The CRC System is our flagship product and we get a lot of questions about certain design elements. In the Reasons Why post series we talk about our design, product decisions and what motivates them. Today we're focusing on the question we get asked the most about the CRC: Why did you make the reels face up?
Think about sliding your fly rod across a surface. If your eyelets are facing down they are prone to snagging. Flip your rod over, and now your eyelets are up and out of harm's way. The back of the rod slides smoothly and eyelets don't snag. This simplifies insertion and removal of fly rods in the CRC. Add to this our insertion guides and rod support components inside the housing, and putting away and removing your gear just got a whole lot easier.
Once your gear is at rest, the reel up position means your rod and reel are supported by the spine of the rod and the cork of your handle. With reel down positioning the weight of your fly rod is applied to the eyelets, and in a car top setting this can mean impacts are directed almost entirely through the individual contact of the eyelets.
The final piece of the puzzle is the positioning of the reels in the housing. With your reel down the weight of it acts like a pendulum on a clock, swinging back and forth. With reel up positioning the weight acts more like a book leaning on a shelf. It might lean one way or another, but generally it just sits where you put it. Add to this our padded interior and dividing partition between the two reel areas and your gear has a cozy home during transport.
On the outside of the CRC, having the larger portion of the housing face up means it is out of the way of vehicle hatches. It also means the whole unit can sit lower on the cross bars, providing a lower profile and more aerodynamic mount.
Do you enjoy hearing about design and product details? Want to share your opinion? Shoot us an email or find us on social media, we're always down to talk shop.
Cheers,
-Morgan
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