Hi Big Sie,

I bought a Maver Elite 66 before Christmas and I am really pleased with it. At the time I bought it there were several available on eBay for under £1600 so some really good deals to be had. I got mine for a snip under £1400 which, at the price, was a great deal. You will struggle to get either the Z12, or the Airity for less than £2400. I'm not suggesting the 66 is as good as the Airity, or the Z12, for a £1000 pounds less it is a better buy. I've never tried the Airity or the Z12 but I did compare the Elite 66 with my brother's Tourney Pro and they are very close in balance, and stiffness (Not sure if the 66 is as capable handling big fish though as I've not had any yet). I did have had a No.7 section break without warning (which can happen with any pole) - but Mavers' customer service is excellent and they shipped out a replacement within the week - I've had no problems since.

So for me, it would be the 66!, but only if you can get a deal on it. The choice would be far more difficult if all the poles were exactly the same price.


Andy

I am looking to spend two to three grand on a pole. Just a bit of advice really. I have narrowed it down to this last three.
Browning Z12
Diawa Airity
Maver 66

Excellent pole .... just a shame it's so darned expensive :(

I agree with jc,the best quality & performing pole i've used todate,landed a 10lb carp easily on the Z12 yesterday in my match.

JC,

You are the first guy here who has taken trouble over helping me to find answers to my questions, so really thanks for measuring your pole.
Firs of all I'd like you to see the value of this pole : a layman has to work for 8-9 months to buy a Z12 in Hungary.
It is totally ok, that your pole is 16m, and using the PP II is 16,8 (as Browning says), but in 13m the situatuion is totally difference.
The limitation of the poles on a competition in the EU is 13m as you know. The pole using 8 sections is 12,3 m, using PP I is 13,1 m. With the shorter version I will be at disadvantage with 70cm, using PPI will be disqualified on a competition... What should I choose?

I belive PP is not an extra section to extend the pole up to 13m, because you haven't have to use it to extend to 16m.

But I still don't undestand Browning: they say this pole has designed with true lenght desing (true 13/16m pole -says the catalouge). It is ok in 16m, but NOT OK in 13. There is a sing on a pole: 13m/827g. The PPI is 230gr, so the pole in REAL 13m is 1057 gr! This is the fact makes me angry and disappointed...
What would you do if you bought a CPU from intel dedicated to 3,0 GHz, and the maximum performance is only 2,6 GHz? I belive you won't be satisfied.

To close this post I say thank you again helping me to get closer to understand this pole's parameters.

Steady74.
You must have rubbish tape measures in Hungary or have got a section missing. You worried me so I measured my Z12 today and it is EXACTLY 13.1m with the middle pole protector fitted [we get 3 in the UK]. It is EXACTLY 16.8m with the 3rd pole protector fitted [16.05m without].
My brother has one of the first Z12s and his pole is EXACTLY the same lengths as mine.
I work in a tackle shop and we put the Z12 alongside all the other top poles and it has the LEAST sag of any pole. It is also the LONGEST pole in the shop, and it does not need to be cut back.
All the top poles seem to weigh about the same. The weight quoted by all makers is when the pole is packed away which MEANS NOTHING anyway as depends where the weight is. You complain about a 5gr difference - the dirt on my Z12 weighs more than that !

I have access to all the top poles and the Z12 is easily the best quality and performing pole available here in the UK. Stop measuring it and just go fishing !

Hi Steve,

I really understand your point, I just wanted to find an other Z12 to compare the main parameters. Here in Hungary there is no other Z12 as far as I know.

Without many off posts: Now I know the pole is far away from 13 m unlike Browning says, I'm not 100% satisfied with its performance.

Steady74 - Without being funny, I dont have time to measure every section and dont really want to, my 16m pole measures 16m, Ive not weighed it but its very simlar to my Airity that I sold to buy the Z12.

Im over the moon with my Z12 and currently think its the best pole ive had, and ive had a few top end poles.

If YOUR not hapy with the pole, take it back to the shop you bought it from and ask for you money back. :-)

Hi Steve,

I measured all 8 sections one by one, could you please check these data on your pole?

- A/1 sec lenght(full/useful, cm): 120/120
- B/2 : 145/137
- C/3 : 150/143
- D/4 : 159/152
- E/5 : 171/161,5
- F/6 : 172/162
- G/7 : 185/175,5
- H/8 : 191/181

So if you totalize the data above, you will figure out the real lenght of the "13m" Z12: this is 12,32 m... If I summarize the full lenght of the sections the result is 12,93m. But this is a pole, it works with sections telescoped....

Nice marketing work Browning, nice marketing of ZEBCO. The 827 gr (real 833, not a big deal) would be very good in 13m, but in this case it is the biggest lie I've ever seen for a top-end pole. I assume this pole would be over 900 gr in real 13 m.

It will be much spicy if you will come up with totally different parameters than mine.

Here are some photos about my pole:

https://picasaweb.google.com/108719739636018108475/BrowningXitanZ12#5748048794785390306

Steve, I'm really waiting for your soonest post here.

Thanks,

Steady

Hello Steve,

Could you please measure the pole with 8 sections(A/1 to H/8) if you have a some free time?
Thx.