150FT Scuba Dive Reel Kayak Anchor with Thumb Stopper for Safety Underwater Diving Snorkeling, Cave and Wreck Exploration, Recreational Diving and Spear Fishing

The line did not break when I put my entire weight on it - 83Kg (182 Lb). It felt stable with some spare capacity. Having said that - Do not try this outside your home or the gym, DO NOT expect that the whole system will take that load. I am just commenting on the strength of the line alone. Even then - it is a BREAK TEST. DO NOT use this line for routine use on free hanging heavy loads.Other than that - sturdy plastic for all parts. The reel is very close to the base and I simply do not see how some here complained that the line got wedged between the base and the reel. I tried to force it in the gap - no go. The execution does not look cheap. The line guide is machined metal. The reel stopper spring action is based on the bending property of part of the stopper. I expect it to fail due to plastic ageing but that will be at least 5-10 years down the line. At this price and quality of the other parts this is a non-issue. If the reel was made to last "forever" the price would have been much higher. I prefer it to be at this price.Sure, if you are in your living room and yank the line out and then just stay there it will create many loose coils simply because there is no tension.If used in the field this should not be a problem at all. And even if it happens the location and action of the metal line-guide makes it possible to extract the loose coils without any issue.Can you force this thing to fail - sure, like anything else if you are determined to break it, it will break. With normal use it will be there for you for many years.I will be using it for free-diving and spearfishing - so I reduced the length of the line by half and used a permanent marker to mark the first 20m. intervals (using different colors for the 1's, 5's and 10's so I do not have to count)

I bought this after seeing someone else suggest it for a kayak anchoring system. This works great and is just what I needed to start actually using my anchor. All the other diy systems that I built where good, but just left it so that it was just annoying enough that I would not use it. Once I used this setup one time, I was all about it and wanted to change my spot just to reel this up and then drop it down again. I use the original rope that came on it and it works great. If you are looking for a better solution to your anchoring setup...give this a try, plus it is pretty cheap.

The picture for the blue reel shows it half full. In reality, all 270 feet take up literally every last cm of the reel so the thing is overpacked. That adds a lot of weight. Other reviewers have mentioned that the feeding eye is too small and they're right. It sometimes gets jammed up. I'm definitely considering cutting it off. So far it's worked well. Unfortunately I lost an anchor under a tree branch and had to literally cut my losses. Don't forget to bring a knife... I'm not sure what I would have done without it because I intentionally ran the line through my kayak's handle as an anchor point. I'm going to have to rethink that. I'm still trying to figure out how to do two anchors for fly fishing stillwaters. I may have to buy two of these reels but the next one will be the shorter length.

Great, compact exactly what I want

This is a great alternative to expensive kayak anchoring systems out there. If you're going to replace the original line on this reel with something a little thicker definitely get the blue reel. I'm sure the original line is plenty strong enough for the weight of an anchor but it will be hard on the hands when pulling up. Watch YouTube for the various setups. Overall great product and great quality. Great overall experience with seller also.

I used this reel several times at 85ft depth off of Daytona Beach, lobster and spear fishing. It worked fine to retrieve my buoy as I ascended. Its small enough were it didn't get in my way while underwater, yet was simple to operate with game bag, spear and lobster snare attached to my BCD. Most other reels i looked at were twice the price. This works fine for me and my needs.

The ratchet mechanism is what keeps the spool from free spinning. You push down this lever in order for the string to pan out (spool rotates). The little lever has a spring return action so when you remover your thumb, the ratchet locks against these gears in the spool and prevents it from spinning. Simple and effective but the spring itself broke after two uses. Not even sure what happened to the metal spring, it’s just gone. I think it was under the blue lever somewhere so I took it apart to see if it was loose or something. Removed the lever, no spring! Nothing. It’s just gone. This reel is not reliable so do not put your safety at risk with this thing.

good price on a simple reel. I replaced the line with SGT KNOTS Dacron rope 1/8" 100'. The reel can't accomodate all 100' of the 1/8" rope, but it does hold about 2/3 of it- maybe more. The rest I wrapped around the handle portion. I use this for my 3lb. grapnel anchor for canoe, kayak, small craft. For most locations this is more than enough line, but I fish in 30-40' water sometimes where I need an anchor.The original nylon line will probably work for most anchor situations, but in strong current or wind, I trust the SGT KNOTS Dacron.about the reel- It's all plastic, except for the screws. There is a grommet to guide the line, which is handy. Reeling the line is not easy or comfortable under load, but fine under no load. So pull the anchor up first. The grommet will also disallow you from putting knots along the line, which many of us do to mark distance and make it easier to pull on. The lock is simple and handy keep the reel neat. Don't expect it to resist a heavy load.

I use it to hold the anchor line for my kayak. Seems to work fine.

the reel and line is strong enough to support anchoring to 1.5lb anchor. The thumb stopper is flimsy or bad design as the plastic spring inside has became dislodged a few time and had to be readjusted.

Very sturdy reelEasy to handle with thumb lock on the line