i am building my first rod from a kit and the next im going to do it by parts its going to be a 6 ft6 6 forecast 4 piece im wondering what guides would be good I have thought about recoil guides the striping guide is my biggest consern any opions sugestions ect.....

rod
i have been makeing rods for about 16 years just so you know where i am comeing from, to start with the stripper would be a 12;16 or a 20 my prefrence is pac-bay. then i would use single foot titanum.
mike

A high frame 12 (SVSG type) will easily suffice.

...........

Rob,
I go with Tom & Mike, tall 12, all single foot titanium !
I'm building a 4 pc. travel rod now also.
I like Fugi

Dave von Doehren
PRRODS......If man built it , man can fix it.and if man built it man can break it !

im not really up on the differnce in guildes i see there is alot of poeple that are staring to like the single foot guides what are the benifits of a single foot does it make a differance in the action or it just maily the wraping prosses im assuming that its wraped different to being a single foot .....

Rob... I just finished several rods on these blanks. I recommend either PacBay or Hopkins & Holloway Lite Wire traditional snake guides. (I think the PacBay wire is a slightly smaller gauge than the Hopkins & Holloway wire.) You're building a pretty light, delicate rod and you want to watch the weight (without becoming a fanatic about it). I recommend one stripping guide, a PacBay "N" series one piece stamped frame with hialoy insert size 8mm. These stripping guides are designed like a traditional snake guide, so they look good when used with the traditional snakes. Blue dun or garnet thread with no color preserver both look great on the Forecast blanks. Have you chosen a reel seat? Regards, Vance

Rob,
The single foot guides are lighter, they don't restrict the bending of the blank, require less thread and less
finish, and are quite strong enough for a lot of applications. Allows for better blank performance over all.

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

i might build one of those blanks at some near point, i keep hearing great things about them. i would go for titanium coated single foot wire guides (pac bay/forecast) since they seem to require less wrapping, thereby less weight, and in my inexperience, i'm guessing less affecting the recovery speed of the blank, whatever that recovery speed would be. i'm kind of surprised as to the recommendations of a size 12 or larger stripper from several posters. i have only one years' experience but from what i've been doing so far with 7-9 foot fly rods, i would use nothing larger than a 10. the size 8 rec piques my interest. and personally, i too really like the style of the Pac Bay N style strippers.

since this is a light line rod (i'm assuming fly here) you might consider a downlocking cap and ring reel seat, my fave lately. i have a nice bellinger nickle silver but find my very inexpensive $12 aluminum hardware DL cap and ring seats seem to hold the reel better. the DL C&R seats are light and have a streamlined appearance to them. for me and my sometimes sloppy style, there's less catching of the loose fly line on the butt end than with the standard uplocking screw type of reel seats. email me if you'd like some suggested sources for DL C&R reel seats. good luck. whatever you decide, it should be a cool little small stream rod.


eric
fresno, ca.