Rusty,

For many years the Loomis bass rods were the rod of choice for many of the tournament guys (maybe still are, I'm not around that genre much). 'Sponsorships' were easy to obtain (they'd give you 7 rods to use) if you had some credentials. They were 'pricey', so some guys just had to have them because of that.

They broke.

Lots of them broke.

Often.

The guy at the local tackle store, for whom I did some repair work at the time, was sending back over 90% of the Loomis rods he sold.

I personally 'repaired' over 60 of them in under a year, for thing like full failures to broken tips.

Admittedly, these things were light, the lightest around, had fantastic crisp actions, and were as sensitive as any rods anyone had ever handled before.

They were just fragile.

Since that time, this was all the way back in the mid 90s, I've been told that they have manage to improve the durability of their rods (I think they were purchased by an offshore parent company that insisted on better quality?).

I'm still spooked, and I won't own a Loomis rod of any type.

I do know a few fly fishermen who own their fly rod and are pleased with them. I've also refused a number of repairs of them as well.

Up to you, of course, but forewarned is forearmed.

Good Luck!

Buddy