At 11:13 PM 2/6/2004, you wrote:
I have one I can tell.
I had a friend visiting from back east. He had not made his first bamboo rod yet and I was showing him around the shop.
I offered to let him cast my rod #1, the first bamboo rod I had made.
I rigged it up and handed it to him.
As he started to make his cast I heard a crack.
I was standing on the leader.
Tony
Michael B. Bliss wrote:
I could add a big knucklehead on rod breaking (with a Redington). I found I was late to an appointment with the wife and I was on the Provo. I hurried to the car. Rather than taking time to put the rod away, I broke it down and put in the back seat. Off I flew. Quickly after starting up I heard a craaaack. Oh no! I looked in the back but the rod was there. So I kept going. I went on and then heard a sizzzzzzzzzzzz. I looked back to see my reel with line burning off it. I pulled over. I had hooked my wheel, the snap was my rod. Thank goodness Redington did not ask what stupid thing I did to bring the rod in. It was when there was still the walk in replacement. I walked out with a new rod. Put a new line on the reel and I was out again - just a little wiser and much more careful with my equipment.
Mike ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Davenport" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, February 06, 2004 4:39 PM Subject: Re: [VFB] Redington warranty (confessions of a knucklehead)
Thanks for the post, Wes. It could be the outline for a new book, "Rod Care for Complete Idiots" (read knuckleheads)". How many of these tips were learned the hard way?
On Feb 6, 2004, at 6:58 PM, Wes Wada wrote:
EEEk! What an awful thread...like fingernails on a chalkboard.
After breaking several rods in ever more inventive ways, I can offer these tips:
1. If you have the right kind of vehicle, lay your rod on TOP of your car when rigging up. Don't lay it against the side of the vehicle or anywhere near a door or gate or dog. (Thanks to friend Bill K. for this tip.)
2. If you buy a reel-on-rod storage case (those nylon fabric and tube thingees with the zipper that goes around your reel), ONLY buy one where the zipper starts at the END of the tube and closes in the direction of the middle of the tube. That is NOT a common design. The badly designed ones let the tip of your rod fall or poke out when the zipper is not completely sealed shut! (anyone want some rod cases, cheap!?)
3. Don't use those velcro rod holders on your float tube. They put your rod tip at risk just by snagging something in passing. (bummer!)
4. Never lose your temper with a rod in your hand. (guilty!)
5. When playing a big fish, keep both hands on the cork of your rod, always. Don't grab the rod higher up on the blank. (not guilty on this one so far!)
6. Rods were not meant to flex 180 degrees when landing a fish. (not guilty on this one either!)
7. When walking with your rod through brush, hold the rod butt end in front with the tip trailing behind. (graphite blanks make lousy machetes.)
8. Give me a few more moments, and I'll come up with more ways of trashing your prize possession.
Wes Wada Bend, Oregon
Tom Davenport wrote:
"a lifetime guarantee that can be abused by knuckleheads who abuse/neglect their equipment ..."
I resemble that remark. Here are the accounts of all the rods I have broken, all under lifetime warranty, all replaced. I was making around 180 short, 2 to 3 hour fsihing trips a year when most of these breaks happend. You decide if I qualify for the coveted "Knucklehead" title:
