removing weight from bamboo rods

[NewUtahCaneAngler]

[/quote]

At the other end of the spectrum is a 6', 2 weight weighing a whopping 1.4 ounce ready to fish. Even that rod has a couple of places that I could reduce the overall weight by a couple tenths of an ounce.

Jerry[/quote]

WOW! That is what the 5 1/2' 1-piece Lee Wulff / Garcia Conolon, which I just sold weighed. It had a diminutive grip and aluminum sliding rings. Does your 6' rod have a ferrule?

Joe

[fishbum]

Does your 6' rod have a ferrule?

Joe

It does, NS/aluminum hybrid.

viewtopic.php?f=66&t=70274

Jerry

[Tommasini]

I have a 5 1/2' 1 piece true 1 wt. hanging here that tips the scale at 1.25oz . It has a NS cap, ring and cork check over Walnut spacer. I could probably change it to alum. and get it to 1.1oz.

[mer]

I have a 5 1/2' 1 piece true 1 wt. hanging here that tips the scale at 1.25oz . It has a NS cap, ring and cork check over Walnut spacer. I could probably change it to alum. and get it to 1.1oz.

What about changing the Walnut to say Balsa or Cedar?

[Tommasini]

Walnut is pretty light weight. Very little difference if any when compared to Cedar . Balsa is much to soft for my taste .

[Seabowisha Salmo T]

I have a 5 1/2' 1 piece true 1 wt. hanging here that tips the scale at 1.25oz . It has a NS cap, ring and cork check over Walnut spacer. I could probably change it to alum. and get it to 1.1oz.

hello, wow, i have ostrich feathers on my rush's lancers hardee campaign hat heavier than that!

regards, jim w

[henkverhaar]

Balsa is much to soft for my taste .

Yep, but Abachi/Obeche/Ayous is plenty hard enough and lighter than red cedar. I use it as a grip material on prototype rods (difference in weight with cork is negligible (in my book), and the difference in cost is immense...)

[LeeO]

With all due respect, at some point isn’t it just easier to switch to graphite? I appreciate efforts to reduce weight, to a point. That being said, I don’t put any effort to reducing weight.

[Tommasini]

Yes, I agree with you. That is why if I'm needing an 8' or longer rod, I use graphite. Bamboo, in my view, is a tool for small creeks or streams.

[Seabowisha Salmo T]

With all due respect, at some point isn’t it just easier to switch to graphite? I appreciate efforts to reduce weight, to a point. That being said, I don’t put any effort to reducing weight.

thanks, leo; i wonder if it would be possible now to push the wayback button and return to a kinder, gentler time a hundred years ago before nanotubes were only dreams of bucky fuller's???
or is the genie . . .et c . . .et c.

regards, jim w

[LeeO]

Just my opinion. It seems like a bit of forcing a round peg into a square hole, but if people want to push the extremes then it really isn’t my business to pass judgment. Just not my bag.

[Seabowisha Salmo T]

Yes, I agree with you. That is why if I'm needing an 8' or longer rod, I use graphite. Bamboo, in my view, is a tool for small creeks or streams.

not bamboo, fredo? you broke my heart . . . . . . . !

[carl otto]

If one has the opportunity and the skill to take advantage of and fish a Per Brandin, Marty Karstetter, Jim Hidy, Jim Reams, Tim Andersen....rod built out to contemporary standards, using all the nuances properly hollowing and apportioning the weight across the working length of the rod, then it would become very obvious that these folks have advanced the design and construction of bamboo rods to another level. There is nothing extreme with their work, thoughtful intentional consideration of every element /component and its affect on rod action, along with building off the work of notably E. C. Powell, has notable benefits. These are bamboo rods, not some chemically modified product. They are built just like a traditional bamboo rod with more advanced design thinking applied to better the rod's performance.

Look at a bicycle from 1920 and then 2020. Generally they look and function very much the same, yet the advancement in technologies, materials and design thinking make the two ride like night and day.

And as far as bamboo not being for big water and big fish, yikes, I am speechless! I only use bamboo and catch my share of 20+ inch fish every year. I fish steelhead, atlantic salmon and night fish big browns in Michigan. I have never felt undergunned or compromised in these efforts. A fly rod is a tool, and like any tool as history shows time and again, properly used by an experienced hand has way more to do with the final outcome then the tool.

Carl

[LeeO]

I’d say the biggest difference with bicycles is the modern material of construction which allows a great reduction in weight - including carbon fiber. And yet, there are people that seek out old, outdated bicycles. I make bamboo because I like the old school aspect of what is already an archaic, outdated method of fishing. The same reason I traded in my auto loader shotgun for a side by side. To each his own. And I have no criticism of any efforts to reduce weight. I was just pointing out, that for some of us, it isn’t a consideration.

[Seabowisha Salmo T]

If one has the opportunity and the skill to take advantage of and fish a Per Brandin, Marty Karstetter, Jim Hidy, Jim Reams, Tim Andersen....rod built out to contemporary standards, using all the nuances properly hollowing and apportioning the weight across the working length of the rod, then it would become very obvious that these folks have advanced the design and construction of bamboo rods to another level. There is nothing extreme with their work, thoughtful intentional consideration of every element /component and its affect on rod action, along with building off the work of notably E. C. Powell, has notable benefits. These are bamboo rods, not some chemically modified product. They are built just like a traditional bamboo rod with more advanced design thinking applied to better the rod's performance.

Look at a bicycle from 1920 and then 2020. Generally they look and function very much the same, yet the advancement in technologies, materials and design thinking make the two ride like night and day.

And as far as bamboo not being for big water and big fish, yikes, I am speechless! I only use bamboo and catch my share of 20+ inch fish every year. I fish steelhead, atlantic salmon and night fish big browns in Michigan. I have never felt undergunned or compromised in these efforts. A fly rod is a tool, and like any tool as history shows time and again, properly used by an experienced hand has way more to do with the final outcome then the tool.

thanks, carl; i couldn't have said that nearly as well as you did.

highest regards, . jim w

Carl

[Seabowisha Salmo T]

Just my opinion. It seems like a bit of forcing a round peg into a square hole, but if people want to push the extremes then it really isn’t my business to pass judgment. Just not my bag.

why square peg in round hole. bamboo is a superior material for fishing rods if kept in reasonable condition and employed in sensible manner.

jim w

[LeeO]

I disagree that is a superior material. Carbon and fiberglass will last essentially forever with almost no care. I can buy a few hundred glass blanks off of Alibaba and crank out rods way easier than making a bamboo rod. I do it because I simply enjoy it. If it were really about efficiency a Zebco and bait will outfish a fly rod every time. Again, it is not a criticism of weight reduction, I just personally don’t do it. I also avoid making rods longer than 8’. All of my 9’ and longer rods are synthetic. Just giving a different opinion. And to be even more contrary I see no benefit in balancing rods either. But I may get into weight reduction one day and be amazed at what I was missing.

[Seabowisha Salmo T]

I disagree that is a superior material. Carbon and fiberglass will last essentially forever with almost no care. I can buy a few hundred glass blanks off of Alibaba and crank out rods way easier than making a bamboo rod. I do it because I simply enjoy it. If it were really about efficiency a Zebco and bait will outfish a fly rod every time. Again, it is not a criticism of weight reduction, I just personally don’t do it. I also avoid making rods longer than 8’. All of my 9’ and longer rods are synthetic. Just giving a different opinion. And to be even more contrary I see no benefit in balancing rods either. But I may get into weight reduction one day and be amazed at what I was missing.

bamboo - time tested since before 2,000 b c. superior to all substitutes!

[Tim Anderson]

Bamboo has, for me, a very great advantage over glass and graphite rods: I can make the taper I want. Fast, slow, soft tip, stiff tip, all variations are possible. That is unfortunately not the case with glass and graphite. Very few of us have a range of mandrels and the equipment to roll our own blanks. Sure, there are good blanks to purchase, but we must accept what the manufacturer produces.

Weight reduction for longer cane rods is one of the ways to tailor their performance, which I enjoy doing. It is fun to design and produce a rod that casts and fishes well.

Tim

[henkverhaar]

Bamboo has, for me, a very great advantage over glass and graphite rods: I can make the taper I want.

Bingo - that is _my_ primary reason to do bamboo too. ;-)