact that the single handle can be folded when sticking a folded, rigged up rod in a sleeve in the car is something I've got used to that I didn't really think about, an option not available with the double handle, obviously.

 

[103841]

Like Kev, I have a passionate dislike of double handles, no logical reason, just don’t like them.

I haven’t taken a hacksaw to one, I did have one and waited til a broken reel for parts became available on the bay with a single handle that fitted, single handles are available but flippin expensive.

 

[bullet]

I've got both and really like the doubles.

 

[morston1]

I use both and have never really noticed any difference

 

[tigger]

I have reels with single handles and reels with double handles, I like 'em both and sometimes prefer a double handle.
The double handles on my reels fols down perfectly well....no idea why other peoples don't?

 

[sam vimes]

I have a mix of doubles and singles. However, I can't remember when I last bought a double handled reel.

Advantages of the double come down to balance. Balance of the handle itself, which should negate the effect of dropping under it's own weight. This can be a bonus when legering and when fishing the float on stillwaters. Neither issue is insurmountable with a single handle and the same can be achieved with a counterbalanced single. However, I hate singles with a dirty great lump on them, may as well have a double.

The other balance issue is one found in operation. When winding in fast, a single can cause a minor wobble which can be felt as vibration through the reel. I find it difficult to understand why manufacturers go to lengths to balance a rotor then forget about the effect of the handle, but they do. The downside of a double, or counterbalanced single, is that it adds extra weight to one side of a reel. This can actually cause a rod to cant slightly, though it's hardly noticeable in all but extreme cases and even single handle reels can suffer from this.

Ultimately, these things are relatively minor, the choice largely boils down to personal preference.

 

[nottskev]

I have reels with single handles and reels with double handles, I like 'em both and sometimes prefer a double handle.
The double handles on my reels fols down perfectly well....no idea why other peoples don't?

Two 3000 size reels. Single handle folds neatly into the body. Double handle doesn't. One fits nicely into standard reel case. One doesn't.

 

[tigger]

Just had a quick nosey at some easy to find reels and one had a double handle, and the other had a single handle. They were both daiwa tdr reels. The handles folded over exactly the same, and both appeared to be closer to the reels body than your older shimmy reel with the double handle. I looked at an old shimmy super x gte also and it has a double handle, although it didn't fold into the spool and body as your old single handle one does it folded ampley so as to fit into it's reel pouch comfortably.

 

[The bad one]

I have both types, like has been said, don't have a problem going between the two. I do prefer the double for float fishing, particular trotting. But being a left hander who fishes right handed I may be a little weird.
Why do I fish like this? Because as a kid the only reels I could afford didn't have a reversible handle (Left to Right) so the handle was on the left and I learnt/adapted how to fish that way.

One of my mates fishes how a left hander should fish, handle on the right and when I've had to reel in a second rod for him for whatever reason it's just weird!

Being a leftie many things in life you use are awkward and only made for right handers to use. They just don't make them for lefties or make them adaptable for us.

 

[seth49]

As others have said, not bothered if they have single or double handles, can use either, and my Shimano double handles fold in no problems.

 

[nottskev]

As with spliced tips and centrepins, it's all down to what you prefer. They used to say a camel was a horse designed by a committee, and double-handed reels look like camels to me, whether they fold up nicely or not. The main putative advantage - trimming leger gear without handle drop - seems to have been one the legering/swingtipping maestros of the past did well enough without, as they would never have seen a two-handled reel. If anyone has any old Shimanos in 3000 or 4000 size with single handles, let me know and I'll swap, if they're a fit, for the double handles I've removed from several.

 

[steve2]

I use reels both types never had a problem I use multipliers for most of my lure fishing so have got use to double handles.
One of my double handle Daiwa TDR had a double handle till the mice chewed the rubber grip off one side now it's a sort of one and half handle reel.

 

[seth49]

View attachment 6483
This is one of my Shimano 2500 reels, that I use on quiver rod, and float rods, belting little reel for this work, especially on my tip rod, the handle folds in no problem.

Shimano reels fitted with there super stopper device do not backwind whichever handle is fitted, the handle just stops were you leave it, if the anti reverse is on.

 

[barbelboi]

Most of my F/S reels are the older Japanese made Shimys (mainly Stradics and AeroGTEs) - all double handles and the handles all fold flat............