I found a great little 9', 6 piece 6wt travel rod recently, at a great price. The completed rod retails for $80-90. Its made in China, though, so getting the blank is sort of a pain.. I need to get 100 pieces minimum. I expect retail on the blanks to be under $50, possibly less than 40- especially with a volume buy. I'm trying to get a feel for the market- I know I get about half a dozen requests a year for a custom rod or the blank for it in a decent quality, low priced 6 piece. Please respond with your thoughts- Steve

Steve,
My first thought is, who makes this blank, and would most people go with this un-named brand over one of known quality. Second, I feel that only you can decide if this will be a good investment for you. Are you building for individuals, or are you building rods for the general public to buy on a rack? Trying to move 100 blanks if you are getting 6 requests a year... could be a while before you see a return on this. I don't like spending a lot of cash on my rods, so when I start getting to the 3 digit mark, I like to get the best I can. I tend to think that most people do as well. Also, are you willing to stake your reputation on these blanks, especially if you intend to push them?

Steve,

We too carried such blanks for a while but interest was generally poor. Most customer's first question is; "Are they made in the USA?" We also had a 7pc series of IM6 blanks coming from the same area you are looking at. They were inexpensive and ok quality although the ferrules were quite long. We finally just got rid of the last of them and I am kind of glad to see them go. I do have a question for you. Will you feel good about putting your name and/or reputation behind a product of that quality? We sold these blanks for years and I did make a few combo rods for a couple of friends from them but I didn't charge anyone for the completed rods. I also made sure the people knew they were getting a blank from China. I would suggest thinking on this one.
We are planning a new FTL series of 6pc blanks for 2006 and they will be made here in the states, will cost a bit more but I feel pretty good about them and building on them. Remember, there is some truth to the saying, "You get what you pay for."

Dan Craft
Dan Craft Enterprises

Dan and Mick,

Thanks for the input.. its exactly what I need. As a personal rodbuilder, I am very careful of the blanks I build on, unless that is what is specifically requested. To build on these blanks, I would have to charge more than a four piece, because of the aditional labor in the extra ferrules. And yes, to spend more than a hundred dollars on a rod, you might as well spend more on a higher quality blank ( in my thinking), with a solid company behind it. For me to retail custom rods from this blank, I'd have to charge around $150. So the market I see is mostly rod builders looking for a very inexpensive blank that performs pretty well as a second rod. As with any rod I build, or sell, I would be very clear as to the source of this: made in China, with little or no warranty, but a decent second rod... used just for backpack trips, horseback, bike (saddlebags?), etc. Dan, I expect your 6 piece lineup will sell much better than 5 or 7 pieces did... for one simple reason. Packability. I don't know about your neck o the woods, but Alaska has seen an explosion of 1 man cataraft sales. Some guys do this right away, but others need a sweeper or logjam to teach them the value of putting the rod in a tube when moving on the river. having an even number of sections allows you to break it down in the middle and use a two piece rod tube... yay! I look forward to seeing the lineup, and supporting onshore business.

In my opinion, you'd be better off selling the completed rods rather than buying these blanks and building them yourself. Too much investment for far too little margin.

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Tom,

You are correct! I have been offered the completed rods on these blanks for under 20 dollars each!
A sample shows they look good but?

Dan Craft
Dan Craft Enterprises