DOES VAN STAAL BLACK COLOR FADE?

[Father]

Hello SOL, I was looking to get a VS down the road and I really like the black color. I know the scratches will show more on black but that doesn't bother me, however I have seen people talk about the black color fading into a brownish/bronze and was wondering if that happens quickly or not. (I fish typically 1-2x a week from May-November, day/night if this info helps to get an estimate of how long it typically takes for the black to fade) I've seen 1 picture of the brown/bronze fading occur but for some reason it only happened on the handle and not the body. 

Edited February 5 by Father

[Bubbaluch]

The bronzing occurs only on the some of the older models. A individual on Facebook Vanstaal page left out his "black" reel for one entire summer in the florida sun everyday all day (disassembled). He claimed it took greater than 6 months in order to fully bronze his reel with direct florida sun....

[TimSF]

Yep! Basically all of the black ones after they began Chinese production have the ability to bronze to my knowledge. I’ve seen it on tons of x and non x series alike. I live in south Florida it’s very common.

[EliasA]

It takes a while. If you’re only fishing a couple times a week for 5 months out of the year it’ll probably take years unless you leave it in your car under your windshield or leave it outside in the sun all day

 

unless you’re out there fishing in the sun all day every day for 6 months of the year it’ll take a while to bronze, atleast up here in the NE

 

that Florida sun has crazy uv scores so it’ll probably happen 2x as fast in Florida vs NY

[ged]

UV can affect the black anodizing. Both US and China runs have had issues. It is hit or miss. 
 

I personally like bronze better. 

[Father]

26 mins ago, EliasA said:

It takes a while. If you’re only fishing a couple times a week for 5 months out of the year it’ll probably take years unless you leave it in your car under your windshield or leave it outside in the sun all day

 

unless you’re out there fishing in the sun all day every day for 6 months of the year it’ll take a while to bronze, atleast up here in the NE

 

that Florida sun has crazy uv scores so it’ll probably happen 2x as fast in Florida vs NY

Ah okay okay, yeah I take pretty good care of my gear as well. When it’s not being fished it’s cleaned and stored inside the house

[EliasA]

8 mins ago, Father said:

Ah okay okay, yeah I take pretty good care of my gear as well. When it’s not being fished it’s cleaned and stored inside the house

If you fish enough it will happen eventually. I personally like the look of a scratched u pans bronzed VS, it’s character and all the stories and fish on that reel.

 

if you fish 1-2 times a week in the summer and fall it’ll probably take a year or two, or maybe even longer. I know people who fish occasionally who have black VS that are still black after 5 years.

 

if you want to keep it black you can do stuff to keep UV off it, like storing it indoors and having a neoprene reel cover on it while walking in/out of spots

[firstlite]

Oh well. **** happens...

[LowEnd]

Have 3 black VS’s that are about 18 years old, no fade.

[ged]

1 hour ago, ged said:

UV can affect the black anodizing. Both US and China runs have had issues. It is hit or miss. 
 

I personally like bronze better. 

Poor sealing appears to be what leads to bronze fading. A few years ago I wanted to “bronze” some black parts under a UV light and I did some research and read that. 
 

Cheap dye was another probable cause. 

[jk20a3]

The people on the VS Facebook groups literally sell their left kidney for "bronze" failure lol. Personally I do like it, better than gold imo. 

[VanStaalSteve]

All of my black VSs remain black after many years of service. I use both the American and Chinese made reels. The black reels do show scratches more readily. 

[Father]

9 mins ago, VanStaalSteve said:

All of my black VSs remain black after many years of service. I use both the American and Chinese made reels. The black reels do show scratches more readily. 

I don’t mind the scratches, they’re like battle scars. I know the same could be said for the bronzing but imo the bronze is too ugly 

[ged]

1 hour ago, Father said:

I don’t mind the scratches, they’re like battle scars. I know the same could be said for the bronzing but imo the bronze is too ugly 

Take it back…

[Father]

3 mins ago, ged said:

Take it back…

Okay that bronze doesn’t look bad but let me show you what I saw. What I saw looks like straight **** lol