and there speaks Uncle Joe...listen to him. I got the Allstars and may be going for some rainshadow custom rods. Got several Lamis...nice rods but not a favorite anymore...the cheapest aren't as good as the allstars. Loomis?...are ya going to get support if ya bust one? St. Croix...nice but I've seen spline problems. In that price range theres too much overlap in qualities...flip a coin.