Tsunami Shield: So hows it been holding up for you in the wild

[MikedNJ]

I was just given a 6000 and decided to give it  the nod over my van staal today...was pretty impressed with it. Casts pretty good considering it was gusting to 45 today at the jersey shore. Nice retrieve and line lay. Did not catch anything on it but probably made about 30 casts and I’ll probably use it again. Took a few nice waves and seems perfectly fine!

[Bruce3]

My 5000 has been great. Threw SP's and plastics with mine the 2nd half of the season at the ditch. Handled quite a few fish and plenty of strain from the current.

[carbon12]

What can it mean that the previous thread on the Tsunami Shield  goes > 50 pages, retailers sell out their stocks of this reel and now  this thread flounders at barely two pages?

[YakAnglerNJ]

I took my Shield 5000 spooled with 30# power pro with some mono backing out for its first outing today.  My initial thoughts are that this reel is a good value for the money.  It spooled evenly on the reel so the line lay is good.  Casts very well and is smooth considering it is fully sealed.  Landed some rats in the surf today so I can't speak to the drag yet.  The reel did take some nice waves and was still smooth.  So far so good.  Ill provide another update once I get some decent surf time in with this reel.

[staktup]

On 11/20/2017 at 3:40 PM, carbon12 said:

What can it mean that the previous thread on the Tsunami Shield  goes > 50 pages, retailers sell out their stocks of this reel and now  this thread flounders at barely two pages?

It could also mean that many people bought em as back ups, or back ups for other back ups and they just haven't been used... I sold my 4000 and 6000.  I used the 4K like twice I think, and never used the 6K at all, so a fellowe member here got a nice deal on the pair.  After going through the process of converting them to manual bail, I decided to stick with my other reels.  

[Chuck730ss]

Can anyone offer any updates on this reel? Still a hit or miss on getting a decent reel? Would you buy one again? Etc.

[ljschroe]

49 mins ago, Chuck730ss said:

Can anyone offer any updates on this reel? Still a hit or miss on getting a decent reel? Would you buy one again? Etc.

I have used my 5000, which this year I added the bailless kit to, in every fishable condition, including high surf waves smashing me in the chest, drysuit on.  It has gotten me through the fight every time, and all I do is rinse it and add a little oil to the moving parts once in awhile.  It has now seen hundreds of fish.  I can PM you a video when you hit 15 posts.  PM me for it.  I swear it is as tight as the day I got it.

[joetackle]

As I understand from comments made in the other thread that the initial production run saw some quality problems that were addressed and that the second run of these reels was greatly improved. That being said, I have the newer 4k and it seems to have a smooth drag and is nice and tight all around. 

Edited October 17, 2018 by joetackle

[Belerk]

I've had the 6000 since June. Put a good amount of time on it, but even with routine rinsing i've found there to be a "knock" at the spools highest and lowest point recently. I want to open up it up to give it a yearly servicing, as recommended by tsunami. However, I can't for the life of me get the side plate off. I've heard of several people stripping their side plate, and was wondering if anyone that has had success in doing so could shed some light on how to properly break the applied loctite. 

[scoobydoo]

9 hours ago, Belerk said:

I've had the 6000 since June. Put a good amount of time on it, but even with routine rinsing i've found there to be a "knock" at the spools highest and lowest point recently. I want to open up it up to give it a yearly servicing, as recommended by tsunami. However, I can't for the life of me get the side plate off. I've heard of several people stripping their side plate, and was wondering if anyone that has had success in doing so could shed some light on how to properly break the applied loctite. 

Hair dryer heat was all it took for me.  Though It wasn't enough to get the top of the AR clutch housing off.

Full heat gun heat is needed there.

 

[bdowning]

I know little about the Shield and cost but wonder how well it would hold up to a season of heavy jigging a la the canal. Compared to, say, a gosa which is a real workhorse. Im looking to replacing my lighter jigging reel and the Shield may fit the bill for that. but the sealed  feature wouldnt really apply to the canal so there may be better choices.

[adams54]

Not a fan...pos.

 

Factory grease is not good at all. In cold weather the drag would get very stiff to the point of not having any drag at all with the knob controlling the drag to its loosest possible setting. Drag works good after removing washers and regreasing with a quality grease.

 

The reel was smooth at first now its not and you can feel the teeth meshing through the handle. (Very cheap pot metal gear) I have found evidence of saltwater and sand intrusion in areas that are "sealed" I am also getting clicking noises from the el cheapo rotor antireverse mechanism. The bail spring seemed strong at first after use I find that it  is quite weak now possibly due to saltwater intrusion (supposed to be sealed.) Sometimes the force of my cast trips the bail inadvertently...not good. Line roller seized stiff after a week.

 

Pluses : lightweight, nice drag when I addressed the grease issue, good line lay, thicker bail wire, nice handle.

 

Minuses: sealing not effective as they want you to believe, dirt cheap internals(main gear, rotor anti reverse mech etc)

 

I would not buy this again. I like the Penn Battle 2 for my money.

 

 

 

 

[outfished1957]

My son had a 4000 blackfishing last winter and the drag actually froze solid with frozen salt water. Wouldn't work.

[Always_NoFo]

I only got to fish my Shield 5000 (bail-less) for about two months, but I did put a lot of time on it during that period. I had no problem with the drag, in fact I thought it was great. Really put the tracks on high teen fish in rocky areas. It took quite a lot of waves, splash, and some dunks and it was just fine with the sealing. Is it the end-all-be-all? Definitely not, but it will be a great back-up for me, and is definitely great for someone on a budget.

[Chuck730ss]

Any updated information on this reel? Looking at a cyber special. Not going to be used as a main fishing rig. More as a loaner/beater/throwaway. 3000 size.