Komodo SS 273 | Inside Look After 2-Years of Solid Use

After 2-years of solid use, I really wanted to crack open my Komodo SS 273 and see what lurks inside.

I am an avid kayak angler, as well as a guy who spends a lot of time on boats all around the country in both fresh and saltwater. With that said, I am always looking for a reel that will last me a long time in the harsh conditions of kayak angling. Heck, you spend your entire day 4 inches off of the water and your gear take a beating. Salt spray, splashing and good ol’ dunking is not that uncommon from the kayak.

What made this reel so appealing to me as a kayak angler was the “SS” of the Komodo SS. This stands for Stainless Steel. This particular reel features a Stainless Steel Drive Shaft, Spool Shaft, Main Gear and Pinion Gear. Once I open this thing up we’ll take a look at how well that all is holding up to the harsh salt conditions.

At the SoCal Fred Hall Show in 2020, the last public event, and possibly the last Fred Hall Show ever, one of the retailers had the Komodo SS reels at a great deal. In talking to the folks at the Okuma booth, they talked me in to trying one of the Komodo SS reels and I nabbed one up.

As we all know, 2020 was a pretty unprecedented time in our lives, and something I hope we will never experience again. But with that, came a lot of time to go fishing. Heck, sport boats were closed down, most landing were not sending anglers out, so what is a fisherman to do…grab the plastic! I spent a LOT of time on the kayak over the past couple seasons. And as I mentioned above, salt spray, splashing and more than the occasional dunking happened to my poor little Komodo SS. So after two solid years on the water and getting a workout, I wanted to crack this thing open and document what I see. This article is in no way a sales pitch, but more of a science experiment if you will.

Outward Appearance of the Komodo SS 273

Lets star the breakdown off by taking a look at the outward appearance of my Komodo SS 273. I am a pretty hardcore fisherman who puts his tackle through the paces. But I am also an angler who takes care of his gear. I don’t actually do a lot of taking the gear apart and greasing them up, but I do rinse them off and keep the outsides working. I’ll also open up and give some basic lubing, but that’s about it.

So after two years of banking around on the kayak, thousands of casts, and probably dropped a time or two, I think it has held up really well. In the top view shot below, you can see some minor paint scratching and a few dings here and there.

Next up is a little bit of evidence of those occasional drops and dings. Still not too bad, but you can see a few nicks at the front of the reel. Battle scars really more then blemishes. The Komodo SS does feature a Diecast Aluminum Frame and Sideplates, so the dings aren’t that uncommon.

Just a quick note on the Zirconium line guide in the photo above. As you can see, there is no notching, scratches or nicks I exclusively use braided line in 40 and 50 pound on my 273, so that is nice to see. I never really looked at it until I took these shots.

Got a Handle On It

Now in rotating the reel around a bit, we’ll take a look at the handle arm and grips.

The handle arm still looks pretty flawless. It is a nice two-toned anodized aluminum handle arm with a nice throw giving it a ton of cranking power. I’m a guy who throws the A-Rig a lot for Calico Bass, Spotted Bay Bass and Sand Bass, so I appreciate that long arm. The star drag star looks good as well with nothing more than a few scratches.

The Komodo SS family feature EVA foam grips on the double-paddle handle reels as well as the power handle models. As you can see, there is a bit of wear on these grips, but nothing too crazy. Thinking about how much fish slime and other who knows what I have had on these handles, they look pretty good. I’m going to guess that this is pretty standard wear for an EVA grip.

Open Her Up- Komodo SS Inside Look!

As I crack open the Komodo SS 273, I’ll start at the palm side, side plate and work my way around to the handle, then really open it up.

Opening up the palm side, side plate, the first thing that popped out to me in a world of grey and black colors, was that bit of rust on the forward screw. That is a bit disappointing. You can see that screw on the reel in the image below. Other than that, it looks clean. Real clean. Lets check out the rest of this side to see if that particular screw is an anomaly.

Here is a close up look of that side plate itself. The bit of rust you see is the screw I was talking about previously and not part of this side plate. Just a bad angle. As you can see on the internal portion of the side plate, it looks really clean. The bearing looks well greased and dry, and the retailer looks good as well. The metal ring that supports the spool also looks great. Other than some dust and sand, it looks good. The internal screws on the side plate look great as well. As if it is right out of the box.

The Komodo SS family utilizes a Centrifugal 6-Pin Breaking System as seen below. This is a straight on shot of the breaking system, attached to the spool, still in the reel. Here you can see that rusty screw at the front of the reel as well. Everything else is surprisingly clean. In the center of that spool, you can see the end part of the Stainless Steel Spool Shaft.

The Komodo SS Spool

The Komodo SS family touts an A6061-T6 Machined Aluminum Anodized Spool. I didn’t want to peel all of the line off my spool, but you can get a feel for the anodizing from the side here.

In the photo below, you can also see the opposite end of the Stainless Steel Spool Shaft as well as the spool bearing that is attached. The spool bearing used on the Komodo SS is a Japanese ABEC-5 Bearing. The reels do have a ton of freespool right out of the box, and after two years, this one still does as well. You can see that the bearing looks to be sealed nicely with no discoloration at all.

And now that that spool is out, we can get a good look at the inside of the frame looking toward the handle side, side plate. From the image below, you can see that everything looks clean and free of dust and sand, or any other discoloration.

Going Deep

At this point I’ll start to disassemble the handle assembly and get into the side plate. But before I do, lets take a look at the spool tension control knob and bearing. In taking off the knob, you can get a good look down inside the spool resting area and bearing, as well as the spool tension control mechanism itself. It also looks well greased and clean.

Disassembly of the Komodo SS handle is pretty simple. A nut and a screw and you are pretty much done. Here is the first look at the Stainless Steel Drive Shaft that the Komodo features. A couple turns of the star and it pops off as well.

Here is a better look of the handle assembly and below the star drag star. This will be your clicker mechanism as you tighten and loosen your drag. As you can see on the drive shaft below, there is a bit of discoloration, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The removal of three total screws has you removing and staring into the internal workings of the Komodo SS 273. This is your first look at the Stainless Steel Main Gear and Pinion Gear.

As a quick look, I don’t see anything that stands out as out of the ordinary as far as rust or discoloration goes. Everything seems like it was sealed up pretty nicely.

Side view looking at the Stainless Steel Drive Shaft, Main Gear and Pinion Gear. As you can see, a bit dirty in there. Nothing crazy, just pointing it out.

Below is a look at the Handle Side Side Plate. There is a bit of discoloration around the spool shaft opening leading to the bearing by the spool tension control, but that is all I see. There is some dust and debris along the big metal ring that the drive shaft goes through. I don’t think that that effects performance at all, but I wiped it off none the less.

Here is a little closer look at the discoloration around the ring of the spool shaft going into the spool tension control knob. Again, this didn’t feel odd or out of place, but wanted to point it out as you can make your own opinion.

What a Drag!

The Komodo family of reels puts out some impressive drag ratings. The 273 puts out an estimated 20+ pounds of fish stopping drag, and I’ve used every bit of that fighting fun sized yellowtail at the islands.
In the image below, you can get your first look at the full drag stack of the Komodo straight out of the reel. This gives you a feel for the wear and tear that this reel has been through. The Carbonite washer furthest to the right in the photo has a good amount of wear, but the others look pretty good still. There is a lot of grease, and dirty grease on the washers and main gear.

Speaking of Main Gear, you can get a good look at the Stainless Steel Main Gear in this image. Straight cut gearing, but very smooth on the retrieve. One thing Okuma does very well is gearing. As you look at that main gear, you can see a log of gunk inside where the drag washers were. Cleaned that out and good to go . Again, the washers seem a bit warn and there is some buildup of grease and dirty, saltwater residue, etc., but overall, pretty impressive.

Here is another closeup of that Stainless Steel Main Gear. I see no burs or nicks, but a lot of build up. This thing ran smooth as silk right before opening it up, so now I can’t wait to fish it again after I clean it.

Who Let the Dog Out?

Here is a look at the Anti-Reverse Dog Ratchet and washer. It is found right below the main gear and keeps it from rolling backwards. Strong system.

Komodo SS 273 Stainless Steel Pinion Gear

The last of the SS – Stainless Steel components is the Pinion Gear. Below is an image of that gear along with the assembly including the springs and plastic clip. I do know that there are a lot of complaints when someone opens a reel and they see plastic but in components where you don’t need extra strength and rigidity, anything else is unneeded and causes extra weight.

As you can see in the image, the pinion gear looks pristine. There is still some grease at the top as well as the bottom near the springs. Overall, it is in great condition. There is a bit of buildup on the white portion where the pinion gear meets the holder. Nothing that impedes performance though.

Here is a look at the housing that the Pinion Gear assembly sits on. You can see the two black pins and hold for the gear. Looking internally, I see no rust or discoloration.

Putting it all Together

After going through the reel and giving it a bit of a cleaning, the hard part of putting it all back together commences. Actually, its not too bad. Only a few extra screws and washers 🙂

Conclusion

I have to be honest, I am very impressed with the way this reel looks after 2 hard years of fishing. Dunking, splashing, dropping and laying in the sand, and this reel works like new. Pretty awesome! I do recommend the Komodo SS reels if you happen to be looking for a saltwater specific baitcast reel for your lineup. They do offer the 200, 350 and the 450 size reels to match all of your needs. You can check out the entire Komodo lineup at Okuma Fishing USA

Comparison Shopping

I appreciate you all stopping by Fishing Tackle Insider to see the internal working of the Komodo SS 273. After that science experiment, I may need to add further reels into my arsenal.