Drennan twist lock landing net handle.

Has anybody had problems with theirs & are you happy with your replacement?

Now on my second handle, because the first one had a problem with the bung spreading & splitting the outer section of the handle, have heard of quite a few other problems with the original design.

Drennan replaced the handle & have re-designed the bung on the new version, which so far after a seasons worth of use, has been spot on.

Also has anybody got a preferred method of cleaning out any dust & grit that builds up inside the inner section?

Thanks in advance,
William.

Yes, if you are referring to the one which is two piece, extends to about 9ft and locks by twisting the two sections in opposite directions.

About 6 months after buying mine, the bung inside the handle, which expands and locks the sections, stopped working. Eventually I left it with the tackle dealer and a Drennan rep replaced the bung during a visit. That was about 18 months back, and I've had no further problems with it.

I have a friend who had the same fault with the Drennan handle.

Yes that's the one, Keith.

I use this handle and am very happy with it. I had a few problems locking the handle at first but I find that if I give the metal bit inside a going over with a wire brush every now and then there are no problems.

I have had mine a number of years and not had a problem with it.

Had a bit of a problem with mine but I just removed the locking bung and lightly roughed it up so it caught easier. it's been spot on ever since. Must have had it 3 or more years now.

they need stripping and cleaning regularly. I dismantle the handle fully and I push a screwed up piece of kitchen roll down the 'barrel' to clean our moisture/grit etc. The inner section pole is also cleaned and given a shine with mr Sheen. The Rubber bung bit is given a little rub with an old candle to give a thin coating of candle wax.

its a lot of caffuffle - but mine is in its third year of loyal service and is still going strong

Thanks, chav, mark & dave, for the info.

Seems to be a lot of problems with the bung on these handles then!

I use one and have had no issues with it. Check out the cleaning and maintenance guide on the Drennan website.

Do Drennan even have a website Goughie? Google Drennan and no website appears.

DO NOT BUY THIS HANDLE. It is a disgrace. I had heard Drennan were a customer service orientated company but their failure to provide a head office or to the public means they do not want to deal with the public. So far I have been able to use the handle properly 6 times. It cost £50 to buy and £30 to send back to Drennan. After I complained about the handle they sent me a usage guide!

Surely the usage guide should be provided with the handle on purchase to ensure that it is operated in accordance with the guidelines? I have been told AFTER it broke that the handle has to be turned a quarter of a turn to lock it, that the handle needs cleaning regularly and that the bung needs cleaning too. If i had been told all this at the point of sale I wouldnt have bothered!

Pathetic. Dont buy it. And judging by their total failure to accept liability I would advise people not to buy Drennan rods either.

Absolutely appalled.

Firstly welcome to FM bubble.

Drennan have produced a website....Drennan International

Admittedly without anyway of contacting them etc. but it has some useful advice on maintenance of the handle and lots of other information...as well as the inevitable list of products.

I too had problems with the handle operation which I bought second-hand but a scan on the internet soon resolved the situation. The handle should be regularly "serviced" (how is covered on the new website)....did mine again yesterday evening - took five minutes and its working fine! I know would never be without it!

As a company I believe Drennan prefer all dealings to be between the retailer and the customer.

I have had one "complaint" with Drennan...over the charging for a spare joint....it was resolved speedily.

In addition Drennan are one of the few companies that I know that keep spares of long discontinued lines. Particularly joints of rods. Obviously stocks will eventually run out.

I think if you were to search Drennan on this site you will also find a contact address for any future problems.

It's a shame that you feel so strongly about the products. I have 5 Drennan rods ..some of a certain age..but all are regularly used. recently bought the 10 ft carp feeder from the new "bottom of the range" Red label...ignore the word carp...it's a beautiful short to medium range quivertip rod...as good as the next one up the scale but a lot less cash!! Also had my first look at a drennan series 7 reel...beautiful pieces of kit and the thought behind the shallow spools and the little hole in which to locate the knot which ties the line to the spool shows amazing attention to detail. However not enough to drag me away from my Shimanos and Okumas!!!! - but then the last thing I need at the moment is a new reel of any sort so....you never know!!

Oh and by the way I have no interest or sponsorship etc from Drennan...just have used and chosen their products for over 20 yrs and have never been disappointed. (Although Mr. Drennan...if.....well I wouldn't say no!!!)

Poshers

The handle does require maintenence Paul. But you arent told this before you fork out £50 on it! According to contract law that is misrepresentation of fact which encourages the purchaser to enter into a contract that he or she would not otherwise agree to.

I for one have no desire to spend my time "maintaining" something I bought to do a purpose - especially when a top quality maintenence free take apart landing net handle is only £35!

Drennan tried to tell me there was nothing wrong with the handle even though the paint cracked and blistered. I managed to use it 6 times before it broke.

Of course they want you to deal with the retailer - it saves them money! But in this age of mail order tackle and as someone who lives in Cenrtral London, driving to my "local" tackle shop and back would take the best part of an our.

Poor product and pathetic customer service. I dont expect to be accused of " seriously damaging the handle by the application of a totally unsuitable substance " especially when there is no mention of what a totally unsuitable substance is on the handle!

Think about it, its like buying a car and then being told you have to manually change the cam belt every 250 miles, but only AFTER you buy it.

Now Hardy Greys and Shimano are companies which values their customers. Refunds given with no question and polite and courteous customer service.

Something the people at Drennan could learn from.

The biggest problem I've encountered with my Drennan Twistlock has been my own cack handedness. This manifests as a desire to get things as tightly locked as possible. If you overdo it you either break the locking mechanism or impare its ability to lock adequately ever again. Once I learned that lesson and Drennan graciously replaced the locking device, along with the advice not to overtighten, it has been no problem whatsoever. Very occasionally, I dismantle and clear the accumulated crud out of it but that is all. It's no more than I'd do with pretty much any item of tackle.

Wouldn't swap it for anything and can see me buying another for the times I go double netted or for my general fishing set up. If anyone thinks that their Drennan pole is so appalling that they will throw it away then give me a shout. I'll happily pay the postage.:wh
I've made this offer before elsewhere. Strangely, no one has taken me up on this kind offer to dispose of their garbage.

nice one Sam. But where was the warning on the handle not to tighten it? Or to clean it? Or indeed to only tighten it with a quarter handle?

I for one have no desire to clean landing net handles. Take apart sections far better every time.

Interestingly posh paul advised using WD40 but Drennan advised me that a " some kind of toxic probably petro-chemical fluid (presumably meant as a lubricant) which had been applied, lifted the varnish high enough to completely sieze the sections together."

Basically all these problems we have had would have been cured if Drennan bothered to include the maintenence leaflet with teh handle when you buy it - rather than send it to their customers AFTER they complain.

Poor product i can excuse, but ignorant and downright rude customer service, as I experienced, is inexcusable.

Bubble,

Wouldn't be quite so confident on shimano...... a mate and a very long standing customer of Shimano has just found out that they seem to no longer hold spares for anything older than 5 year old...and he didn't expect his extremely high price Shims ...,big sea fishing jobbies, to go badly wrong so quickly. After years of using Shimanos he'll never touch them again...and is telling anybody he can never to touch them with a barge pole. (Mind you I'm sticking with them...I suppose you stick with those that give you good service and no problems and don't use that do...it's all a matter of personal experience)

Whilst fully understanding your Geographic difficulties...I would rather manufacturers gave a lot more support to the tackle shops..because of the large cut price mail order places there's less of them....and that is a great loss in every way to the sport...both in terms of service, supply of those small items instantly before going fishing, bait, and in local knowledge and advice. And yes I have bought from the mail order and ebay...but on reflection I realise that virtually all my recent big purchases have been with tackle shops ...I feel I get a better and immediate service from them.

And Bubble your point on Drennan and "lubricant" is an excellent one...that warning shoud be loud and clear....I spray the wd on a rag first and just give it a light wipe...I'm told Mr.Sheen is also Ok!!

bubble07 said:

nice one Sam. But where was the warning on the handle not to tighten it? Or to clean it? Or indeed to only tighten it with a quarter handle?

Click to expand...

Bubble,
don't get the idea that I'm trying to defend Drennan or naysay as to what your experiences have been. I can't and won't try to defend Drennan and, naturally, can't answer your questions. I try to avoid defending any company where my connection is only as a customer. It doesn't make much sense for a customer to do so IMHO. The only time a robust defence of a company does make much sense is if it's from an employee, owner or someone that's sponsored.

Likewise, I try to avoid slaughtering a company just because I've had a bad experience with one product. I'm sure that there are more than one or two brands that I'd not thank you for if they were given. There's not even a great deal of logic when it comes to brands I do or don't like. I know that if I said exactly who I don't like I'd, perhaps correctly, have fanboys of those brands jumping all over me in their defence.

I've had mine for some years, a quick rub down and a spray of WD40 and it hasn't given me any problems

bubble07 said:

Do Drennan even have a website Goughie? Google Drennan and no website appears.

DO NOT BUY THIS HANDLE. It is a disgrace. I had heard Drennan were a customer service orientated company but their failure to provide a head office or to the public means they do not want to deal with the public. So far I have been able to use the handle properly 6 times. It cost £50 to buy and £30 to send back to Drennan. After I complained about the handle they sent me a usage guide!

Surely the usage guide should be provided with the handle on purchase to ensure that it is operated in accordance with the guidelines? I have been told AFTER it broke that the handle has to be turned a quarter of a turn to lock it, that the handle needs cleaning regularly and that the bung needs cleaning too. If i had been told all this at the point of sale I wouldnt have bothered!

Pathetic. Dont buy it. And judging by their total failure to accept liability I would advise people not to buy Drennan rods either.

Absolutely appalled.

Click to expand...

I have 2 of these and i must admit i have had 2 broken plastic widgets, 1 caused by me being ham fisted and another by lending it to a mate who is of the same predicament.
Both times i rang drennan up and the day after i had another bung in mt possesion. A1 service imo, The handle in use is by far the best i have used ever an absolute gem.

All you have to remember is not to over tighten it, just finger tight, dont lend it to your mates, and if it does break dont give it or send it back to drennan, a phone call is adequate.

Jon

I've worked in retail for many years and sometimes you just cannot win and cannot get through to some people. Everything you say and do is completely taken wrongly.

Now I don't know you or the situation very well but your posting makes me think of some things that are worth mentioning as follows:

I've used one of these for years with no problems. But then I look after all of my kit and keep it as clean as possible to ensure it works and to PREVENT possible future problems caused by my own lack of care. Some people are like that and others can't be bothered. I know who's kit will last the longest.

'According to contract law that is misrepresentation of fact which encourages the purchaser to enter into a contract that he or she would not otherwise agree to'. - But you don't have a contract with anyone other than the shop you bought it from. That's the law. Why haven't you contacted the shop ?? And you would have also got their telephone number easily if you had bothered to ask.

'Of course they want you to deal with the retailer - it saves them money!' - no, that's the law.

'I have been told AFTER it broke that the handle has to be turned a quarter of a turn to lock it' - the direction of turn info is printed on the handle itself. Mine is.

Anything which has moving parts is bound to need some care at some stage. Isn't that common sense ??? Or when a company credits its customers with having some is that wrong ? Would you rather be treated like an idiot ? Wouldn't that offend you also ? For example, banksticks don't come with instructions but if you don't keep the inner part clean and straight (don't bend it using it as some kind of lever) then it won't telescope as it should. If you knacker a bankstick that way are you going to send it back and complain ??

'Think about it, its like buying a car and then being told you have to manually change the cam belt every 250 miles, but only AFTER you buy it.' - no. It's like buying a car and cleaning it with cellulose thinners to get rid of some bird muck or whatever and finding out you've completely ruined the paint and then you complain that the manufacturer never told you that you couldn't clean it with cellulose thinners or a list of another 1000 chemicals !!!!!

Which seems to be what you've done - 'Drennan advised me that a " some kind of toxic probably petro-chemical fluid (presumably meant as a lubricant) which had been applied, lifted the varnish high enough to completely sieze the sections together." I use WD40 and pole elastic lubricant and silicone polish and they all work for me.

'Poor product i can excuse, but ignorant and downright rude customer service, as I experienced, is inexcusable' - seems to me that you just didn't get your own way and threw your rattle out of the pram. If you're going to complain be polite and you'll find people dealing with you will treat you the same way. Works with me.

mg:I was going to write something like that instead I wrote my one liner !

Just shows what too many years on Forums has done to me.
I can't speak my own mind anymore. mg: