Best Drag washers Carbontex or HT-100

[racoonbeast]

I am pretty new to salt water fishing. I have heard from what appears to be credible sources that each one of these is the best set of drag washers on the planet, bar none. But no one ever reallys says why. Could someone explain to me which ones they think are the best, and why? Are there certain applications where one might be better than the other? Does one set increase drag, or lower it over the other? Thank you.

[d-a]

I am pretty new to salt water fishing. I have heard from what appears to be credible sources that each one of these is the best set of drag washers on the planet, bar none. But no one ever reallys says why. Could someone explain to me which ones they think are the best, and why? Are there certain applications where one might be better than the other? Does one set increase drag, or lower it over the other? Thank you.

HT 100 is Penn's version of carbontex. Both are carbon fiber washers, and both work equally well with a light coating of grease

d-a

[lemaymiami]

The last post was right on... The grease to use is either the Shimano drag grease (part #draggr, I believe), comes in a small tub and I'm told Cal's drag grease is just as good and you get a larger quantity (but I'm still using the Shimano for my customer's reels). The only trick with HT100 or carbontex washers is to get the right size (both inner and outer diameters should match whatever you're replacing if you're not using the exact replacement parts for that reel model. You'll also have to measure the actual stack since the carbon washers are thinner than most conventional washers and the "stack" needs to be the same height for the drag system to work properly)
When I'm tearing down a reel I'll replace the drags if they no longer show the woven pattern that new ones come with... A very slight coating of grease and you're good to go. I find that the carbon greased drags last quite a long time and don't need to be replaced after just one big fish... They're a pleasure to work with. Years ago, all you found were leather, felt, or asbestos washers. The stuff available now is much better . Hope this helps.