[mhclayton]

I had a LA Battenkill and didn't have any problems with binding. I used the gelspun backing. What I didn't care for was the balance, size and the way it looked on my rod. I could never get used to it.

On the other hand, I bought a Orvis mid arbor on ebay for about $100 new and took it to Alaska this summer. Caught quite a few large rainbows and salmon with it on my 8 weight and it worked like a charm. Great drag, smooth functioning, stores a lot of backing and balances beautifully. For this price, didn't mind bouncing it around in the bottom of the drift boat from time to time (which by the way, resulted in "0" scratches, dings, etc.---tough finish on the black reel). In my opinion, very hard to beat for what Orvis charges for it, and a terrific all-around reel.