Drennan Acolyte

[trotter2]

When the acolytes first appeared on the market I was all ready to purchase one. But then there was a few reports of the tip sections breaking., so I held fire and waited. More reports of breakages emerged if I remember correctly the worst one from reports was the 15 ft ultra. Needless to say it did aventually all die down but took a while. I was indeed reassured by the good lads in my local there was not a problem. Eventually purchasing my first acolyte a 13 ft plus. All I can say I now have 6 all have been well used and not one has broken. In fact the 13 foot ultra has been used for hundreds of hours as I fish in the summer 6 to 7 times a week. Don't let the storys put you off. Brilliant rods better than enything else imo.

 

[Aknib]

There's no doubt whatsoever in my mind that there was a problem either in the manufacture or the sheet material which affected earlier Acolytes, there were just too many people reporting issues.

This was displayed in front of my own eyes when a guy, who'd purchased a 15' Acolyte to fish in a similar manner to how I'd been fishing under the rod tip on a large water, took it out of the bag and the tip simply collapsed between his fingers.

In another incident, a chap I'd bought some day tickets for in preparation for a day on the Trent had ordered and received an Accy, suitably packaged and protected in a sturdy rod tube, only to have the middle section fold on him as he took that rod out of the bag.

I believe there's an old thread on here containing both reports in addition to many other reports of breakages too.

I don't think it was a case of 'getting lucky' if you have an Accy that's remained intact but there certainly seems a case that plenty of punters were unlucky.

Either way the lack of recent reports would suggest that whatever issue was causing the breakages has been addressed.

It would also suggest that, as there doesn't appear to be as many (if any) new reports of broken rods, the theory that anglers were misusing or mistreating them in relation to a 'fair frailness' for their intended purpose is highly unlikely or we'd still be seeing new and regular reports of Accy breakages.

And we're not.

It's a 100% for me, a rectified previous issue that affected some Acolyte rods... Probably a small proportion of rods as a percentage of those sold but significant enough in individual number to create the unrest that it did.

 

[peterjg]

To help confirm previous posts: I have a 14ft Ultra which has been used a great deal with no problems. Highly recommend.

 

[peter crabtree]

Put “Acolyte broke” in the forum search engine, there’s quite a few threads.

 

[Richox12]

'Either way the lack of recent reports would suggest that whatever issue was causing the breakages has been addressed.' - or, maybe, with the tales of woe and awareness of how delicate the rods are many are simply being more careful.

 

[tigger]

Put “Acolyte broke” in the forum search engine, there’s quite a few threads.

Mostly the same old stories being regurgitated over and over again.

I know of two recent breakages, they both said forthwith it was their own faults.

 

[trotter2]

Whatever the reason,does it really matter all of those rods were indeed replaced under warranty. And faulty goods should be ,if proven to be faulty. Your simply missing out if the old threads are stopping your purchasing.

 

[rob48]

Whatever the reason,does it really matter all of those rods were indeed replaced under warranty. And faulty goods should be ,if proven to be faulty. Your simply missing out if the old threads are stopping your purchasing.

Err, I know people who had to pay £60 for new tip sections, some of which had a slightly different wrap to the original.

 

[sam vimes]

There's no doubt whatsoever in my mind that there was a problem either in the manufacture or the sheet material which affected earlier Acolytes, there were just too many people reporting issues.

This was displayed in front of my own eyes when a guy, who'd purchased a 15' Acolyte to fish in a similar manner to how I'd been fishing under the rod tip on a large water, took it out of the bag and the tip simply collapsed between his fingers.

In another incident, a chap I'd bought some day tickets for in preparation for a day on the Trent had ordered and received an Accy, suitably packaged and protected in a sturdy rod tube, only to have the middle section fold on him as he took that rod out of the bag.

I believe there's an old thread on here containing both reports in addition to many other reports of breakages too.

I don't think it was a case of 'getting lucky' if you have an Accy that's remained intact but there certainly seems a case that plenty of punters were unlucky.

Either way the lack of recent reports would suggest that whatever issue was causing the breakages has been addressed.

It would also suggest that, as there doesn't appear to be as many (if any) new reports of broken rods, the theory that anglers were misusing or mistreating them in relation to a 'fair frailness' for their intended purpose is highly unlikely or we'd still be seeing new and regular reports of Accy breakages.

And we're not.

It's a 100% for me, a rectified previous issue that affected some Acolyte rods... Probably a small proportion of rods as a percentage of those sold but significant enough in individual number to create the unrest that it did.

I suspect I'll surprise a few when I say that I don't disagree with the general thrust of this. I'm absolutely convinced that there was an issue with the early batch(es) of 15' Ultras, though I never saw a public acknowledgement by Drennan. As the 15' Ultra was the first Acolyte I actually wanted to buy, I held off for quite a while. That's not to say that no other length or type of Acolyte have broken, they most certainly have. However, have they broken in such great numbers to suggest a definite issue? I don't know. Sadly, the vast majority of reports fail to mention anything other than Acolyte. They miss out lengths, Ultra/Plus/Compact etc.

The snag in the post is a common one, it reports second hand tales that lack enough detail. To have any significant worth, the length and type of Acolyte needs to accompany the tale. On top of that, most of us will take people we know at face value when they say a rod broke for no reason. It might not be a surprise that we back our friends and acquaintances in such circumstances, but that doesn't mean their tales are 100% true.

Now comes the Chinese whisper aspect. Aknib reports two breakages and says that they've been reported by him elsewhere/on other threads too. If they've been reported by their owners as well as Aknib (more than once) two breakages now start to look like at least six breakages. All that's required is a few third party friends of each individual to report it and you are into the realms of two breakages starting to look like ten to twenty different breakages. That's the big issue with basing opinions on forums, several people can end up reporting on one breakage multiple times. Just one breakage can appear as if it's twenty if you just casually search forums for reports. All of that is before you even consider whether the breakage is actually genuine or not.

I would encourage anyone to talk to their local Drennan dealer. I've no doubt that some might be reticent, and most won't have figures to give. However, there's no reason why they won't give you their general impression on both sales numbers and returns. Unless they only stock Drennan, I doubt that they'll have any particular reason to lie. I know I've asked a couple of different shops (one of which the owner broke his own Acolyte (and no, I don't know which version, he never told me)). Both suggested high sales volumes and lower than average returns. To me, that's more valuable information than hundreds of forum posts.

If people are still avoiding Acolytes based on the forum chatter, that's a real shame. I don't particularly care about Drennan in this (though it is a little unfair on them), it's those missing out on a decent rod at a reasonable price. As much as they aren't my favourites, I can happily say that no other float rod range offers as wide a choice of format, that's as light as they are, for anywhere near the price.

 

[mikench]

It's called hearsay in legal circles and is inadmissible in evidence.

 

[fishface1]

As previously reported on this forum - my 15 plus broke on striking a chub bite. No problems landing 4 or 5 previous chub and on a number of other sessions. Tip replaced by Drennan and I’ve had no issues since.

One thing of note is that the new tip is completely different in colour and weave to the other two parts of the blank, (although this doesn’t seem to impact on the action) so maybe a manufacturing change in the more recent versions??

The acolytes are still my go to float rods.

 

[tigger]

As previously reported on this forum - my 15 plus broke on striking a chub bite. No problems landing 4 or 5 previous chub and on a number of other sessions. Tip replaced by Drennan and I’ve had no issues since.

One thing of note is that the new tip is completely different in colour and weave to the other two parts of the blank, (although this doesn’t seem to impact on the action) so maybe a manufacturing change in the more recent versions??

The acolytes are still my go to float rods.

The tip sections are a different colour and weave to the lower sections on all the acolytes.

Many other models of rods have a different coloured tip section, and that isn't just float rods.

Just curious, are you one of rob48's upper trent fishing friends?

 

[fishface1]

No. Never fished the Trent. Too easy...

When do your acolytes date back to? My original rod was bought in 2012 I think. I obviously compared the 2 tips when the new one arrived and it was distinctly different. Maybe the change in colour/weave is a new(er) thing?

 

[tigger]

No. Never fished the Trent. Too easy...

When do your acolytes date back to? My original rod was bought in 2012 I think. I obviously compared the 2 tips when the new one arrived and it was distinctly different. Maybe the change in colour/weave is a new(er) thing?

I don't remember what year I got my first one but it wasn't long after they came out. I remember the earlier rods had one strand of gold tippets whereas the slightly later ones seem to have two gold strips of whipping as tippets.
The tip sections have always been a different shade of grey and appearance.
As I said many other rods have a plain'ish looking tip section, for a late example, the browning sphere.
My old shimano daiflash specimen rods and my harrison chimeras also have a plain tip section.

 

[trotter2]

That's interesting Ian did not know about the gold thread change.

 

[tigger]

That's interesting Ian did not know about the gold thread change.

It was a very subtle change and I would imagine i'm one of very few who even noticed it.

 

[fishface1]

I think I have a photo of the smashed tip that I sent to drennan somewhere. I’ll look it up.... just FYI, the new tip behaved perfectly today, bagging 10 chub to low 6’s.