Daiwa Tournament Basiair Z45 QD Mag Sealed

How well is it built?

Weight is the big story with the Basiair. Daiwa pair an Air Metal alloy body with a Zaion rotor to keep it down at 440g while keeping the frame stiff, and that's around 100g lighter than the 26 Tournament Basia, which counts for a lot on a reel you'll be casting over and over.

The Mag Sealed body is the other big plus for me. It's designed to keep water, grit and grime out of the mechanism, and on a reel that might sit on the pod for days, or double up as a distance surf reel, I think that's exactly where the money should go.

The rest of the spec matches the price.

There are ten bearings, seven of them corrosion resistant, along with Digigear II gearing, Infinite Anti-Reverse and a machine-cut wishbone aluminium handle with an EVA knob, and the black and red finish with Zaion printed on the rotor looks every bit a flagship reel.

How well does it cast and retrieve?

The 45mm long-cast spool is built for distance, and with the AirBail and Twistbuster helping with line management, the whole front end of this reel is designed around clean, long casts.

The spool is marked for 270m of 0.30mm or 190m of 0.35mm, so it's a casting spool rather than a deep one for boating baits out.

The HIP line clip is designed to be kinder to your line when you clip up, and I think that matters on a reel that's going to be cast to the same spot at range again and again.

Retrieve is where it gives a little away to the 26 Tournament Basia.

The Basiair has a low 4.1:1 gear ratio and brings back 85cm of line per turn of the handle, where the Basia manages 115cm, so it's the slower of the two to wind in from range, although the low gearing should give you plenty of power when you're playing a fish at distance.

How useful is the drag system?

The QD Quick Drag is the same idea Daiwa use across their top big pits, and it lets you move quickly between casting tension and fish-playing pressure with the front drag knob.

For me that's a better way to fish a big pit than a baitrunner lever, because once you're used to it, it's quicker and more precise.

It's rated to 10kg, which is less than the 15kg of the 26 Tournament Basia, but to be fair I can't see any UK carp angler needing more than that, and it's far more pressure than you'd ever put on a fish at range.

Infinite Anti-Reverse means there's no backplay in the handle when you start winding, and with the sealed body keeping grit away from the internals, the whole drive should stay smooth for a long time.

I'd put the drag on the same level as the Basia's, with only the higher rating on paper separating them.

Is it good value for money?

The Basiair is one of the most expensive big pits you can buy, and it's a little dearer than the 26 Tournament Basia, which for me is the better all-rounder thanks to its faster retrieve and stronger drag.

That's why the Basiair's value score sits below the Basia's, even though its build is lighter.

Against reels like the Daiwa Tournament 5000T or the Shimano Power Aero 14000 XTC, you're paying more than double for the Basiair, and what the extra buys you is the 440g weight, the Mag Sealed body and the Zaion rotor.

If you don't need the lightest reel going, those two are far easier on the wallet.

It suits carp anglers who fish big waters at range and cast all day, want the lightest premium big pit they can put on their rods, and would rather save weight than have the Basia's faster retrieve.