2022 Shimano BANTAM A... It DESTROYS the OLD BANTAM???

[@Estoril_Blau]

Took my old OG 1st gen Bantam, the round reel from the 80’s out with some 6lb FC on an older Major Craft BFS rod last summer. It was like driving an old manual Porsche or working an old bolt action rifle. Such a satisfying setup to fish.

[@stephsfishing4742]

I'm confused how the brake settings are compared. The old Bantam has 4 shoes the new has 6 shoes. You set them both to 4 thinking its the same setting? Lets assume brake setting are in percent. 0% is all shoes off and 100% is all shoes on. The increment per shoe would be 25% (100/4) for the old bantam 16.6% (100/6)for the new ... so you set the old bantam to 100% and the new to 66.6% (16.6x4) ... of course the new one is going to cast further like this no? or am I understanding this wrong? I own both bantams as well and it was hard for me to tell if the casting distance is better/further but I did feel that the new one seemed more effort less on the cast... and I also felt it was smoother on the retrieve. Again, here I'm not sure if its because it's brand new and has new braid on it vs my old bantam that I use on the regular and is a bit more worn out or broken in. I do love both reels but yeah, not trivial to feel the difference.

[@sharkstin1]

I own 1 old bantam and 2 of the new ones. I'm just as happy with the new ones as the old ones. casting is very noticeably better. Probably just that ive been beating the old 2018 for 4 years now but the reeling on the new reel feels much stiffer/smoother, like there is less side to side play in the handle. I own the new Metanium as well but these Bantams are definitely my favorite. I favor this body style as opposed to the the more pointy style on the chronarchs or metaniums. By far the best thing about these bantams is the all metal aluminum bodies. there is just something about metal reels that feels bomb proof and built to last. i was ecstatic then they announced the 2018 bantam. finally back to the metal shimanos of old. as well performing as the curados and chronarchs have been over the last 20 years i just could not get over the switch to plastic bodies. i power fish a lot and could always feel the plastic giving, crinking, and flexing in my palm under pressure. Always felt very cheap and not built for a lifetime. Not with these. These new bantams are just as solid as the old metal shimanos from the 90s. The 2018 bantam today feels and performs just as well as the day i got it with literally no service. I can not say the same for the many citicas, curados, and chronarchs ive gone through the past decade. they felt more like new cars. built to buy a new one in 3 years. Maybe it was the plastic bodies... maybe it was that those reels came out of Malaysia i believe and not japan. who knows. it sure sucks that shimanos price point for metal reels has increased $300 since the 90s... but oh well. These bantams are absolutely worth every penny in my eyes.

[@logicalrationalfishing7481]

I am very close to grabbing one of these. Just so hard to not wait for another 2021 Conquest. I bought 2 round reels and really enjoy both of them. The Conquest is my only current Shimano casting reel and is hands down the best feeling reel there is. 33mm spool allows lighter lures, just a great reel. At one point the exchange kept their price down, but now they have been sold out for close to a year (100HG that is).

[@ThomasShue]

My fav is the steez, followed by the zillion. I thought the tatuala was great until the zillion, then the steez happened. Now I am spoiled

[@Jon-nz3dm]

to fair to the old bantam, you're using it on 100% braking power vs 66.66% power on the new one. if you took one of the brake arms off it would be 75% on the old one and much closer casting(though it would still lose).

[@danielaskebring7769]

Zilllion are my no1 .. so glad you and others did proper test with it...its amazing...3gram works aswell as 60gr

[@jessemrieg7317]

I got mine a year early. Believe it or not . Hands down the best reel I’ve ever owned.

[@ArmyofOne-14x]

2020 metanium and Bantam A cast battle with 1/4 ounce and 1/2 ounce plugs por favor

[@Shawn_Lai]

I felt a difference between the new bantam with the infinite drive when cranking but it's weird to me, it just feels effortless and more torque on medium to deep diving crankbaits.

[@fuzzy_little_duckling]

Scorpion MGL 150 VS Curado MGL 150 CAST BATTLE????

[@mattp5712]

Can't decide between picking up Bantam A or slx dc xt for the collection. both look good, both compact same price jdm. great reviews on both reels. Thanks

[@MichaelGile19]

I like the new rigidity in it, feels much better. Old one was almost too smooth ya know

[@devinh342]

The new Bantam is easily my favorite Shimano reel to use. It feels perfectly smooth even under load, so effortless.

[@Jon-nz3dm]

the real test for it is with big fish, recently I caught a good one and with my curado k throwing a TK it felt like it kinda locked up under load with a big fish on the other end. a week earlier I lost a bigger one(would have been my PB easily) 10ft away because I was taking too long getting it in. Just ordered a 22 bantam A and I'll throw a gomexus handle on it when it arrives, don't ever want to feel like I don't have enough power to crank in a big fish again lol

[@devinh342]

@@Jon-nz3dm even the XG model feels nice and torquey compared to other 8+ geared reels I’ve used. I will say the new Bantam could be a little more sensitive but otherwise I’ve got nothing but praise for it. Hope it works out for you also

[@randymisa]

Which of the two casts farther? Bantam A or new 2021 Scorpion DC? I’m between the two… Great vids!

[@Tallnerdyguy]

The DC won't get nearly as many snags or birds nest

[@wirinharwirjawan6422]

Thanks for sharing and maybe changing the bushing on the worm shaft to bearing might help abit in term of cranking and sounds :) I meant quieter when retrieving ... Thanks again for awesome Video.

[@scottkessler9602]

I think they just made the brakes looser overall on the new one to silence the casting distance criticisms.

[@THEREELTEST]

Im not sure what you mean by "looser" but the arms are not spring loaded

[@scottkessler9602]

@@THEREELTEST got yah. It just looked like from the video that you got the same overall casting distance from both, just that you got the top distance at a higher brake setting on the newer one as compared to the older one, but when you tried to decrease the brakes on the newer one, the spool would blow up, so overall, it looks to be about the same max distance.

[@zacpdx]

My “old” bantam threw everything miles and I never had any issues with it.

[@slyfox720]

Really great video...I just switched all of my gear from Daiwa to Shimano. Just picked up the new bantam...and wholly Molly do I love it(the only thing I do not like about the new bantam is its a bit heavy but I am fine with it). I willl probably use these bantams for awhile and save up and replace one of the bantams with a Metanium!!!)

[@drewdavies1872]

In ur experience, apart from that you like to fish finess stuff (so I think) and to anyone eles… what is ur favorite reel to throw top water lures on? Something between 3/5 oz to 1 oz range…

[@Ijustwannafishalways]

Love fishing and God more so I subscribed because I like that you give a message first.

[@cameronberenyi4129]

What would you recommend using this reel for?

[@its5150]

Which one is better the 2018 or 2022?

[@ryanschembri4139]

new bantam will definetly be one of shimano's best ever

[@citydogpack]

Is there a difference between the new bantam A and the new bantam MGL?

[@Sanotsuke]

i always thought bc has only one break... dial is magnetic ? manual setting is like calcutta right? lost

[@xibfwmz]

I have both and I think new one is smoother and casts better, both tanks but the newer model seems to take less effort

[@nielslarsen863]

After fishing in heavy rain i had problems with the Bantam as well with a Conquest,i only used them a couple of time ,before the roller clutch,(superstopper bearing ) rustet totally up so i cant turn the handle.After fishing i took them apart dryed and oiled them up again.I have another Conquest where the same happened,i then had the bearing changest for free by shimano.I dont know if there are any difference betwen US vs EU models.i am verry disapointed,that i cant use a reel in rainy condissions

[@THEREELTEST]

thats odd considering Ive purposely submerged a couple of my Shimano DC reels underwater for up to 30 seconds and they worked fine and still as smooth as day 1

[@needmoreboost6369]

@@THEREELTESTjust had to strip and clean a curado dc that was submerged for an entire day in a saltwater estuary buried in sand, took some cleaning but it’s good to go!

[@ricardoborralho9421]

For long cast Bantam is better than gravity G7?

[@charlesgurnea2004]

Is the new one worth the change

[@frankoliveira189]

The line guide worm gear is plastic or metal?

[@andrewrusin2610]

Metal

[@frankoliveira189]

@@andrewrusin2610 on the new one the old I’m sure

[@WarEagleTheBest]

Anybody compared Antares vs new Bantam with casting performance?

[@supatreyfi9770]

Antares way outcasts it. The metanium outcasts it as well.

[@WarEagleTheBest]

@@supatreyfi9770 interesting, I thought Metanium has 34mm spool, and Bantam should have advantage bc of the 35mm spool.

[@supatreyfi9770]

@WarEagleTheBest the eye is further out on the metanium so doesn't slow the line down when casting. Instead the line comes off the spool smoothly w less friction from it rubbing against the eye.

[@WarEagleTheBest]

@@supatreyfi9770 ok I didn’t know that

[@supatreyfi9770]

@WarEagleTheBest I fish the California aqueduct alot so I'm always looking for the farthest casters because when the fish chase baitfish on the other side, you gotta be able to throw to them to catch fish. So far I would say the 2016 excense dc is the farthest caster out of all the shimano/daiwa/lew reels I own including the metanium, metanium dc, antares dc, antares 70, steez ct sv tw, steez a, steez limited, zillion sv tw g, zillion 10.0, and even the new lews elite ti slp. I'm a gear junkie so I'm always trying the newest stuff lol

[@lurestory0805]

How Much is the Bantam

[@troycote4503]

Around 300 bucks I believe

[@troycote4503]

Asian portal 240 bucks for the 22 bass pro it's 360

[@fedreserv6133]

It is rock-solid, yet casting still isn't really amazing. If tighten to much, cast is severely shorter and if loosen then back clashes are way too often. 10g is minimum weight and best results are around 1/2 Oz. All in all no real magic there and still reaching at least 20% more distance with spinning combo.

[@CheeNO_007]

What’s the retail on those?

[@jasoncowick2376]

25 minutes of my life I’ll never get back. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@charlesgurnea2004]

I've three and the old one and yes way better casters

[@raymondjohnson6496]

I keep my new metanium mgl

[@metalman83]

Yeah I'm keeping mine also lol

[@tvm2209]

Which Metanium version is most versatile would you say?

[@SiliconDrifter]

I know they consider the 22 bantam for powerfishing, so it cant handle light lures for minor finesse?

[@stephen2634]

I’m begging to think this reel is garbage

[@reyshinryu101]

can't wait for the 2023 reel ranking in japan