Buy it for life

I've been an angler since I was a child. It's one of the few hobbies that has been with me throughout my entire life. There's a certain feeling of freedom to the art of fishing that leaves me more centred.

Lately, I've been quite fascinated by Ambassadeur reels for a few reasons:

• They're built to last for a lifetime. The components in the reel are made with material of great quality and spare parts are easy to order.
• You're able to service them yourself. Being able to care for the gear you own is a great feeling, and I find great enjoyment in caring for things (in contrast to our throwaway society).
• They're made in Sweden. In a time where most of the things around us are manufactured in a country far, far away (with questionable working conditions), I'm happy to see products manufactured in close proximity.

The concept of Buy It For Life boils down to buying things that are of high quality, that are durable and that are practical and easy to repair.

This is not only beneficial from a sustainability point of view but is also beneficial from a financial point of view. Buying things for a premium price that will last forever is most of the time cheaper than buying things that break easily and needs to be replaced when they break down.

Ambassadeur reels are a great example of the philosophy of buying something for life. Sure, they have a premium price, but if you take good care of them, they'll last you a life-time. If you need to replace any part, you can order it straight away. Just cross-reference the part number with the exploded view of your reel.

Another financial benefit of the buy it for life philosophy is that if something is built to last for a lifetime, this also means that you don't have to buy it new. Why would you? If someone has owned it for a few years before you bought it, it will still last.

As of this, I decided to buy an (actually, two) pre-owned Ambassadeur reel as my new Pike fishing reel (for a fraction of the cost of a brand new reel) and then I serviced the reel myself.

I now own a pre-owned reel, serviced to an almost mint-condition, for a fraction of the cost, that will last me for a lifetime. Neat.

If you're interested in how a reel is serviced, here are a few images of the service process.

First, I had to disassemble the reel to its components. These components are to be cleaned using hot water, degreaser and dish soap. I used a toothbrush, paper and piece of cloth to clean it thoroughly.

While some of the components shouldn't be soaked in water, I let other components soak in hot water mixed with dish soap to dissolve old grease.

I then applied oil and grease to various components and assembled the reel.

Now, the reel is all done and ready to hit the water.