I do own a set of five. They have the 500 ft reels. Purchased them for my daughter, have no problems with them. I have read a thread on IS before I purchased, but do not remember where it is. The couple things I have learned about them is you do need to use the line guide clip to prevent bait fish from unwinding the reel, it happended to me a couple times last year. When using big baits I have to use either down rigger releases or rubber bands to hold the line from triggering flags, but this is of most tip ups. The other issue I have read here on IS and learned first hand is the spring flag will maintain a slight bend from storage during the soft water season. I now remove them from the plastic mount for summer storage. All in all they have been a good tip up for me, easy to maintain with a good release mechanism. Hope this helps. Tightlines.. Ron