Browning Launch Square Pole!

Editor, Alex Bones, visits Europe to check out the convention-defying square Z14-1 Advance.


When the designers at Browning sat down to revamp their flagship pole it was always going to have to be a bit special to beat its predecessor, the mighty Xitan Z12.

With most manufacturers now taking advantage of advances in carbon technology it’s fair to say that if you stripped the graphics from most flagship poles on the market you’d struggle to separate them in terms of performance.

Where Browning has scored, in particular with its Z12, was the comprehensive nature of the package. This is something they’ve managed to further improve upon with this latest launch. And, Browning has maintained the same true-length format with the long-section design, which measures up at 16 metres without the need for mini extensions.

At the drawing board the brief for the Z14-1 Advance, their new flagship model, was ‘what would I want as an angler?’

Accepting that using the best carbons is something most manufacturers already take advantage of, it’s the finer points that have taken the all-important development time.

In actual fact the pole is manufactured in the conventional circular fashion, but it’s the Square Pole Protectors where things change shape, quite literally.

“Manufacturing these sections has been a big challenge,” commented Frerk Petersen, marketing and product director for Zebco.

“The sections created huge design challenges, which we and the manufacturer worked hard to overcome, to achieve the end result. However, we now have a unique product that sets it apart.”

The benefit of these shorter, square sections being that long lengths of pole become more comfortable to fish and less stressful on your forearm and elbow.

The Z14-1 Advance pole itself is naturally an improvement over the existing Z12, but that in itself was a challenge and something that has been achieved by using a silica-reinforced carbon and resins to increase the pole’s strength and ‘bounceability’. The use of the silica material means the pole sections are more resilient if dropped or knocked, meaning they’re less prone to fracturing or breakage under ‘normal’ fishing conditions.

Being made on the same mandrel as the Z12 and Z10 means existing owners of these Xitan poles have the luxury of fully interchangeable sections. If you own one of the other poles from the Xitan range from Z9 down, then the top seven sections are also fully interchangeable with the Z14-1, too.

Even the paint has been minimised to reduce weight and every aspect has been carefully thought out, including the rod holdall, to take the pole and mass of spares.

There’s no doubt this pole is really going to put the cat among the pigeons and, rest assured, this is not just ‘another’ pole with yet more marketing hype. It’s a pole designed with purpose, a clear focus and genuine improvements that will, without a doubt, benefit the discerning match or pole angler.

There is also an exciting development on the puller bush front from Browning – a moulded directional bush - with no moving part to go wrong. These come ready-supplied with the new Z14-1 Pulla kits. And, there are one-piece top kits supplied with the pole and available separately.

The pole will be available before the end of 2014. For Alex Bones’ full review check out an up and coming issue of Match Fishing magazine.

There are three Z14-1 packages available with suggested RRPs of £3,099, £3,699 and £3,899.

The £3,099 package consists of:
16m Z14-1 Advance pole

Section 7 (11m) Square pole protector

Section 8 (13m) Square pole protector

Section 9/10 (14.5m/16m) Square pole protector

1 x full-length C section

1 x short C section

8 additional SLK top kits of your choice, Pulla or standard

2 x SLK short one-piece top kits (1.95m)

SLK cupping kit, including three pole cups

Top-quality Z14-1 12-tube holdall


The two other packages come at longer 18.6m lengths with additional top kits and the most expensive package even includes an additional 9.5m Xitan Xtreme margin pole set, which is fully compatible. There is also a pole-only option (without the package) for those already owning previous Xitan poles.


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