RIO on the Tarpon Fly Line
"The perfect line for Tarpon and other tropical species. This line has a long back taper for smooth, controlled casts and is slightly heavier than the AFTMA standard to load rods for quick accurate casts. There are two color options in the floating line; a sea grass green line, which is the regular floating line, and a camo tip version with 20 ft of dark camo at the front end to avoid spooking fish in tricky conditions. In addition, a floating line with a 10 ft clear intermediate tip is available for coping with windy days, or for getting the fly a little deeper. Each line features a tropical AgentX coating made with RIO’s XS Technology combined with a medium stiff core that will not wilt in the heat, and include welded loops at both ends for easy rigging."
RIO on RIO Saltwater Lines
"After a couple of years of testing cores, tapers and colors, 2009 sees the overhaul of RIO's entire saltwater fly line program. All possible core permutations have been meticulously tested; each taper tweaked and perfected; every color viewed in a multitude of locations and light conditions: The end result is the finest selection of saltwater fly lines on the market."
RIO on AgentX and XS Technology:
"AgentX is a manufacturing process in which two coatings are applied to the fly line at the same time. As a result of these coatings being produced simultaneously, they fuse together in what RIO calls "Fusion Technology," forming a seamless single coating that will never separate or break down. The advantages of Fusion Technology are vast. The "under coating" not only seals the core and covers any blemishes in the braid; it also adds a super low-density proprietary coating. This under coating fuses to the outer coating, resulting in the smoothest, slickest, highest floating fly lines ever made. The combination of these processes ensures that the outer coating is perfectly centered around the core and allows for greater durability, less dirt pick up and longer casts.
To accomplish this, RIO developed a radically new chemical that gives a floating fly line a specific gravity as low as 0.65 - something unattainable with normal microspheres. This new chemical is five times lighter than the standard microspheres used in fly line manufacturing, but with much increased durability. By making the under coating with this new super floating material and the outer coating with lesser amounts of abrasive microspheres, the result is a fly line that has both a much higher buoyancy (around 0.70 specific gravity) than competitors' fly lines (normally 0.85 to 0.90 specific gravity) and the extreme durability for which RIO fly lines are known.
AgentX is the future of fly line manufacturing. The buoyancy as well as unbelievable smoothness and slickness that result from this fusion of coatings make the use of standard microspheres and 'one coat' fly lines prehistoric. Have a great year of fishing - All of us at RIO will keep on working to make your favorite sport even more fun!
XS (Extreme Slickness) Technology all began when RIO’s Labcoats began reformulating conventional chemical compounds and material combinations. Although RIO’s formulas continually exceed all others, our scientists are fly fisherpeople, and by definition they want an even slicker fly line, it’s just part of the deal. So first, they tackled the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) coating and through intense scrutiny down to the polymeric mix level, (say that 10 times fast) they defined some fundamental limitations. Out went the old PVC / silicone formula combinations and by methodically adding a little more of this, and a little less of that, the Labcoats cooked up a completely new and improved recipe.
Next, using the “excuse” of R&D, they took the lines out and tested them in the harshest (and the best) conditions they could find. They took the experience and some notes, went back to the lab to twiddle a couple of knobs and perfect a couple of proportions. Then (surprise) it was back out for more fishing. Finally, sunburned and fished out, the RIO Labcoats had what they felt to be the
perfect polymeric partnership, the most polished fly lines ever developed.
How do we know? We measured them.
Instron is an American company that makes ultra-precise measuring instruments for all sorts of industrial applications. These instruments can poke things, prod, freeze, bake, drown, twist, pull, electrify stuff, and take measurements, and we have our very own. They can measure how hard materials are, how they flex, bend, shear, but most importantly for you and us – we’ve developed an infallible and micro-accurate way for it to test friction and tensile strength. This is one of the methods RIO uses to test the slickness of fly lines—the most precise, duplicatable, and consistent measurements being made in the industry. So, naturally we were more than a little curious to evaluate our new XS Technology fly lines on our Instron. Well, quite simply, the line maxed out our machine. That’s right, the line was so smooth, had so little friction, that it actually registered off the scale - if Instron’s rating was 1-10 this line topped out well past ‘10’.
With our new XS Technology, RIO has developed a fly line that is slicker, more stable, and far less apt to attract dirt, and paired with our AgentX Technology, it engineers a line that is far less dense. These new fly lines with XS Technology cast further and more accurately, float higher, last longer, and offer more consistent performance cast after cast, strike after strike, fish after fish. Try one and feel the difference.
As for the good folks at Instron, The Labcoats have asked them to build us another machine. One that goes to ‘11’."
