This time I’m going to give you an inside look at what happens when new products and equipment are tested. There’s more to it than you might think.
We’ll start with a new Lew’s reel. It has a 9.5:1 gear ratio. That’s fast and simple enough on the surface, but let’s look deeper. The gear ratio of a reel is just the starting point. There’s a lot more to it than that.
True speed is determined by how much line you take up with every turn of the reel handle. So, the first thing to look at is the size of the spool. A big, wide spool will take more line per turn of the handle than a small, narrow spool. How much line is on the spool matters too. A spool that’s half empty is smaller and narrower than one that’s completely full and will take up less line.
I’ll take the reel out in my backyard and mess around with it for most of a day. I’ll measure the inches of line it takes up while I’m changing all the things I’ve mentioned above. I’ll also test it in my front yard pond so I get real fishing data. Then I’ll let Lew’s know what I think. If changes need to be made, we’ll look at them.
All this will happen before you ever see the reel.
Another product I’ve been working on for a while now is made by Hypertech. They make a bunch of products but the one I’m testing right now is a computer program that increases your gas mileage. That’s important, especially now with gas prices rising.
My initial test show that my mileage — not towing — increased from 23.1 mpg to 23.7 mpg. On the surface that might not sound like much but if you do the math you’ll see it does. If you drive 30,000 miles per year, you’ll burn 1,298.7 gallons of gas at the rate I gave you above. Using the same figures but increasing your mileage to 23.7 mpg you’ll burn 1265.8 gallons of gas. That is a savings of 32.9 gallons per year.
And that’s for an empty vehicle with only me in it, and no boat following behind. Add a boat, tackle and supplies for a few days and the gas savings will go up even more.
Hypertech also has a lot of other products. They range from programs that’ll help regulate your transmission, throttle adjustments and transmission performance as well as others.
You can imagine the amount of work there is to give Hypertech accurate feedback on how their products are performing in my vehicle under realworld conditions. The thing is, though, there’s no other way to get quality products to the consumer, and that’s the goal of every responsible company.
My goal here is not to advertise these products. I can do that elsewhere. It’s to show you that the things you buy are rigorously tested by real anglers who actually use the fishing products they promote. And the computer programs for your vehicle are tested by real guys who drive real miles on real roads.
Most of us are serious about the role we play in this testing process, and we do it with honesty and integrity. We know that you need to receive value for the money you spend, and we take great pride in helping you get it. For sure, I know that I do.
