In January this year, I posted a review of the Jigging Master Monster 16000 spool, an aftermarket spool that fits onto the 2008 Stella 10000 and the 2009 Twinpower. The review an be found at the following link -
http://www.gtpopping.com/forum/index.php?topic=4907.0At that time, I said I would do a review of another aftermarket spool, the Nature Boys RPS after I had gotten a couple of trips under its belt.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Nature Boys RPS system, it is a very innovative system comprising of what they call a base kit and a bobbin that is available in different sizes. A special tool comes with the bobbin permitting you to change the bobbin in a matter of seconds permitting you to simply have one base kit and multiple spools. To me, it is a beautiful piece of equipment with the base kit in polished silver. I understand that the base kit is also available in black and dark metallic blue.
The bobbins are available in an 8000 size, a 10000 size and a 16000 size. I only have the 16000 size bobbins as this is the only spool with an appropriate capacity for PE8 in my view. The 16000 bobbin has a capacity that is line-ball with the SOM and JM spools.
So, how does the Nature Boys system perform? Well, in terms of the system itself and the ease of changing bobbins, I think it is first class. The tolerances are absolutely spot on and the is actually no way one could tell that the there are actually three separable parts to the spool. The parts are well made and it all comes together beautifully. The tool works a dream and I have had no trouble with this at all, even after extensive use.
I was not been able to find anything on the maximum drag claimed for this spool so the only way was to test it out and see. Some of you might remember from my review of the JM that while I thought that JM had made a very capable spool, making grandiose claims on maximum drag was pointless when it was likely that the reel itself would have been compromised well before that point.
The spool performed faultlessly on the two trips I tested it. The second trip comprised a relatively long trip of some two weeks so it got a good workout. From a casting perspective, I really cannot tell any difference between this spool and the JM or SOM. I can't tell you what the maximum drag is on this spool but I did test it up to around 15kg and it was very smooth and faultless in its performance. I like to differentiate between what I regard as a useable drag and a maximum drag. To me a useable drag is one which I can easily still adjust up an down. A maximum drag is screwed right down and really can't be adjusted easily during a fight.
If the is a negative, I don't feel its useable drag range is quite as good as the JM or SOM. I am going to want to use the spool for a bit longer before I draw any conclusions here but I feel that once you approach the mid-teens in terms of kgs, it does start to get more difficult adjusting the drag. As I wrote earlier, I do want to test it more because it could be that some water got into the drag system. For those of you who have experienced it, the drag on a SOM No Limits goes to hell once water gets into the drag.
So there you have it. The Nature Boys RPS is clearly a very viable alternative to both the SOM and JM 16000 spools. I have no hesitation is changing between any of these three spools and if anything, I may even have a very slight preference for the Nature Boys due to the lack of holes in the spool. I still have a residual concern that the number of holes in the SOM and JM increases the chances of water getting into the drag and reel.
The spool was purchased from the Kaiser Proshop at retail price.
As an aside, I would point out that the JM has continued to perform faultlessly.
