I have come into a slide band setup that I thought I would use on my next rod, and don’t exactly know how to use it - when I push the two bands together on the reel foot, they’re tight, but a slight push outward will release them. Should they fit tightly enough on the insert that they don’t move, in other words are they too big for the insert size?
And on a related subject, why are there so few downlocking seats in use? Do the uplocks hold better?
In answer to your second question, first … I think it all comes down to personal preference. I really like the downlocking, but the uplocking is far more easily available. Any time I want to use a DL I have to special order it.
For the first question. The only ring locks (a definite misnomer!) I have are on very light rods. It frustrates the dickens out of me to be casting and cast the reel at the same time!! As “graceful” as I am, I need a secure lock!
I only have one reel seat that is similar to yours, and it has a single sliding band (downlocking). When I slide it down over the reel foot, it stays very snug and secure. My seat insert is cork, so I have some flexibility in that material which allows me to “crank it down” and get that tight fit. If your reel seat insert is wood or aluminum, you won’t have that “crush factor” working in your favor.
Personally, I don’t like sliding band for the reason stated by Betty. I like the security of the threaded ring.
BTW, this rod is a 7’-0" 1 wt. Dancraft.
Joe
A good slide band fit should be tight enough for confident fishing. A problem sometimes encounted is that if the angle of the reel foot is too steep, or the rings untapered, it may not be gradual enough of contact to create a tight fit. If you don’t feel good about it and the rings aren’t tapered and on backwards, either try a different reel or replace the seat.
Historically the downlocking seat was, by far, the more popular choice. This moved the center of gravity away from the hand and helped counteract the weight of a bamboo rod. When the weight is centered on the hand, the rod feels lighter since you don’t feel like you have to hold the tip up. However, as plastic began to replace the one and only true and proper rod material 
uplocking seats became the rage. This moved the weight closer to your hand and balanced better with the new lightweight materials.
Bill O.
First off, NICE ROD Mr. OYSTER…beautiful.
I have a One Ounce Orvis that is a solid cork handle and reel seat with two small bands. That hold the reel better than any other I have but, like Bill said, the foot of the reel will make a difference.
Not that it maters, but my One Ounce is a 7’ four weight and I use the Tibor Spring Creek reel. I have never felt like the reel would even come close to falling off.
Betty, I prefer the down locking also.
Back in the 60’s when a lot of fly rods and even some spin cast outfits had sliding rings Us kids not caring a whit for style used to duct tape the rings in place. Ugly to be sure but functional. I hated the things.
Hello herefishy, I have a few DL slide ring fly rods and sometimes certain reel feet don’t want to cooperate but as long as the ring slides all the way onto the reelfoot about all I ever have to do to feel secure that the reel won’t fall off ( for me reels become loose more with threaded ring seats) is to is apply a twisting motion and some pressure in the sliding direction. This will always lock the reel in place on all the slide band reel seats that I have and at times I have to tap the ring off gently with a small dowel as they’ve occasionally ‘locked’ themselves on what feels like permanently !
Hope some of the above helps friend.
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
Herefishy:
If I understand your description you have two rings; no cap. I have that type of seat on an Orvis Flea bamboo and I never had a problem with it BUT mine is a cork seat like FG’s so the thin rings slide way up on the reel foot of the Hardy I use on it; zero issues BTW.
What Bill O said is very true and recently I have found that many “store bought” sliding band seats don’t fit the foot of the Hardy reels I prefer to use on them. I don’t know if it is a Hardy thing or a reel-seat thing but they needed some tweaking to fit properly.
I can say that I do check all of my reels and their fit several times a day while fishing no matter whether they are sliding bands or screw-locks. With 10,000 other things to fiddle and fidget with while fly fishing; what’s the big deal with checking a few times just to be sure? Screw rings can get loose too!
Put me SOLIDLY in the DL camp. As we speak I have a rod in the Winston shop having a nasty, horrible UL seat being rightfully trashed and replaced with a proper DL seat.
Bamboozle, My Chinese Orvis reels have the thicker foot and do not work well on my Custom McFarland, however the New CFO seems to be okay on my one once but like you said, cork is forgiving. I am now using the Tibor, Vosseler, and The Lamson and all is good with them.
I have 1 rod with sliding rings…a 3wt St Croix Legend Ultra. I like the rings & never have had a problem with them. Back when I spin fished, I much preferred the sliding rings over a fixed seat on my Ultra light setups. Back then, some preferred what they called a “Tennessee Handle”…no seat or rings…reel was secured using electrician’s tape! I always had electrician’s tape with me in case a ring broke.
Mike
On reelseats with two rings I tie a four or five turn Duncan Loop. Attach the reel. Thread the mono through the rings, tie the Duncan Loop to the line like an arbor knot and tighten. Add a double or triple overhand knot, like a half hitch but go through twice or three times so the slipknot won’t. This is so much easier to do than tell and works like a charm.
I would be inclined to avoid it, unless it’s on a lighter weight outfit. Having a good fit is critical with this type of seat, and if you decide to change reel you might not be so lucky as to get an acceptable fit.
I like slip rings on cork. Recently I purchased a reel seat with one down locking slip ring…because they did not have what I wanted. He said he had another with a slip ring so bought it. Assembled it is ONE down locking slip ring made out of cheap plastic with much flex in it. It was on a wooden reel seat that the reel foot did not completely fill the slot side to side. So…fish a bit and the reel moves in the reel foot slot…this immediately loosens up the cheap plastic ring and reel falls off into the water. had to fill in with toothpicks an electrical tape it on. That reel seat has been replaced and I will never buy another. I like tenessee handles with two slip rings…either aluminum or graphite. I haven’t had problems with those.
Against the grain here I have always preferred UP locking rings. The down locking rings tend to get bumped by me during fishing and the top comes lose. Uplocking I don’t have that problem. I think the downward gravity of the reel weight on the uplocking ring helps it hold in place. Just my opinion. The only one I am an expert on.
Gemrod