Bamboo Blanks

[halomidge]

Ron, I've purchased from your site however I do find the "Bamboo Society" comments inaccurate and a bit offensive.

As for a "reasonable" priced "well made" blank, What's a reasonable priced blank if it takes 20 - 30 hours to build the blank to the point of wrapping and finishing?

I refer to it as the "wally world syndrome". We complain about the jobs going off shore, we don't like the amount of product being imported from China, we want well made product, we support American labor, yet we go to walmart because it's cheap... (I've been guilty).

Vote with your hard earned dollars, you have a choice.

[ET custom flyrods]

Ron, I've purchased from your site however I do find the "Bamboo Society" comments inaccurate and a bit offensive.

As for a "reasonable" priced "well made" blank, What's a reasonable priced blank if it takes 20 - 30 hours to build the blank to the point of wrapping and finishing?

I refer to it as the "wally world syndrome". We complain about the jobs going off shore, we don't like the amount of product being imported from China, we want well made product, we support American labor, yet we go to walmart because it's cheap... (I've been guilty).

Vote with your hard earned dollars, you have a choice.

I think Rons prices "are" resonable....the question is , are they (both US and Chinese) of good quaility which I explained what to be aware of and look for previously................No further comment needed ..........Ed

[bobbyg]

I think Rons prices "are" resonable....the question is , are they (both US and Chinese) of good quaility which I explained what to be aware of and look for previously................No further comment needed ..........Ed

Agreed totally Ed. "The Bamboo Society", as we have been dubbed, knows bamboo rods. A graphite blank, is a graphite blank. A bamboo blank is a testament to the man who made that blank. Many more variables and occasions for error.

I'll stop there, I could go on and on, but I'll see where this ends.

Bob

[jchanner]

Norm,
That would be a rod made by me, john channer, in durango,co. I'm a part time bamboo rodmaker and don't have a website, tho I've been seriously considering one for about 12 years now. If you come to the chat roon here on thursday evenings, I'm generally there around 7:30 or so mountain time and I will be glad to tell you anything you would like to know about my rods.
john

[harleybob87]

knowing H and H as I do I will be ordering one of the boo kits in the near future. I know that with the 3 day inspection period I have no worries that if something is wrong Ron will take care of it. Once I purchase it and build it I will be happy to report how it does.

[Lotech]

knowing H and H as I do I will be ordering one of the boo kits in the near future. I know that with the 3 day inspection period I have no worries that if something is wrong Ron will take care of it. Once I purchase it and build it I will be happy to report how it does.

Same here! Even if I have to sell something to make it happen.

[PanFisher]

I finally have my finances so there is a little extra at the end of the month. Next month its a new pair of glasses so I can see what I am doing. August is looking very promising for my first bamboo from H&H.

[Jim Flamming]

I have been a customer of H&H for several years now and have always been pleased with their products and service. I also appreciate their long support of this and other sites. But I also have refinished several bamboo rods and am a novice bamboo rod builder. I have been very fortunate to have had some of the members of the "elite bamboo society" take me under their wing and teach me the techniques and tricks of their beautiful craft. Contrary to what has been written on the H&H bamboo page, I have found the bamboo community to be very open and inviting. Opinionated... most certainly, but these are craftsmen who take their craft/art VERY seriously. Perhaps 20-25 years ago the world of bamboo rod making was shrouded in mystery, but those days are past now. All that is left is the individual craftmen's variations on common techniques or methods, which is what separate the novice from the masters. But in my time of association with these "secret society members" my understanding of rods has grown, my casting and fishing ability has improved, and I have made some lifelong friends, just like through my association with the folks on FAOL. I am a young father with a mortgage and a long way to go before retirement. I am not a rich man. My lack of money has never been an impediment to building a rod. This has been because of the tremendous generosity of other more experienced builders and collectors. I should also note, that for every ?rich collector? that I have met, I have met at least a hundred bamboo rod builders and collectors who are rod rich and money poor. I have never met a single rodmaker who has every gotten rich or for that matter ever made much more than a meager living making bamboo rods.

My first exposure to bamboo was an imported bamboo rod from Elkhorn. It is a very fishable rod that I still own. Since then I have been blessed with the opportunity to cast bamboo rods by classic makers that cast circles around that Elkhorn, as they should since they cost thousands more and were made my master craftsmen. I might add that it is only through the generosity of some of these so called "elitists" who owned these rods, that I was able to have the pleasure of casting some of these Stradivarius'. I never had to beg, these men offered the opportunity knowing full well that I was never in a position to purchase these rods from them. They simply wanted me to be able to see what a great rod can do, which will only improve my rod building in the future. I do owe a debt of gratitude to that Elkhorn rod though, since without having purchased it, I probably would never have pursued this path which has given me great reward.

Having said all this, I hope the folks at H&H (and FAOL) understand me when I make this statement - I was VERY offended by the statements made on H&H's bamboo page about the bamboo rod community. From personal experience, I have found these statements to be very unfair, even patently false and insulting, not to me, but more importantly, to some very close friends of mine. Until these statements are removed from their website and a clarification statement is issued, I refuse to spend another dollar of my money at Hook & Hackle.

[jimswanson]

Hey Jim , found'em. This is a very good looking rod for the buck. It looks like a good way to get started in bamboo for the budget minded person. I'll let you know if I can get one. Thanks again for the tip.

No problem. He's a good guy to work with.

Jim

[hardhat]

I have purchased from H&H many times. Not all of the purchases have gone without a hitch, however they all ended well. I do feel that it is a narrow minded and a poor business decision to insult somebody when trying to make a positive sales point.
There are three old adages that come to mind in a situation like this:
"you get what you pay for..."
"sometimes it can be extravagant to be cheap..."
"a budget tells us what we cannot afford, but does not keep us from buying it"
One thing to remember is that there is a difference between a master craftsperson and a person taught how to manufacture a particular product.
My guess is that the H & H blanks are a good bang for the buck. It will be interesting to read further feedback on these blanks.