The appeal is simple. Instead of needing two hands to prepare for a cast (using the off hand to open the bail) the trigger reels as I call them allow the fisherman to grasp the line and open the bail all in one motion using just one finger. This is great for us lazy fishers who use the automatic bail closing feature built into the reel. Manually closing the bail would require a two handed casting routine but is said to help eliminate birds nests and help reduce line twist.
The Zebco/Quantum Snapshots were my first introduction to trigger reels. My dad fell in love with these reels and over time purchased almost every model and size they made from the base models to the somewhat more well thought out Quantum Hypercast. Note - I will not cover the Hypercast reels in this post as their mechanism is significantly different although still flawed. The failure of the Snapshots in my opinion boiled down to the choice of material used for the trigger and bail arm. They used plastic. Okay, maybe it wasn't exactly plastic but it was definitely a low grade synthetic material which over time, in reality a very short period of time, would flex and cause misalignment and binding of the mechanism. Perhaps it was also a bit of over engineering that contributed to the design failure as the Snapshots had one feature none of the other trigger systems had which was an attempt to have a no line touch feature. Instead of grabbing the line and pulling the trigger there was a little pin to grab the line. You had to hold the trigger until the apex of the cast then release it thereby releasing the line. This design resulted in the need for a three piece arrangement of trigger, firing pin, and bail arm and relied on these pieces to perfectly align in order to work successfully.
A couple of years after my father passed away I finally started going through his fishing gear and I found a plastic shopping bag with 8 assorted Zebco/Quantum Snapshot reels. None of them worked correctly. I wish I had snapped a picture before I threw them in the trash. I later found an Quantum SR4 Snapshot reel that did work among the rest of the fishing gear. I stripped the line, gave it a good cleaning and lube and it hangs in my collection. To my knowledge Zebco/Quantum has abandoned the Snapshot system and the Hypercast trigger reels completely
The Shimano Quick fire system uses only two main components. The trigger itself which cams the bail arm open. You have to grab the line with your finger before pulling the trigger as Shimanos system does not have the no touch firing pin. Their system works somewhat more reliably but as seemingly the entire fishing world is always focused on lighter weight in all their components the trigger and bail arm are both plastic/nylon/graphite/whatever. The last brand mew fishing reel I purchased was a Shimano Syncopate 2500FE with the Quick Fire trigger. It has served me well and I have talked to other fishermen who have had one version or another of the Shimano Quick Fire reels that continue to work reasonably well, some of them for 20 years or more. Although I have to admit that my Syncopate's trigger is hard to pull and lubricating it with oils ar grease doesn't really help. Whatever the parts are made of they are definitely not self lubricating.
I should note here that both Zebco/Quantum and Shimanos systems require the trigger to be pulled up towards the rod.
Okay, finally on to the Ryobi MGT Touch'n Trip.
My limited Ryobi catalog collection only allows me to date the first Ryobi Touch'n Trip reel to sometime between 1981 and 1985. They are not listed in the 1980 catalog. In the 1985 catalog the hierarchy of spinning reels is from top to bottom
Royalcarbo
MGT - with Touch'n Trip
MG
DPT - with Touch'n Trip
DP
SL
Sidewinder
TNT - with Touch'n Trip
MD
RSX
SX
The Touch'n Trip system is different from the other manufacturers designs in that it uses actual gears to open the bail.
The trigger and the bail arm do not cam off of each other and therefore never touch. The trigger and gears are all made of high quality graphite and the bail arm is metal. The use of metal and high quality graphite and gears make for a more reliable and longer lasting product. By adding a fourth component to the design (remember Shimano's is 2 piece and Zebco/Quantum uses 3 pieces) two of which are gears eliminates the fatigue the other systems are victim to with their poor choice of material and bearing surface wear.
If Ryobi engineered the perfect trigger spinning reel system why didn't it catch on?
Great question, and I will give you my opinion as to why. As I said earlier the Shimano and Zebco/Quantum systems both require pulling the trigger towards the rod in a somewhat natural'closing the fist' type of motion. The Ryobi Touch'n Trip however requires more of a sideways swipe to the right. If you pull up on the trigger your only reward is confusion and frustration as nothing happens. The sideways swiping motion is less natural than a pull straight up but can be learned but I have to admit that if you are right handed like me the motion is a little awkward.
My father was left handed so I became pretty good at switch fishing as I would use his spinning reels without switching the handles around so I tried this reel left handed. For a lefty the Touch'n Trip sideways swipe is definitely more comfortable.
It is apparent that Ryobi's engineers realized this issue and tried to compensate by having the rotor 'center' just to the left instead of directly under the rod. This makes using the reel right handed more workable and makes it very comfortable for the lefty's.
So why didn't Ryobi's Touch'n Trip reels take over the market with their better design? Well I think what it comes down to is close to what I've heard many fishermen say aboiut any of the trigger reels, 'it's a solution in search of a problem'. None of the manufacturers, and I do include Daiwa in the mix here although I haven't written about their Auto Cast system which is similar to both Shimano and Zebco/Quantums setup, really were able to get the mechanism down to a 'simple' solution. either they tried to do to much like Zebco's no touch firing pin. Or to basic like Shimano's Quick Fire with bearing surfaces that just don't work smoothly. Had either Zebco or Shimano used metal triggers, firing pin arms and bail arms I think we would be having a totally different discussion.
Ryobi's Touch'n Trip with its gears and higher quality components was a step in the right direction with actual gears and a metal bail arm but the swiping motion needed to operate it just was something that had to be learned, it wasn't a natural enough jesture.
Ryobi I think realized that any attempt to 'improve' Touch'n Trip would result in an overly complicated mechanism leaving it open to the same type of failures as their competitors.
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