Tonkin Bamboo Fly Rod Blanks

I was bored at work today and decided to surf eBay to waste some time. I started to look for rod blanks when low and behold there was a listing for Genuine Tonkin Bamboo Fly Rod Blanks in various lengths and weights. Apparently these are new listings as all of them have a starting bid of $75 and the auctions don't end for another 5 days. I realize that there must be a huge quality difference from the bamboo blanks being offered from custom rod shops at 10x the price. I've been thinking about building a bamboo rod as my next rod and these blanks seem like a pretty cheap way of getting started (assuming that the bids don't sky rocket).

OK so now my questions...have any of you folks heard of these bamboo blanks before? What kind of quality are they? What are these blanks worth? How high should I bid?


If you want to see the blanks yourselves see below:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=017

I checked out the listing, as well as the other items from that seller. He has a lot of positive feedback (plus 10 negative), but I noticed a lot of it is repeated, and repeated and repeated...Makes you wonder who's posting it. He has lots of Chinese feathers for sale that don't look that great in the pictures, and has a pretty hefty starting price point. His Jungle C_ck skins look like all the nails are split, not just a few as he alluded to in his listing. If it were me, I'd wait to talk to someone who actually bought one before making a bid. He might be legitimate and the blanks might be pretty good, but it's still $75 + shipping that's on the line. See how the bidding goes over the next few days. Hey, it may turn out to be a really great deal...if you like bamboo.

Joe

Don't know if I would buy the time of day from this guy let alone anything he has to offer. He has a customer base that gives the good feedback but if you read the nutreal or negative feedback this guy has nothing but a ignorent comment to make. His prices are higher then a lot of the prices I have in my area for the same weight and size of product.

Something else I might add here. You get what you pay for. $75.00 starting bid for a raw bamboo blank is way to cheap. If you really want to build a bamboo rod save you money and buy from a reptuble builder who sells blanks. You will pay on average $50.00 for the ferrules if you get something worth having on the rod. Here is a classic example of a good rod builder and his price for blanks Ferruled Blanks:
2pc. Standard- 285.00, Hallowbuilt- $360.00
3pc. Standard- 315.00, Hallowbuilt- $395.00
4pc. Standard- 370.00, Hallowbuilt- $445.00
Non Ferruled Blanks:
2pc. Standard- $245.00, Hallowbuilt- $320.00
3pc. Standard- $270.00, Hallowbuilt- $345.00
4pc. Standard- $295.00, Hallowbuilt- $370.00
this blanks are made by D R Stone rods. Other suppliers can be found on here. My advise is don't buy from this guy on ebay, but if you do let us know how it comes out and keep us posted on the build.

I can't spell and my grammer stinks and even I can spot errors in this guys listing. Do you realy want to do business with someone who spells that bad? Turns me off.

Just an old fishbum's opinion.

PAangler
PLEASE DO NOT BY THESE BLANKS
I bought the 8' 4# from him
The person who has the auction goes by the company anglers roost.
I purchased one of them myself and to verify this i posted a thread on these boards about them.
These blanks are very Very terrible in quality and that is the best i can say they, showed up a month and a half late, I called him many three times to inquire and each time he stated they got "held up in customs" The blanks were bent, twisted and kinked, yes , kinked. the finish and glue was slopped on and dried in drips all over.
I had to heat straighten and twist the blank to get it to look somewhat straight.
The rod that i built on the blank is a such a soft set rod that even after lining the rod and flaser casting the rod has a set to it that needs to be heat straightened.
I too was new to rod building and thought it would be a good way to get into it cheap, I wish sombody would clued me into this guy.
I could write more, want to knowewhat kind of person he is ? Call him you will hear the most foul, disgusting language In your life, he is really a jerk, and he sells a crappy product.
Search the board for a topic Fly rod blanks from anglers roost.
If you want to email me @ mvffclub@aol.com I will gladly take a picture of the crooked rod that i stopped building after the first tip.
I

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fishbum

I can't spell and my grammer stinks and even I can spot errors in this guys listing. Do you realy want to do business with someone who spells that bad? Turns me off.

Just an old fishbum's opinion.

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I noticed that also, but since my spelling's not that great, I was not going to call the kettle black. He also capitalized an awful lot of words unnecessarily, especially the last word of most sentences. What's that all about? He obviously lacks a Harvard MBA, as do I.

I guess timbrubakken pretty much nailed the coffin shut on this topic with his "learning experience." Sorry it had to happen to you, Tim, but thanks for sharing your experience with us. If it sounds too good to be true...

Joe

Timbrubakken,

Your reply is more that enough to tell me to stay away. Thank you for your honest appraisal. Hopefully others will see this post and resist the temptation to try these substandard quality blanks.

One final comment on this seller. I checked all 11 of his negative feedback comments, and 10 of them were related to the rods he sells. Also, in each case of a negative feedback, the seller was just as nasty as he could be, and called the buyer names. The same happened if he received a neutral comment. Not the kind of person I would recommend doing business with, especially if there is a legitimate problem.

Joe

These blanks can be purchased directlly from a company in China for around $8.00 apiece. I am sorry for those who spend $75 for this junk. I do no sell blanks at Cold Creek Rod Company because they are all committed before they even begin life, however, I know that I have $250 into them in labor and sweat equity when they are at this stage. Find a reputable maker and bite the bullet for a real rod balnk.

Mr. R