Not too long ago, I did some work for a friend on a bamboo flyrod and in return for the work I received a couple of fly reels that are pretty neat. One of them, however, I haven’t been able to find a lot about. It is an Orvis Battenkill Multiplier for 3/4 wt. and it was made in England. this is a really neat little reel that rotates the spool 1 3/4 times to each revolution of the reel handle. Does anyone have any knowledge of this reel they could share?
Hi dleo,
I have a Battenkill multiplier 7/8 wt. It was a popular type of reel in the late 80’s and early 90’s from what I can remember.
It is a disc drag and has positive braking. The reel that I have is rec. for bones,large bass, salmon and steelhead. While this reel has been designed mostly for the disc drag, it does retrieve line at an increased ratio.
The spools are one sided with the one rim exposed to allow for palming and control of running fish.
This is from the included brochure: “The 3/4, 5/6. 7/8, and the 8/9 Multipliers feature a click in the line-out direction as well as the line-in direction. The click in the line out direction gives the angler an indication of how fast and how much line the fish is taking. If a silent drag is desired, the one out click may be disengaged by rotating the click pawl to either the right or left until it locks in an upward position and does not engage the ratchet gear. To activaate the click in the line out direction, rotate the click pawl down to engage the ratchet gear.”
As I recall, Dave Whitlock was a strong advocate of the LL BEAN multiplier reels but then he may have been paid to say nice things about them. It may be old technology but it still works and looks like a classic reel as do the other Battenkills.
Hope you now feel enlightened and sorry I cannot tell you more.
In the UK this reel was a Speedex, and they were sold in the US as Speedex in the 80’s, by Shakespeare as I recall. Maybe one of our British members can answer when it went out of production. I haven’t seen one in a decade at least.
I had a Speedex in the 7/8 size, and it landed hundreds of steelhead for me before meeting an untimely end (I slipped crossing a river and lost it as well as the rod it was attached to) The faster retrieve saved more than a few fish when a hot steelhead decided to reverse course and head straight back towards me.
The multipliers are solid, well made reels. Their popularity diminished as large arbors became increasingly popular. If I remember correctly, they were made by BFR (British Fly Reels) for Orvis. Leigh Perkins (owner of Orvis) loved them, and used them chasing both freshwater and saltwater species.
Mike D. [url=http://battenkill.tripod.com:5b580]http://battenkill.tripod.com[/url:5b580]