I recently attended a sportsmans show and got to see several custom rod builders displaying their rods. Several of them built their rods using hard wood rather than cork. Most of the wood was exotic over seas type wood.

The rods looked great. I doubt there was any flex in these wood handle and I would think it would want to create a breaking point in the rods.

Are there downsides to using hard woods for handles. The rods looked great and the price of these rods reflected the amount of work it took to make the handles.

The portion of the rod where these handles are used do not flex much and thus the stiffness of a wood handle or grip is not usually a problem.

However, you do get into the problem of cosmetics versus performance/comfort. Wooden handles are usually heavy. This can be a plus if some measure of weight for balance is needed in the butt area. It can be a minus if that weight is excessive and creates a burden of fatigue on the angler who must use it. Then there is question of how it feels in the hand. It is slipperly when wet? How well does it wear and hold up to the elements that fishing rods are exposed to?

Good custom builders take these things into account, adding custom touches and embellishments in areas and places that do not detract from a rod's performance while still enhancing the cosmetic elements of the rod.

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Sad to say that many builders who display rods for sale at shows do so with an eye more for cosmetics then performance,in many cases the cost of producing a high performance rod that is very attractive can be to high to justify the prices to the average person attending these shows.Thats not to say the ones you saw weren't excellent but custom they are not. There is always that fine line that differenates between a true custom rod made for an individual then those sold as custom made for the mass market.
John

Wood handles look nice, feel good, and mainly for the recreational fisherman. They are siginficantly heavier than cork, and not likely of interest to professional guides, tournament or serious anglers. They also display well for 'variety', are good in pictures, and can make one look good on the water. For hanging onto for longer periods in the day, could be quite burdensome, thus I mention for the 'recreational' angler and this is probably a good proportion of the anglers out there.
So a market for wood handled rods becomes existent for the custom rodbuilder.

As Tom points out, there are occasions where balancing out a rod might figure with a wood handle, but it's more hit and miss due to the vast weight variations among the different woods. For example, as a hardwood very dry white ash could be very significantly lighter than
a dense oak. Also, this is maginfied greatly in longer handled rods or blanks rated for heavier line.

I do love fishing occasionally with my tamarack handled rod, but not for the entire day. (besides, it's a lucky piece in cathing big fish).

Rich
Solyrich Custom Rods.

Not Mr Grouper!! lol