Kistler vs Dobyns

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Lanebacker
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Kistler vs Dobyns

Post by Lanebacker » Fri Apr 10, 2020 9:26 am

I am familiar with Dobyns rods, (I own colts, furys, and champions) but am looking at purchasing my 1st Kistler.

I was wondering where the Kistler series like Argon and KLX would fall in line with the Dobyns series.

Not so much comparing $ as comparing quality of the blanks.

Below would be my best guess at ranking the rod series but I am pretty clueless:

Worst to Best:
Colt
Fury
Sierra
Argon/Magnesium
Champion
KLX/Helium
Champion Extreme
Xtacy
Z-Bone

Interested in the opinion of anyone who knows these rods and the details of graphite quality.

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Re: Kistler vs Dobyns

Post by russ57 » Fri Apr 10, 2020 10:47 am

IMHO Dobyns sensitivity is pretty bad and the rods are completely overpriced. The sierra and champion series feel totally dead to me.

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Re: Kistler vs Dobyns

Post by Revofisher » Fri Apr 10, 2020 11:25 am

like russ is saying i have fished a ton of dobyns in the past (mostly made up my arsenal). Im not bashing the company well balanced rods with a wide variety for any technique you could speak of. Sadly after looming around tackletour and getting some of the in the know rods it changed very quickly. I will not comment on the xtacy being that i have not owned one. but all the other dobyns did lack some sensitivity compared to other rods in the same price range. I had a little Kistler run a while back and I noticed some of the rods are hit or miss with being tip hvy , but overall they do have some studs in the lineup and i found the helium 3, and z bone rods to be quite sensitive. The klx blades buzz and chatter rods was great as well (felt better than dobyns champion). out of those two lines i would probably go kistler and maybe add some dobyns crankbait rods in the mix.

your line up ranking is pretty spot on i feel. I do like the nfc blanks better for sure though . Honestly my only complaint with Kistler rods would maybe be the guide choice/ sizing, and they need better cork on the z bone for that price they say its grade a but im not 100% sold on that one even when you seal it.

If you are a guy that wants all your rods to be he same it can be hard with Kistler sometimes like the z bone for example. The first gens had a really fast taper to the blanks. 2019 models where mostly listed as a moderate fast blank. 2020 The rods are now listed as Fast action on the website. I dont know if they have new tapers or just changed the look of the rod and listed it different.

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Re: Kistler vs Dobyns

Post by russ57 » Fri Apr 10, 2020 12:34 pm

In my opinion the Helium is a big step up from the Champion. The helium is much lighter and more sensitive. But the champion is definitely better balanced.
That is comparing the 73LMH and 734C

The Expride 72MH is a far more sensitive rod than either though, in my opinion. It isn't as light as the helium or as balanced as the champ, but it has a solid blend of weight/balance that the others lack, IMO

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Re: Kistler vs Dobyns

Post by DavidSA » Fri Apr 10, 2020 4:00 pm

I own only a single dobyns 765 graphite crankbait rod so I can't comment much. What I can say factually is in the last 3 years I have bought exactly 4 rods ,,, (note that I have been on TT since 2005) so my rod collection is far bigger then I want to admit.

Of the 4 rods, 3 are kistlers. It started with a HE3 rod that was great and grew to a couple of zbones.

the challenge with Kistler is they change actions too frequently so instead of buying a brand, I recommend you decide what you want and read lots of reviews. the actions and weights listed of Kistler rods on the kistler website are not what I experience at home so please read lots of reviews and look at the details in the reviews not fan boys messages

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Re: Kistler vs Dobyns

Post by falcon » Sat Apr 11, 2020 6:49 am

Grade A cork is actually a low grade of cork. It’s very misleading and one would think getting A cork is good but your best cork will be AAAA. Kistler would definitely benefit from use of better cork. Wish he would just go to the rubber marbled cork
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Re: Kistler vs Dobyns

Post by steve1206 » Sat Apr 11, 2020 11:31 am

You may want to consider post-sale support, as well....

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Re: Kistler vs Dobyns

Post by DavidSA » Sun Apr 12, 2020 5:48 am

indeed, x3 if you are hard on equipment. i've not seen any positive or negative posts about either brand that I can recall in quarters if not years but Dobyns used to be considered best customer service in the industry

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Re: Kistler vs Dobyns

Post by white84z » Sun Apr 12, 2020 10:24 am

I have both a Kistler Helium 3 and a Dobyns Xtasy. The dobyns is more sensitive and way better balanced, but at 200$ more it better be.

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Re: Kistler vs Dobyns

Post by Chode » Sun Apr 12, 2020 11:32 am

i had a 7'3 MH helium and sold it. the rod was light but didn't like the balance at all. I'm not the kind of person to putt a butt plug on my rods but that would def help. rod was very sensitive and punch way above its weight class in that dept.

I bought a dobyns dx 744 because everybody and their grandma was raving about the balance and sensitivity. despite the balance living up to the hype, the sensitivity fell extremely short for me. got the dobyns hp 745 and sold it for the same reason except the hp is much more sensitive than it's predecessor. dobyns had a pretty big following a couple years back but I think people are starting to realize that their rods just can't seem to punch above its weight class much less their own weight class with the newer adrenas making such a splash.

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Re: Kistler vs Dobyns

Post by DavidSA » Sun Apr 12, 2020 1:41 pm

I have only 1 HE3 around the 2018 time frame and it is the 7'3H exfast. I wish I'd bought another. Bought it to fish frogs but it is so good for delivering pin point casts with big moving baits that I has never actually fished a frog. Rod is about 4.3oz and has a ton of backbone. I set it up today with a big chatter bait and the feedback is so much stronger then my classic GLX rods that it is not even close. Bottom bouncing it is very good and about the best I've fished at the pricepoint. NRX and Zbones are better then this model but not by much in my hand

balance I just demonstrate. I think the reel is 6.5oz
helium3 balance.jpg
helium3 balance.jpg (19.98 KiB) Viewed 10616 times

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Re: Kistler vs Dobyns

Post by goldrod » Sun Apr 12, 2020 3:47 pm

Given the pice range of these rods, I think the expride would be a better option. But between the two Kistler all day
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Re: Kistler vs Dobyns

Post by montey » Mon Apr 13, 2020 4:06 am

Kistler's price bump seems like a big price increase for no reason.
I have had them, and sold all but one. To me they are so-so rods.
All the Dobyns I have feel great.

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Re: Kistler vs Dobyns

Post by Dragonstop852 » Thu Jul 29, 2021 3:48 pm

I am considering acquiring another grass pitching rod for relatively short, underhand pitches of 1/2 & 3/4 oz. weighted texas rigs in fairly dense milfoil in depths generally 6 to 10 feet. I'm used to a St Croix Premier 7'0 Heavy, fast casting rod, which is kind of a broom stick, but does the job well. Sensitivity isn't of same importance here as in other applications due to the vertical presentations, but I am returning a Shimano Poison Adrena Heavy 7'2 I just bought and received as I just felt the tip was too thin/fragile with a 3/4 oz weight, then bringing it up and down through the dense milfoil. Beautiful rod, but not for the purpose I was looking for. Does anyone own a Kistler Helium 7'0 FAST casting rod, who might share their opinion on its suitability for a grass pitching rod in the environment I have mentioned? I guess I was looking for something lighter in weight and maybe more enjoyable to pitch with all day. Then again, I'm not looking to play out a bass when fishing vertically for a reaction bite. I want to get the fish off the bottom and up away from his strength in bogging me in the weeds, and to the boat in short order. Maybe there is no compromise out there, and the meat stick is my best bet???? This Helium once was made with a moderate action (their categorization) which had a parabolic bend to the rod. But now Kistler says its a fast action. Is this Company reputable, making these kind of changes as often as they seemingly do? I have never owned a Kistler previous to this purchase I am considering.

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Re: Kistler vs Dobyns

Post by doomtrprz71 » Thu Jul 29, 2021 5:53 pm

Dragonstop852 wrote:
Thu Jul 29, 2021 3:48 pm
I am considering acquiring another grass pitching rod for relatively short, underhand pitches of 1/2 & 3/4 oz. weighted texas rigs in fairly dense milfoil in depths generally 6 to 10 feet. I'm used to a St Croix Premier 7'0 Heavy, fast casting rod, which is kind of a broom stick, but does the job well. Sensitivity isn't of same importance here as in other applications due to the vertical presentations, but I am returning a Shimano Poison Adrena Heavy 7'2 I just bought and received as I just felt the tip was too thin/fragile with a 3/4 oz weight, then bringing it up and down through the dense milfoil. Beautiful rod, but not for the purpose I was looking for. Does anyone own a Kistler Helium 7'0 FAST casting rod, who might share their opinion on its suitability for a grass pitching rod in the environment I have mentioned? I guess I was looking for something lighter in weight and maybe more enjoyable to pitch with all day. Then again, I'm not looking to play out a bass when fishing vertically for a reaction bite. I want to get the fish off the bottom and up away from his strength in bogging me in the weeds, and to the boat in short order. Maybe there is no compromise out there, and the meat stick is my best bet???? This Helium once was made with a moderate action (their categorization) which had a parabolic bend to the rod. But now Kistler says its a fast action. Is this Company reputable, making these kind of changes as often as they seemingly do? I have never owned a Kistler previous to this purchase I am considering.
They change actions a pretty good bit, especially since they don't use NFC blanks now, I had a helium 7.3 mh fast that I used pretty much how you're wanting to use it and it was great. Granted that was the previous rod generation when they used NFC blanks.

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