I am currently experimenting with pool noodles as protection for my rods. It initially started out as protection during transportation but is now branching out into cheap protection along with floatation for trips in the canoe. I am a good swimmer but my main concern with capsizing the canoe is the loss of my gear. In particular my rods.
I am currently experimenting with them to see which noodles will give the best floatation. I do not like tethers nor do I care for any of the storage devices that permanently attach to the canoe. I use a public mooring slip so in the interest of prevent theft/vandalism everything has to come off of the canoe at the end of the day.
What I have done with these things is buy the ones that are hollow in the middle, slit one side through to the center along the entire length of the noodle and then slip it over the rod just above the grips. You can either cover the individual rod pieces or if needed use parts from two noodles to cover longer fully assembled rods. They are easily glued together with a hot glue gun.
I am open to ideas/suggestions on this as some of you have probably already tried it. I will try to do a photo essay on it if you all are interested. What can I say as I am always looking for ways to do things on a Dollar Store budget.
Pool noodles are kinda bulky. I have used pipe insulation from the hardware store, it’s already split. Tradeoff is that it does not have the stiffness. I am thinking maybe a wooden dowel glued in may help??
Can you find some with a large enough opening to insert some pvc pipe that you can put the rod in? That would give you floatation and rigid protection.
Pipe insluation for 1" pipe will fit inside of a 2" PVC plastic pipe. I am in the process of making travel tubes for my rods from these items as we speak.
I am trying to minimize and keep the cost down so even though I like the PVC idea it is not an option. A definite must for shipping though! I am leery of pipe insulation as it may or may not provide enough floatation but with pool noodles the amount of floatation is a given. Most of them will float well over 100 pounds and a lot of them over 200 pounds. I will have to give the pipe insulation a try too. Also the opening on most pool noodles is a nice tight fit right over the guides of the butt section. If needed the tip section can be secured with a couple of rubber bands. I have used pipe insulation on a generic car carrying rack for my canoe with great results.
Did not get much done on this yesterday as the wind was high enough to bring whitecaps on the lake so I just walked the hiking trails for a short 4.5 mile walk in heat indices over 100+F. Believe me I took my time but I thoroughly enjoyed the hike. Today I have to cook a turkey with stuffing so you know where I will be at today. In the kitchen. I can get a bird at Wal-Mart for .92 cents per pound. That is a lot cheaper than 4.99 per pound for turkey breast from the deli!
Why do these discussions always have to be about food! All this talk about “noodles” and now turkey have made me hungry - I can’t even think about the original gist of this thread!