Hello all.

Seems there's been a bit of talk about handle materials lately, including the use of birch bark, which I think looks great. Haven't heard much talk about using wood handles though, so thought I would bring it up. I've been putting wooden handles on probably the last 10 rods I've built and have found them to be fantastic. At first I was worried about the weight issue, but by the time you have the thing reamed out to proper size there is not really a whole lot of wood left, and the weight is not that noticable. Heres a pic of a handle I made last summer out of African Padauk and Maple, laminated together.



It seems like to get some good quality cork you have to pay an arm and a leg, so I switched to wood. The handle in the photo only costs me about $15 to make. I've fished a 9 hour day on the water with it and it is very comfortable. The downside of course is that you have to have access to a lathe to be able to do these handles.

Has anyone else tried using wood for handles? If so any pros/cons you've encountered?

Thanks