I used my Christmas money this year to buy the gear to assemble an Ultralight (<10lbs base weight) backpacking system. It's almost all homemade, and I'm finished putting it all together save one last item, a homemade bivy sack. I plan to start that this weekend.

What I want to do is combine two passtimes by fly-fishing while hiking. This will mostly be in the small confined mountain streams of the East, but occasional trips to the West are not out of the question. In keeping with the UL mindset, and the budget conscious mindset, I'd like to take a minimalist fishing setup. For now*, this would include my 8' 4wt 2pc. rod, a half dozen or so flies, a small spool of extra tippet or an extra knotless leader, and a small multi-tool with a knife, pliers, and scissors (this will also be my only knife for the other backpacking functions).

My biggest question is how to carry my somewhat unweildy 2 pc. rod. I have a rod tube with a shoulder strap, but that tube weighs about 2 lbs empty, and totally violates the principles of UL hiking. On the other hand, just lashing two flimsy 4' long rod segments to my pack is a good way to break a rod tip. Does anyone have suggestions for how to safely carry such a rod?

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* - I secretly know the right answer, and it's the answer to nearly every question on any internet forum: MORE GEAR! While a "pack rod" that breaks down into 5, 6, or 7 pieces, or better yet, a Tenakara rod, are great solutions, neither one is likely to be within this year's gear budget. Tenkara makes a lot of sense to me for the small mountain streams, but I'm looking for a way to go out with my existing gear until the time comes when I can buy a new rod.