It was one of the manta reels, but once he mentioned the north of $200 list price and that he can get me a deal on it for the ~$180 range i honestly stopped paying attention. I am sure its a great reel, but a tech diver i am not. I dont mind paying for quality equipment, but I want to pay for the right equipment. I guess the reason that he recommends it for these dives is that they dont tend to birds nest and when you only have a few minutes of bottom time that is important. So I see the point there, but if I can get the same functionality (aka good spooling without tangling) at half the price without a few bells and whistles I would be quite happy.
Another reason I like my Manta CR-2 is it was only just barely over $100....
If that's too much, then one of the DR reels I linked ($55 or $65) is really (ha ha) probably what you want. I have a couple of those, too, but I have to admit I bought them used and have never actually used them yet. The AP Pocket reel and the Manta CR-2 have been handling all my reel tasks.