I have owned an okuma spinning reel for 6 or 7 years. Its a big one I've used for surf casting. Its been dunked many times, and I haven't been totally attentive to maintenance and the reel has held up. I'd recommend it. I also had, quite a while ago, a couple of the lever drag conventionals. They were not very good - cheap parts rusted and the drag wasn't smooth. They discontinued those models. I can't comment on the current models.