Orvis Battenkill BBS Fly Reel Features and Specifications

The Battenkill Bar Stock (BBS) Fly Reel owes basic design elements to the best-selling fly reel in history, the Battenkill fly reel.  The BBS drag system is an offset disc drag that is also on the Battenkill.  In fact the drag components are interchangeable.  This drag has been stunningly reliable made from stainless steel and brass components.   The click on the BBS is distinctive.  I remember Jim Lepage of the Orvis Company once saying that a reel could be perfect, but it really had to sound “right” to be appealing.  This reel sounds great!  

Solid ‘Bar Stock’ Aluminum is how the reel starts, then the computer driven milling machines carve the design.  High grade aluminum which is traditionally used in the aerospace industry is used to make the reel spool, and the reel frame.  The original Battenkill was made with aluminum, but it was melted and poured into a mold.  To keep the reel from sticking to the mold, there are small amounts of release material added to the aluminum. This slightly changes the properties of the metal.  Milling from bar stock makes a stronger and lighter reel.  It can also be anodized, this is a protective electro-chemical coating.  Different from paint, it is bonded by soaking the reel part in a chemical bath and running electricity.  This creates a permanent and durable coating-which can be most any color.  BBS reel are in Black and Silver (titanium.)

Traditional Fly Reel shape has it’s advantages.  First, it is very light for capacity.  A traditional arbor reel has less metal than a large arbor reel with the same backing capacity.  The profile will be a slimmer and smaller.  This is desirable on smaller line weights.  They look good when paired with a 1 – 5 weight rod!  But they are effective in large line sizes, particularly when targeting species that minimally run into the backing.  Freshwater bass fishermen commonly use a traditional arbor, and the BBS is one of the lightest made, with more than enough guts to turn the occasional bonefish or red.

Very Lightweight Reel. As shown above, the traditional arbor deign is very light weight.  Then make the reel from a material like bar stock aluminum, and there are more advantage.  The aluminum can be milled thinner than a molded reel, up to half the thickness, and it is still stronger than a molded reel.  In years past, this was done in a multi-step process by a skilled machinist, and it took a lot of time, and made the reel very expensive.

Modern Machining Methods lower prices As in many industries, computer driven milling machines produce the BBS reel very efficiently.  And the reels are extremely precise in quality, fit, and finish.  And this brings the BBS reel to anglers at a great price!