my delima

Ok I?ve been thinking about building a rod vs. buying a new rod. And I cannot make up my mind. The main issue is there is no place within about 3 hours of me that I know of that sells rod building supplies. I do need to look in Gander Mountain. I would prefer to be able to see what I am buying for the first build, just haven't had the time to make the trip.
Anyone have any suggestions?
The rod I want to build will be to go with the islander 3.4lx gold, which I won here on faol. I would prefer a black rod with gold guides/reel seat. Or maybe black guides reel seat with gold wraps. I'm still on the fence. There are just too many choices out there

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roger
princess anne, eastern shore of md.

[This message has been edited by mdram (edited 07 February 2006).]

mdram;
Hook & Hackle is the place to go. Their IM6 green would go well with the gold wraps.
Ask them to swap a black seat and black guides.

You can always buy a rod. Best to build one while you still got your health. JGW

I buy all of my rod building supplies mail order since I also live several hours from the nearest 'hands on' store. The mail order selection is also better my nearby stores. Mail ordered parts can be easily returned for the cost of shipping if you you don't care for the feel of them.

I've had excellent customer service on returns from Hook & Hackle, Cabelas, Rick's Rods and Jann's Netcraft.

One big difference in building vs. buying is in the warranty. If you break a home built rod the best you can hope for is a replacement on the blank, a broken factory rod would get you a new rod or a repaired section.

In case you missed it on the FAOL 'general' section, Ron has successfully made the move from Bob's old NY address to Ron's new
PA warehouse. It appears to be a seamless move from the comments on the other string.
I've spoken to Ron on the phone and I'm pleased to say he is every bit as nice as Bob always was. (No insult Bob at all *S*)


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LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL

If you can find a rod that you like, you can make use of the common cents system. There is a database out there of rods that builders have measured, so find a factory rod you like, then find a blank with a similar AA and ERN and that should get you pretty close. The data is here:

[url=http://www.superbob.org/CC.htm:a2bb8]http://www.superbob.org/CC.htm[/url:a2bb8]

oh, hook and hackle is on the list of places i am putting together for the parts, its just im still on the fence.
ive emailed them and they responded very quickly.

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roger
princess anne, eastern shore of md.

Its a personal preference, but I have been very fond of Cabellas, and or goldenwitch.com they are all good.

My only warning is to not go down the "Build your own" road unless you are ready for another addiction! Once you find out how easy it truely is to make a nice rod, you will want more of them. The best part is, if you are like me and have a little more time then lots of money, you can build a really nice rod for a fraction of what it cost in the store.

Can't go wrong with a complete kit from H&H...You'll get everything you need and enough glues to build several rods..