So many things have already been written on this topic that I was really hesitating to ask once again the never-ending question: single foot or snake guides?
The thing is that I usually build my rods with some single foot guides, but for once I was thinking about using some snake guides for a SAGE XP 10’ 4wt 4 pieces that I have here.

I have already built a 10’ 4wt rod but it was a 2 pieces one and I didn’t hesitate one second to use some single foot guides, but with this 4 pieces rod I really have some concern about it.
The thing is that I have never built a SAGE rod with some single foot guides and I don’t really know how it will look…..

I normally use single foot guides because I am convinced that it saves weight with just one thread per guide instead of two, but this time I found some very light snake guides and I was thinking about putting just one coat of varnish only on the thread and nothing the blank so as to enable me to save weight also.

Can anybody make any comments on that? I know it may sound strange, I have already built several rods but right now I am a kind of lost and I really need some input from you guys.

Hi Frantz
I can only help with a comparison i did on a sage factory 9 ft #6 TCR,i own a factory rod and decided to build a second TCR using single leg REC guides but the same spacings,my conclusion was this,although the custom rod felt a little lighter in the hand there was no difference in the casting distance or fishability of the rod although i did notice that the custom built rod was a little faster in the recovery of the top sections during the cast and the line speed a little different.
I hope that this rough test a did helps you in your choice.
All the best for 2007.

Bry

Thank you very much Bryan this was exactly the kind of information I was looking for....

Happy New year

Frantz

The one thing I have noticed with the high quality single foot ceramics is in the feel of the rod. With the expensive (sensitive) blanks it feels to me the line friction is less than traditional wire guides. The vibration in my casting hand is where I really notice the difference. Ceramics feel a lot smoother to me.
My friends with traditional snake guides think I'm sacreligious but since using the ceramics I haven't been able to switch back on any of my own rods.

Ron