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    Iron Heart Fall/Winter 2025 Collection Preview - Now Live

    Ask Giles and/or Alex Anything

    The Resource Centre
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    • B
      Buckeye
      Haraki san Prodigy
      Joined:

      @Giles @Alex There are many things that make IH fantastic, but among my favorite are the dedication to quality assurance (fabric, stitching, shape, etc) and precision of sizing. What other brands do you both look to as following in the same footsteps at IH; i.e., doing things ‘the right way’? I think @Olly referenced @Alex respecting Freenote Cloth in that manner on a production of the Iron Cast.

      last edited by AlexA 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
      • SourPowerS
        SourPower
        Haraki san Expert
        Joined:

        @Giles do you have any photos of the titanium fishing reels you used to make?

        Excess In Moderation

        last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • GilesG
          Giles
          IHUK Crew
          Joined:

          This was one of them.....

          https://oldtimeangler.tripod.com/index/hardyzanetireel.htm

          I'll take photos of them later....

          "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

          last edited by Giles 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • AlexA
            Alex
            IHUK Crew
            @Buckeye
            Joined:

            @Buckeye said in Ask Giles Anything:

            @Giles @Alex There are many things that make IH fantastic, but among my favorite are the dedication to quality assurance (fabric, stitching, shape, etc) and precision of sizing. What other brands do you both look to as following in the same footsteps at IH; i.e., doing things ‘the right way’? I think @Olly referenced @Alex respecting Freenote Cloth in that manner on a production of the Iron Cast.

            Freenote, Samurai, Stevenson Overall, Y2, Double Helix, The Flat Head.. There are a lot

            last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
            • GilesG
              Giles
              IHUK Crew
              Joined:

              @SourPower

              IMG_2696.JPG

              This was the reel we made for House of Hardy, it was sold as the Hardy Zane Ti and retailed for USD10,000......🤯

              This is the prototype, it has a handle made out of a "plastic" type material developed by the Soviets for the International Space Station (Hardy's changed the handle for the production model)...

              IMG_2692.JPG

              IMG_2693.JPG

              IMG_2694.JPG

              IMG_2695.JPG

              This is a Ti prototype for the Hardy Marksman. Hardy's did not sell the Ti version (I think mine is probably the only one in existence), but they licensed the design from us and made it out of aluminium. They made a few 100, possibly a few 1000 and it was a nice little earner 🙂

              IMG_2687.JPG

              And these 2 are random 2/3 weights

              IMG_2689.JPG

              IMG_2690.JPG

              IMG_2691.JPG

              I've use the one with line on a lot (paired with an Orvis 1 weight) for native brown trout and a few memorable times for Bonefish in The Bahamas. I don't suppose many people have landed a Bonefish on a 1 weight outfit 🙂

              "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

              last edited by Giles 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 5
              • GilesG
                Giles
                IHUK Crew
                Joined:

                @Buckeye Same as @Alex , but a few more

                White Kloud
                Ripple Fisher
                Zenaq
                The Osaka 5
                Tackle House
                Good Art
                and and and

                "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

                last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                • SourPowerS
                  SourPower
                  Haraki san Expert
                  Joined:

                  @Giles thank you so much for sharing. These are genuine treasures, I love the timeless design and raw finish.

                  I cannot even imagine the joy of hearing that small arbor 1wt setup scream after connecting with a bonefish!

                  The Zane is a masterpiece, one of the most stunning pieces of fly fishing equipment I have ever seen. I can really appreciate the connection between your passion for fishing and over-engineered “IH values”. These photos bring me back to a beautiful tarpon that I landed about 5yrs ago after a grueling fight…

                  Excess In Moderation

                  last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • GilesG
                    Giles
                    IHUK Crew
                    Joined:

                    Ive still to do a Tarpon. I’ve tied shit loads of flies and chucked them at shit loads of fish in Florida, The Bahamas, Mexico and Belize. But still they allude me.

                    "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

                    last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • goosehdG
                      goosehd
                      Mod Squad
                      Joined:

                      "I don't give a shit what anyone else is doing, we will do what is best for us and our customers" - Giles P. :)

                      last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • SourPowerS
                        SourPower
                        Haraki san Expert
                        Joined:

                        @Giles
                        IMG_6064.jpeg

                        Excess In Moderation

                        last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                        • Sir_Cuffs-a-LotS
                          Sir_Cuffs-a-Lot
                          The Unwoven
                          Joined:

                          but were you happy about it?? 🙂

                          last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • GilesG
                            Giles
                            IHUK Crew
                            Joined:

                            @SourPower That will do nicely, and boy do I love a pair of Xtratuf.....

                            To your comment about taking Bones on a 1 weight outfit. It teaches you 2 things:

                            1. How close you can get to a fish and cast without not spooking it. I got way more hits on the 1 weight than I do on my traditional #7. However, that may also have been that out of necessity, you have to use minute flies......
                            2. That you have to know how to run mighty fast in calf deep water....

                            "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

                            last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • B
                              Buckeye
                              Haraki san Prodigy
                              Joined:

                              @Giles What does ‘extant’ mean in the context of IH pieces?

                              last edited by seawolfS GilesG 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • MattM
                                Matt
                                見習いボス
                                Joined:

                                That they are in semi regular production as opposed to being a seasonal release not to be rerun.

                                last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • seawolfS
                                  seawolf
                                  Mod Squad
                                  @Buckeye
                                  Joined:

                                  @Buckeye long ago, there used to be an archive of all of the “extinct” products that wouldn’t be rerun, and in contrast, as @Matt pointed out, the “extant” products are regularly restocked and very much “alive” in the manufacturing pipeline.

                                  “Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible” - Don Norman

                                  @zeebeeleather

                                  last edited by seawolf 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • B
                                    Buckeye
                                    Haraki san Prodigy
                                    Joined:

                                    Thank you @Matt and @seawolf!

                                    last edited by Buckeye 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • ArkimeedizA
                                      Arkimeediz
                                      Raw and Unwashed
                                      Joined:

                                      Do items purchased from the RE:LOVE shop count towards vouchers?

                                      ...many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip

                                      last edited by AlexA 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • AlexA
                                        Alex
                                        IHUK Crew
                                        @Arkimeediz
                                        Joined:

                                        @Arkimeediz said in Ask Giles and/or Alex Anything:

                                        Do items purchased from the RE:LOVE shop count towards vouchers?

                                        All spend at our shop does

                                        last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • GilesG
                                          Giles
                                          IHUK Crew
                                          @Buckeye
                                          Joined:

                                          @Buckeye

                                          As Matt and Seawolf said.

                                          Fron Wiki:

                                          "Extant is the opposite of the word extinct."

                                          "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

                                          last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                          • KasiK
                                            Kasi
                                            見習いボス
                                            Joined:

                                            @Alex

                                            How long for the new Good Art collaboration coming. Thanks

                                            The world's insane
                                            While you drink champagne
                                            And I'm livin' in black rain 4Q 🖕

                                            last edited by AlexA 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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