70 Years ago PW Phillipson put his Patented No Rock reel seat on the very first two Fiberglass fly rods he cataloged

Here is one of those very special rods
1952 P76f Hand scripted with the No Rock seat

See how the reel sits inside of a channel with rails on each side to keep everything inline

Then the hooded slide band which is held in place around the rails ready to be tightened


Once tightened that ain’t rocking sideways
Scripted rods unique lock nut with a beefy band and bespoke knurling


Few subtle differences on No Rock reel seats
Here’s a few together


The most familiar no rock style is what was found on the first Deluxe phenolic classic glass rods , the Pseries dlx Eponites ,Eponite Trade rods of the day , Mity Lite and a few others I’m sure
Looks just like this black one from my P80 project rod



And on rods..

Next up are my favorites the Xseries and the Royal
They got the top spec no rock seat

Double Knurled Butt cap

Only the X series and Royals received the lil knurled cork check ring.
Lock nuts ever so slightly different knurling on the lock nut
Can we say bespoke or what!

Now the last iteration of the No Rock came on the scotchply Royals



Phillipson went to a coarser thread and also threaded over part of the upper channel, double Knurling on butt carries over ..

Here’s a close up to compare to earlier fine thread version


Now that we’ve got the No rock seats worked out .

Let’s get to the Standard locking reel seats .
These came in 3 flavors

First up is version 1.0
with the petit hood butt cap with round flared slide ring
These came in lots of cool colors
And we’re found on lots of rods from the 50s into the 60s
Such as
Scouts, Chieftains, stream knights , Regal Lancers , Mylar masters , Classic series,
painted Eponite Dlx and the Johnson profile 400 , others and various trade/shop rods of the day .

These feature a petit pocketed butt cap that can be quite finicky about fitting some reels.

These feature a slide band that is round and a bit flared to accept the reel foot

Pro tip when locking a reel down use care and spin carefully or you’ll end up with this

You have to be kinda careful tighten slowly and evenly .
I turn the slide band with the lock nut together at the same time evenly distributing the pressure on the slide band until snug
Like this

I’ve seen a few rods with people killing the slide bands and the threads on the barrel
Don’t be that guy!

Next up is the Standard 2.0 locking reelseat
Same barrel, same round slide band with knurled lock nut

But now Phillipson has now ditched the petit hooded cap to the Large/deep hooded reel seat
Found on
Pacemaker, Master, Swamp fox Dlx ,Royal Wands and various trade/shop rods such as Abercrombie, Orvis ,LL Bean to name a few .

Use even more care with tightening the round slide band as people like try and fit reels with thicker feet and tweak the band improperly tightened.
Thick feet fit the pocket cap great .
The round slide ring . Not so much

In the early 70s
The last and final version 3.0 appears on the 3m Labeled rods like the 3m Masters and 3m Swamp fox rods along with kit rods and all the last trade rods .

Phillipson finally does away with the round slide band and upgrades it to a hooded slide band

Here’s the round style next to the hooded style

The later deep style pocket was also used on the small rods with the cork cap and slide band

The deep pocket cap was also used on the Epoxite rods down lock with cork spacer
Sorry no pic I’m not lucky enough to own an Epoxite fly rod .

Look for my next chat Phillipson reel seats 102
Where I’ll discuss what reels fit what seats etc

Don’t have time to get into that today
I’ve got Prespawn Bass to chase

I really hope this helps to give a better understanding of the different styles of reel seats Phillipson used over the years .

If there something I missed please let me know so I can make a proper edit if needed.

Remember to Keep It Reel…
Reel Phillipson !
Thanks Scotto

Very informative and well researched. Some of the knowledge possessed on this forum is amazing!

Very much looking forward to lesson 102!

Thanks for the info and also having so many fine examples.

That is a great write up very informative You must have looked at a lot of Phillipson's ! Thanks for your efforts Paul In OR