Galvan fly reels are made in the foothills of the Sierra in Sonora, California near the border of the Stanislaus National Forest. Between tall pines clinging to granite, snowmelt rolls down into the valley and spills into the Delta and then San Francisco Bay. Over the last 14 years Galvan's built a devoted following based on their "Standard" trout reel followed by the similar but large arbor "OB - Open Back" series. A couple years back, about the time I was looking for a reel for my #5, they redesigned their drag and released the Rush and the Torque. After looking at several in a similar range, I ended up with the Torque T-4 (4-5 line weight range) in semi-gloss black (finishes are anodized).

The Torque is Galvan's premier model. It has aggressive and stylistic CNC machining to reduce weight (the only difference between the Torque and the Rush series is the significant amount of machine work). The body, spool and even the drag knob and foot have a significant amount of material removed. This work has been done without compromising the structural integrity. Mine's taken a few knocks. The body and spool are firmly strutted and strong with a nicely rounded rim than has the thickest cross-section. Uniform and symmetric features with few tool marks show a nice attention to detail and quality and fine machining. All corners and edges are well dressed and deburred. Touches like a contoured counter-balance add nice accents to the cosmetic design. The handle is a clean and solid polymer extending about 3/4" from the spool face with a few grooves around its 3/8" diameter. Passages clear through the spool's hub are sexy but as Matt mentioned to me exposes the backing to sunlight (try a UV resistant backings like gelspun or Tuffline XP).

Getting into the guts, this reel has a fixed spindle and a polymer sleeve bearing/bushing in the hub of the spool. It spins smoothly and evenly, but be sure your spool and spindle are free of grit before assembly. After two years of heavy use as my go to reel, there's minor circumferential wear about the center of the spindle from use and a couple small axial scratches from hasty assembly. The spool used for my floater has a slight amount more play than a secondary spool that's seen far less use, but it's not significant yet. If the play became significant, I would send the spool back quickly for service to avoid escalated degredation as larger particles could get into the clearance fit and damage the spindle. The bushing material in the spool is certainly designed to be sacrificial; it appears to be easily replaced. This the most vulnerable feature of the design and my only concern for extended longevity. Luckily, it's easy to clean with a quick wipe unlike a ball bearing.

The left/right retrieve pawl/rocker is simple to change and held in place with a circular spring wire. Protruding from the outside diameter of the drag plate, it engages with a deep spline on the spool. It seats well with mild clicks.

The drag is finely incremented and sensitive; a single click is noticeable but minor preventing drastic drag changes. There are about three revolutions from the free stop to fully locked, but most usable setting are within 360 degrees. The knob turns easily but on occasion when practice casting has it come light; I wouldn't mind if Galvan increased the friction on the drag knob to ensure it stayed at the desired setting. When tightening, a central threaded pin draws the drag plate on the far side into a friction disc seated on the interior of the frame. The drag isn't sealed; the exterior rim is exposed and has a slight gap when fully loose. It closes entirely even on light settings, but despite being nestled away, debris could enter it in a worst case senario (Those never happen right? Actually it hasn't happened to me in this rare case). Recommended cleaning is to loosen the drag, soak then rinse thoroughly in freshwater. Failing this it would have to be returned for service (their service is recognized to be very good by my local shop). Disassembly to expose the drag disc is a formidable task as the spindle needs to be gripped firmly to loosen the main jam nut on the back face (ie... I backed off before I wanked it during my inspection). That aside, I've buckled down on the run of a few fat carp without a sudden lockup or hints of slipping. Most of the time I keep it light and dial down onto a fish that gets on the reel.

I don't think about this reel very often to be honest; I don't have to. That's a good thing. In the time I've owned it, I haven't had a single hitch or hangup that would bring it into my mind even though its design yearns to be appreciated. Commonly dunked and set down, even in alkali waters that have eaten others, it's stood up well. Very nice to know it can handle the salt.

The Torque and its plainer brother the Rush (spools are interchangeable between like sizes), Galvan's 2nd generation reels, show all the marks of a manufacturer that's really paid attention and learned from their previous endeavors. They made a marked departure from their foundation line and gone to a cleaner design with simpler more robust components and a drag with more surface area. It's certainly earned my confidence. If you want sexy, it's got that too.

Specs:
Galvan Fly Reels (galvanflyreels.com)
Torque T-4
Diameter: 3.25"
Width: .85" spool
Weight: 4.5 oz.

Eric is a mechanical designer and gizmo nut.
Nov '07

(Larger Sizes (T-8 through T-12) are great for DH rods and offer the added feature of removable "Spey Weights" that fit around the hub of the spool and allow the angler to adjust balance by adding 1 or 2 oz to the weight of the reel. I have been fishing a T-12 exclusively on my DH Dildos since May 2004 and have found no complaints to date. ~Matt)