Our take on the AWCCO winding check

It is the kind of part you only notice when it is the wrong one. ALPS offers the AWCCO in around twenty inside diameters, which lets you sit as close as possible to the blank instead of working around a few tenths of play. The seven anodised colours, several of them metallic, then let you stay consistent with the reel seat and guides you have already picked.

6061-T6 aluminium, 7 colours

• ALPS winding check, AWCCO series, CNC machined
• 6061-T6 aluminium, marine grade, hard anodised finish
• High corrosion resistance, freshwater and saltwater
• Inside diameters from 6 mm to 17 mm, in steps of roughly 0.25 mm
• 7 colours: Argent, Black, Or, Rouge, Cobalt Blue, Titanium Chrome, Grey Titanium/Silver
• Outside diameter increases with inside diameter, details in the size guide
• Sold individually

From 6 to 17 mm: matching the check to the exact blank diameter

Measure the blank before ordering

A winding check cannot be fixed halfway through a build. It has to seat firmly on the blank, with no visible play and no forcing that would mark the carbon. Measure the blank diameter with callipers at the exact point where the check will sit, then pick the reference whose inside diameter is the next size up from your measurement. AWCCO sizes are shown in millimetres with the ALPS code in thousandths of an inch in brackets: 6.0 mm is reference 236, 12.0 mm is reference 472. The size guide on this page lists the inside and outside diameters of every reference, and the rest of the winding checks in the catalogue follow the same reading logic.

Where to fit it on the build

The winding check hides the transition between two materials and cleanly stops a varnish edge or the start of a wrap. On a full build it rarely appears on its own:

• At the junction between the fore grip and the blank, the most common position
• On either side of the reel seat, to frame the seat
• At the butt end, ahead of the cap or the gimbal
• Between two grip sections, EVA and cork for example

The hard anodised finish takes the rubbing of a wetsuit and salt spray without dulling, which matters on a rod that lives on a boat. Several checks in the same colour create visual continuity along the whole lower section, as long as you stay within one family of shades. The other handle components share the same finishes, and the ALPS range stays consistent in anodising from one reference to the next.