[cornman]

Need some advice on a 50 reel. What would be the choice, 50VSW or a 50SW International. Looking to load up with 60-80 mono to Tuna and Shark fish. Possibly the SW in very good used condition, price being a little less. I am aware of other good brands but would like to know specifically whats the difference between these two.

Thanks.

 

[Boborusky]

The 50 VSW is the newer version of the 50 SW, if I am correct. If you were trying to say the 50VW not SW, the VW is a single speed and it is brand new this year. 50 VSW is two speed

 

[cornman]

Was not aware the VSW replaced the standard SW.
I was just wondering if anyone had a preference between the two or felt that one really seemed better than the other.

Thanks.

 

[clementine]

I really like the old "tubular" (T, TW, SW etc..) internationals, they were absolutely bulletproof, but the old shifting mechanism was really kind of a pain. The new shifting mech. on the VSWs is much improved, (they copied the tiagra shifter I think) and you're probably better off with the new reel. That said if you can find the older 50SWs at a reasonable price, why not.

 

[MakoMike]

clementine wrote:
I really like the old "tubular" (T, TW, SW etc..) internationals, they were absolutely bulletproof, but the old shifting mechanism was really kind of a pain. The new shifting mech. on the VSWs is much improved, (they copied the tiagra shifter I think) and you're probably better off with the new reel. That said if you can find the older 50SWs at a reasonable price, why not.

The T and TW were not two speed reels. The "S" is what designates two speed. I still have a pair of the olkd 50Ws (50 wide single speed), that I still fish and they still work fine.

 

[DaveB]

I actually prefer the old shifter design. It allowed you to shift without having to take your hand off the reel's handle.

 

[clementine]

MakoMike wrote:
The T and TW were not two speed reels. The "S" is what designates two speed.
Yeah, I guess my wording was a little confusing the T/TW are not 2 speeds, but have the same style frames as the 50SWs.

 

[CaptainFweddy]

The newer Penn VSW series are far & away better 2 speed reels than the older SW series.

The older TW series are workhorses...

 

[MakoMatt]

If you are not going to be trolling, you might want to consider another Penn Reel for sharking, and chunking tuna, the 30VSX. A very comfortable size reel that you can get 35 pounds of strike right out of the box. You would probably want to spool it with some 100 pound hollow core and a nice long 75 to 100 yard 80 pound mono topshot. I like mono for trolling so that's why I wouldn't consider using it for that, but for some other types of fishing it's a great reel.

MakoMatt

 

[cornman]

Thanks for the good help. I like the look of the old style reels but will buy whats best to catch fish, this will replace a Senator setup so i'm sure either one would be better.
I toyed with the idea of going with a 4/0 with braid or hollow core
but wanted to stay with mono.

Thanks again.

 

[CaptainFweddy]

corn,
with the new "V" series Penn reels on the market, there are plenty of the old style used Internationals for sale. You can no doubt find them around for a reasonable price & they would serve you very well, IMHO...

 

[641525]

penn 50s

i have a package for sale it is a solid shark fishing package.

2 brand new 50vsw's spooled w/80lb big game on custom rods w/a 8"fly gaff fully rigged(aftco)everything is brand new just bought in feb.
still in packaging.

i got free tiagras and like them alot better and they went with the 4 i had.so if interested buzz me on the pm function.

the penns are great reels but i do not need them anymore.i paid for everything 2000.00 for everything.but not looking to get it back.

dave

 

[crazychrisb50]

From what I've been told the new V series have several internal parts made of plastic, which break fairly easily, while the older internationals have all metal parts. Don't know if thats true or not, maybe someone on here who works on internationals can clear that up.