I had some time on the water with the 172H ultima and 172H 18 adrena. Both are very well balanced, look purpdy and flawless build as far as I can tell. Both MH as other members described with fast tips, but taper deeper into the rod under heavy load. I was fishing with 12 lb mono (
) with 1/4 - 1/2 oz underspins and jigs with plastic trailers in 1-3 ft of water in heavy cover.
The Pepsi challenge did not require a blindfold. There is a vast difference in sensitivity between the rods, in my hands. As the standard controls I took a smorgasbord of mb rods-new super destroyer, p3 elseil, big taper diablo, and X7 EM. I found the ultima as sensitive as the SD and X7. Could be more or less in other people's hands, but I could not tell a difference with mono. Not enough casts to tell against the elseil and diablo, but felt like I could read the bottom a bit better with ultima than with those. I was surprised how much less sensitive the adrena was. With the MB rods and ultima, I was to read different types of cover fairly well. With the adrena I eventually started setting hooks just in case when getting snagged because I was missing bites. Granted, all bites accept for one on the yak this morning were super light. But, the drop off in sensitivity was noticeable. I personally can't tell a difference between destroyers and st criox le's usually, so I was surprised.
Bottom line, both were super fun to fish. The adrena is definitely worth 3 bills. The taper really suits my style of fishing and I'm really glad to have had the heads up about power. I think a MH would have been way too soft for my needs. The H fishes like an MB F4.5 in my hands. Very easy to make super accurate casts with lures in it's weight range. But even with the super cool monocoque grip, I found it to be a bit muffled. After I figured that out, I had much more success. Also, one little note about both rods-2 piece rods JDM style where the blank fits into the handle. The fit seems really spot on and it's easy to remove unlike all other multi-piece rods I've had. It's not tight; comes right out. On the other hand, the MB X7 is a bisnatch to take apart. But, with this fit, you want to make sure it's snug every 30 or so casts. I did not have trouble with it noticeably coming out all day, but one time this morning the shaft flew out of the handle when I was casting. It was still dark, I was sleepy and it took me a few seconds to figure out what happened on the yak.
The ultima is what one would expect. It is a pleasure to fish with. Downsides--shimano makes it pretty hard to pay them given their limited availability and yes it requires organ donation. The adrena hits above it's weight, imho; but you can tell where the yen go on the upper tier rods.
Best one on the adrena:
