From my experience with it I would say that it's definitely a bit slower than comparable graphite 8 weights. Power wise it's not as strong as an 8wt NFC Gamma Beta I built earlier. However, it's a bit stronger than another graphite 8wt from Batson (Unity 908). It does respond well to a slower...
Technically speaking there is only one stripping guide. Beyond that there are reduction guides and runners. Semantics aside, I think it depends on the reel size. Larger reels require bigger butt guides. The reduction guides are added to avoid sharp line angles. One or two is fine. I don't think...
Haha, I know... it's always very confusing when words like action and stiffness are used in the same sentence. Intuitively, I think it's something that kind of makes sense, but it's hard to really know the meaning unless more context is provided.
Over the years I have built several rods with single foot Recoil and Pacbay Minima guides. However, on most of the builds I do use snakes. I really like the traditional look and the simplicity.