It seems that the modulus of Dan Craft blanks rivals that of high end Sage and Loomis blanks. How can the Sig V and FT be so affordable? I've heard people say that you largely get what you pay for, but everbody on this forum seems to rave about Dan Craft rods. How does he do it?

SHHHHH!! Don't let him know; he'll raise his prices through the roof!!

The big name companies have to recover a tremendous amount in advertising, some for R&D, and budget in for their lifetime unconditional warranty. They can also charge what they do because people pay it without much thought. Basically, the blanks from the other companies don't necessarily cost any more to produce, they just charge more.

As I tell my customers when they ask about a warranty, I tell them what and how I warrant my blanks, and when the question me and refer to the "big names" and their lifetime warranty, I answer them by telling them that if they want a lifetime warranty then the blank cost 10 times as much. They soon get the picture..

You're basically buying direct from the factory when you call Dan.

When you buy a Sage, the Sage factory charges the dealer about 50% of what you pay. The Sage factory has still got to make a profit off of that.
The dealer, likewise, has to make a profit, so you see the 'retail' price.

Marty,

These gentlemen are for the most part correct! Basically, we keep our overhead to a minimum by working from my home as well as getting some great help from our members and suppliers. We do offer a limited warranty on our blanks but we ask that when a blank is purchased that the purchacer is honest enough to be truthful if he has a problem with a blank. If the blank breaks and it is the purchasers fault, hopefully he says so and there is a minimum charge for a replacement of the rod section. This too helps keep prices down. Understand that we will gladly replace any rod blank or section that is problematic or breaks with no appearant reason but just being able to retrieve only the cost of materials makes it so much easier to keep our prices low. There are other deals and issues that we use that I won't go into that help keep prices down but if you think the blanks will sell better at a higher price, I will consider it
( :-))

Dan Craft

So if you're working out of the house and running a small shop, and if I'm out of line with this question just tell me "It's proprietary", are you actually rolling your own blanks or do you source that out? I'm not asking for details, I'm just curious how a small business manages to stay solvent producing a high-end product.

Our blanks are made for us here in the states at this time. Even though I have learned a little about rolling and cooking blanks and all the things that go into the making, I am by no means an expert on how it is done..

Dan Craft