On the other hand, I seldom flame a rod. IMHO It doesn't make much sense to me to work hard to preserve as much of the power fibers as possible when you've turned the strongest outer ones to carbon. Proper heat treatment will do everything that you might achieve with flaming, and does so in a controlled and consistent manner. Like most aspects of making bamboo blanks, there are lots of ways to get to the end product. You can have a beautifully fishable rod blonde or dark... and like my fellow maker above, worth it, is in the mind of the customer. If someone wants flamed, I'll do it, but it'll cost ya.