Islander IS vs Raven T-5

[ChromeAddict]

I am in the process of putting together my first CP outfit. I have pretty much decided on an 11.5 foot R-Type rod, and am debating a Raven T-5 or an Islander IS. And also, what backing do you use, and how much do you put on? Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[IR4Jflyfishing]

The amount of backing will be dependent on which reel you buy, my rule of thumb is to fill the spool so you have about half an inch of space left which is generally enough for 150-200yards of mono but that shouldn't be your biggest concern by any means.

Both reels you mentioned are of high quality and will definitely make for an enjoyable float fishing experience. The islander is a tried and true design, very classic in styling and construction. Proven by fisherman over the past however many years as a fish catching tool you can't really go wrong choosing an islander.

Secondly the Raven t-5, I got the privilege to fish one a couple, 3 weeks ago. I have to say at first glance the modern design is nice, with that much porting you have to take into account sand or grit in your reel which shouldnt be an issue. The reel is light weight, and start up is great; one complaint on that reel is the handle placement but most reels will have handles near the spool rim now (for whatever reason).

Choose which ever reel you are going to be happy with seeing in your picture, because is either route you go you will be catching fish!

 

[Klik]

between the two the islander abec 5 reel. i really dont think the raven will handle salmon very well, just in case you will fish late September. the islander abec 3 is not worth its money though. feels cheap and startup is crap. but i handled the abec 5, it was very good. i think the raven will have better starup, but two issues will be the problem, i dont think it can handle massive fish, anything over 15lb really well without damaging anything, 2, the resell value is not like islander, islander sells a lot faster. on that note, you can get the islander for good price on many sites, try floatfishing.net's buy and sell. just make sure it is the abec 5.

 

[Shmogley]

i really dont think the raven will handle salmon very well
i dont think it can handle massive fish, anything over 15lb really well without damaging anything,

what is this? i dont even....
fish size does not matter on how well a pin handles. no fish is going to pull hard enough to damage your reel in any way without first breaking off your leader.... or mainline even.

even the bearings will not affect what type of fish it can handle.
the materials used for the frame will, but thats fairly standard across most brands.

what a centerpin can handle is all based on the users skill with the system paired with the action of the rod/line used, not the brand of the reel.
under the scenerio of constant pressure that you have when a fish is on, the small differences in machining or materials do not matter as much as they do during the actual presentation or "finesse" stage of the whole process.
saying a reel wont handle a fish when talking about centerpins is ridiculous.

hell, i still use a cheap beat up raven matrix for salmon and everything else with zero issues.(except maybe my pride when everyone else in the hole has 1000$ gold islanders lol)

dat startup tho

 

[Klik]

well tell that to the kp warranty guy that explain to me why i have this weird girding sound in my r2 that costs arm and a leg. he explain to me what happens when you bringing in a 20lb salmon and it damages the shield/coating of the inner bearings, has not affected the startup much, but it makes sounds when i fish it now. and really cheap pin the spindle will bend. if you can full load your rod and your rod doesnt snap, all the weight will be on the spindle.

 

[Porkpie]

If those are your choices, then islander all the way. Raven makes great products, but they would've done well to stick with their success formula and that is to provide intermediately priced quality products. As was mentioned, if you want to sell an islander you can do so very quickly. The couple raven t5's I've seen listed have sat forever without selling. At that prices point your into the price range of some semi custom or limited production reels like riversedge or Canada fishing reels.

 

[fishermandan420]

well tell that to the kp warranty guy that explain to me why i have this weird girding sound in my r2 that costs arm and a leg. he explain to me what happens when you bringing in a 20lb salmon and it damages the shield/coating of the inner bearings, has not affected the startup much, but it makes sounds when i fish it now. and really cheap pin the spindle will bend. if you can full load your rod and your rod doesnt snap, all the weight will be on the spindle.

this coming from the guy that just did a dead lift with a 10lb dumbell on his rod. 35Lb chinnies and up to 17lb steel on up to 12lb leads on my reel with no issues.

 

[Shmogley]

well tell that to the kp warranty guy that explain to me why i have this weird girding sound in my r2 that costs arm and a leg. he explain to me what happens when you bringing in a 20lb salmon and it damages the shield/coating of the inner bearings, has not affected the startup much, but it makes sounds when i fish it now. and really cheap pin the spindle will bend. if you can full load your rod and your rod doesnt snap, all the weight will be on the spindle.

more willing to believe something getting into the reel caused that then a fish pulling hard enough on a spool to strip bearing shields somehow

honestly if KP themselves said that to me. i'd take it as a good reason not to buy more of their products. considering a rapala shift reel(under 200) or okuma reel(also under 200) will hold 30lb salmon all day without grinding up, KP should be ashamed.

id also really like to see a situation where you are maxxing load on your rod without line breaking to the point that your spool bends. most float rods are rated to use 4-20lb lines roughly.... that will not bend a spool im sorry bud.
using it as its intended it will never warp or break just from the pressure of a fish before your terminal tackle will.
hell i can put 200lb braid on any reel and break it trying to lift a fridge. but a salmon? under normal circumstances? no way.

 

[Klik]

If you say so and believe so, then conversation is over.

 

[Klik]

this coming from the guy that just did a dead lift with a 10lb dumbell on his rod. 35Lb chinnies and up to 17lb steel on up to 12lb leads on my reel with no issues.

because now i know what caused it. i dont care anymore.

 

[buck]

Ceramic bearings also have that noise

 

[wlatyn]

Most Islanders ( mine included) have ABEC 3 bearings and work perfectly. Most guys who upgrade go right to ABEC 7... you'll have a tough time finding ABEC 5 Islanders.
I've never fished the T-5 but I know you can't go wrong with the Islander. It works well in all weather conditions, easy to take apart and clean streamside if necessary and it will withstand more abuse than a lot of the really " tight tolerance" reels.
Like Porkpie said, if you want to spend T-5 money, get a reel made by one of Ontario's fine reel makers. I've got a Canada Drifter ($525 tax in)...beautiful looks, super smooth, you deal directly with Wayne, a real (reel) gentleman...and I guarantee you won't be bending it on any salmon...

 

[Klik]

Most Islanders ( mine included) have ABEC 3 bearings and work perfectly. Most guys who upgrade go right to ABEC 7... you'll have a tough time finding ABEC 5 Islanders.
I've never fished the T-5 but I know you can't go wrong with the Islander. It works well in all weather conditions, easy to take apart and clean streamside if necessary and it will withstand more abuse than a lot of the really " tight tolerance" reels.
Like Porkpie said, if you want to spend T-5 money, get a reel made by one of Ontario's fine reel makers. I've got a Canada Drifter ($525 tax in)...beautiful looks, super smooth, you deal directly with Wayne, a real (reel) gentleman...and I guarantee you won't be bending it on any salmon...

yeah my mistake. get the abec 7. i was thinking of another reel that is the upgraded version is abec5.

 

[James5354]

Raven T-5 and T-4 line reels are just dolled up SST models. It seems as the SST models are discontinued on their website and replaced by the T-5 and 4 models with a bigger price tag, at close to double the price tag. anything over 5 bills you should be looking at small run or custom reels for example: john milner reels, canada drifter reels and rivers edge reels. IMO islander is a workhorse reel, you wont be disappointed and if your looking at the raven reels check out the SST-2 its half the price of the T-5 and im sure some shops might still have some in stock just call around.

J

 

[AaronKrick]

I''ve had the SST2 for awhile now. It's seems like a good reel but is probably not the same as islander. I see TONS of islanders on the water, so that tells you something. I haven't seen a T-5 yet. I'm sure it's a good reel though, so if you wanted to have something different. But for 470$, that's $10 less than the islander with the upgraded bearing.

 

[Fishheads]

Love my T-4 great reel and I have always been a Raven supporter!!!!

 

[Garfield the cat]

well tell that to the kp warranty guy that explain to me why i have this weird girding sound in my r2 that costs arm and a leg. he explain to me what happens when you bringing in a 20lb salmon and it damages the shield/coating of the inner bearings, has not affected the startup much, but it makes sounds when i fish it now. and really cheap pin the spindle will bend. if you can full load your rod and your rod doesnt snap, all the weight will be on the spindle.

It's called matainence. Just put some oil on the bearings or bearing. One time I dropped my reel in the river, in about an hour it wasn't spinning smoothly an rattling. Nobody on river had lube. So I go back to my car an found hand cream. Put some in the hole an after 40 mins it was smooth again. That was a okuma Sheffield

 

[CraigsonJ]

I agree w Shmogley, you would have to seriously try to bend the spindle on purpose to do so. No normal fishing circumstances r gonna brnd any part of your reel.
I too would be extremely disappointed if Raven rep told me otherwise.

 

[Kingchaser]

Raven is said to have amazing customer service there is a plus. A lot of guys praise the islanders tho. I currently have a raven matrix SE and like it have hooked a lot of salmon on it and no warping or any other weird stuff has happened and I've never heard of that ever happening so don't worry about that with any reel u buy. also have a Diawa mooching reel that is made of steel aluminum and plastic and the thing has caught salmon just under 30# and a ton of lakers and nothing has happened to the reel. I was just looking at a t5 and almost pulled the trigger but ordered a Milner instead. I haven't fished an islander but have a lot of raven terminal tackle and a raven im8 and can tell you I like their gear.