I too have a interest in demographics, Where Rod Building is conderned the major aspect always discussed seems so be location, With an interest on where's the DRAW's from and how much of a far reaching effect do we have for a given event. Lots of other demopgraphic studies look at the age of the ppl attending, and its sort of a personal thing to ask, so it can be easily overlooked, (if not intentially seeking to derive data for demographic profiling), where as location is staring you in the face if you get any sort of responce at all to advanced ticket sales. . A good demographic to draw favor with are younger 8-11 yr old children as it can represent longevity with most of their life ahead of them and eager parents with money in their pockets willing to please.

Then there is the older demographic profile; retired with disposible income, and lots of time to fish and build rods, looking for hobbies to fill the 40 hr void or avert their attention from the long honey-do list. This is the most growing segment of the population in the US and has driven many service oriented companies throught this progressively aging segments evolution. I just wonder what the average attendee's age is, realizing that the local (or ajoning states) draw will be the biggest with the cheapest investment, they should have the greatest proportion of younger ppl, as it has less of a economoic, and time incurred toll, than having to come from a greater distance, lets say over 250 mi. I just wondered if the amount of rod builders grew in direct proportion to the amount of time and disposible income one has to invest? and might bare out my assumption (at this point) that the average rod builder is older in the 45-65 yr range. And if it is not close to that now, it would soon be exactly in that range.

Chris Karp Wrote:

> average rod builder is older in the 45-65 yr
> range. And if it is not close to that now, it
> would soon be exactly in that range.

I thought the same thing, but most of the people I met in Charlotte the past 2 years were considerably younger. Unless teh old farts avoided me because of my beard, lol. About 90% of the Rodbuilders in the NERBs are younger than 45 as well. I think most of the internet Rodbuilders are in teh 25-40 year old spread, but that has a lot to do with a lot of people calling a computer a confuser (where's Bummy?)

im 23 and my friend that builds his rods is 24 and we are helping a couple other people the same age getting started

maybe the average rodbuilders age will go down

I agree with Billy, The big majority of builders at the show were young (except me, Bill Stevens and Ralph O'Quinn) Like Tom has often said, the vast majority of builders don't buy RM, belong to organizations, use the internet or know many other rodbuilders, so those demographics would be pretty difficult to obtain.
Jon,
Glad to see that you're spreading it around! It's builder's your age that are the future of the craft!! Keep it up

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2007 11:25PM by Mike Barkley.

I think Chris is probably correct. My guess would be " Baby Boomers" ( me being one) recently retired are building the most rods, other than the folks that own their on fishing related business. As Tom stated in an earlier post, a lot of people will build 1 or 2 rods and you never hear from them again, I think these are the younger people that are still out there beating out a living. Us old codgers already retired, get our check mailed to us and we got a lot of time on our hands. Hey , we enjoy this habit too, dont we Mike Barkley.
jbh

Yeppers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

I agree with Billy, my father for example would never go to a computer to answer whatever was pondering him. The new younger computer generation, (myself included) in fact cannot live without the internet. It is such an incredible vast source of information available at your fingertips! If it were not for this board i would not know half the things i do about rod building, let alone rodmaker magazine or the rod building expo. It is more probable to assume a young person will come across this board than an older person because of computer litteracy.

I use 'google' or 'wilkipedia' to find information about anything several times a day. It is no wonder why there is such an influx of young people.

calvin

Calvin got to add my bit, Im 65 and would be lost without my desk top and my lap top. Im a little older than the average babyboomer but i believe that the baby boomers are retireing with a lot of computer savy. The last 20 yrs of there prof. life has been the biggest growth in computer technology.

PAul

Paul@soonercustomrod.com

Paul, I don't think he or I meant to imply people over a certain age are not computer savvy. On teh whole, you'll find more of the younger generation on computers, probably 95% of HS'ers have to use a computer to type up their homework assignments/reports, and 00% of college students.

I also think (I have no proof, but in my stereotypical brain) that if you take 100 retired fishermen and 100 college grads, teach them how to build a rod - in 5 years the retired class will have a lot more guys still builder than teh younger group.

Billy: I'm here and this thing is still a confuser. I really hope that there are lots of the younger builders like yourself. It is what the craft needs. I had an old boss who liked to say 'We did it that way in 1945 and we are going to do it that way now." Bummy

I would think there would be a greater majority of younger ppl at the show that come more from the localized High Point NC and the state immediately surrounding. I would also have to believe the mean average age would have to increase with the baby boomers edging up towards retirement or rearly retirement they effect everything else they encountered and this segment has transitioned through life, I think rod building will fit the bill nicely for them. I would have to agree computers can be a daunting undertaking for ppl not used to them, or set in their ways , no one likes change, and no one likes a situation where you miss one thing, or do one thing incorrectly and your out of luck

John, I cannot believe you read that. Good to see you still reading the boards.

You cannot rely on a regional draw at a rod building event. Rod builders don't exist in enough density in any one area for any large scale show to be able to make a go of it on a regional basis alone.


................

Unless someone is going into business or doing it for lots of friends, you would expect infrequent bursts of rod building and low quantities from most people. Personally, I have about 12 rod/reel combos. That pretty well covers everything I fish for. Maybe 6 get frequent usage. I intend to redo 3 of them, and build 2 or 3 new ones from scratch as I retire the my iffy rods. But after that, it isn't like I will be building one a month. Some guys I know may want a repair here or there, and possibly want help to build a rod or three,,,, but that's about it. Surely most folks are doing rod building similarly,,,, for rods they use themselves.

Personally, I also like design challenges and DIY. Most people I know do not. More and more people are becoming more specialized in their skills and knowledge. Most are not interested in spending hours and hours learning, tool acquisition, dedicating space, etc to build a few fishing rods. They just open their wallets. And I probably would as well, if it weren't for me wanting to have acid wraps on my heavier rods, and the fact that there is no mass production of such available off-the-shelf. Now that I'm poking around, my inquiring nature has me experimenting and trying to be bulletproof.

So far as the computer thing,,, it is a fact of life for most people today. This BBS/forum fills a big hole so far as I can see. The most recommended comprehensive books (by Clemens) on rods are long out of print. You can get them for a price, but even so at least the rod building book would be a bit dated. Billy's book will help quite a few folks, I think, who are less than comfy online. And while there is a ton of aggregated info on this site, you do have to do a fair bit of rummaging around, which is where books are helpful as well.

BTW,,,,, for any demographic bean countering,,,,, I'm 46, wife&kid&mortgage. Reasonably tech savy, database specialist.