Good Morning Folks,

I just finished reading the post from Chris Garrity about his transportation woes regarding a surf rod blank and the replies he received. I would really like a good open discussion about one piece rods vs. multi-piece rods. Back when I started building rods, this same debate was occurring also. At that time we only had metal ferrules (Nickel Silver, Anodized Aluminum, and Chrome Plated Brass). The one piece folks felt that the ferrules created flat spots which had negative effects on the action of a rod and may also be a weakness. The other side argued that the convenience of the multi-piece rod was worth any decrease in action and the very slight weakness of a ferrule. By the way I have never seen a ferrule fail--not that it can't, I just have never witnessed such a failure.

However, with the development and evolution of the fiberglass and graphite ferrules I'm not sure there is any decrease in action and I have never seen a modern ferrule fail either. I have had only two rods break. One was a fly rod I had fished with for over 15 years and I still think the break occurred because I may have nicked the rod with a weighted streamer. The other was a rod built from a very inexpensive blank and it broke midway between the grip and the ferrule. So I am asking for opinions from those of you who favor one piece vs. those who favor multi-piece rods. All of my rods that I build have been multi-piece rods including a surf rod which consists of a 30 inch butt section with a screw in ferrule and a two piece 9 foot tip section. I chose the multi-piece rods for their convenience. I hope people will provide their reasons for preferring one over the other. Thanks for your insight. I look forward to all of your responses.

Mike Blomme

Most people can't live with long single piece rods. Expensive shipping, hard to store, and hard to transport. Everything I have over 7' is multipiece. Is the action the same? Perhaps not, but I can't tell the difference in the non-metal ferrules used now. And a two piece I can live with is certainly better than a one piece I would never buy because I can't live with it. Frankly even a 7' rod is too long for some people to have as one piece.

Not many downsides to owning good multi-piece rods these days. If there were, fly fishermen certainly couldn't get by with their 3, 4 and 5 piece sticks.

But many long time surf fisherman can't get past the poor ferrules of days gone by and won't have anything but a 1-piece rod. If you can transport it, that's still a good way to go. But there is little to be afraid of with multi-piece rods these days.

My own perference is to go with the fewest number of pieces that I can comfortably transport and store. In some cases that is a 1-piece rod, in other cases it's a 2-piece rod. Once assembled, I really don't give much thought to how many pieces the rod has.

..........

There is only one reason in my mind for a ferrule in a rod and that is the problems with transporting and storing a single piece rod. There is also no question in my mind that todays ferrules are vastly superior to older metal ferrules or even of earlier glass or graphite ferrules. But ferrules do have disadvantages. They have to aligned, sometimes result in the rod twisting in use, they get foreign material in them and result in some wear, but more importantly they add a little weight and there is always at least a slight stiffening of the rod in the area of the ferrule.
As far as ferrule breakage is concerned, I have not seen a ferrule itself break either in a long time but I have seen many rods break a few inches in front of the ferrule. This breakage just in front of the ferrule is caused by a phenomena called stress concentration. The stress tends to be much higher in a rod just in front of the ferrule due to the change in stiffness so when a rod is heavily loaded just in front of the ferrule is where it is likely to break.

.... which would seem to say that a rod manufactured and designed as a two piece has an edge over a homemade. Least if they build it right, they probably stiffen/reinforce the blank progressively going into the ferrule.

And yeah, I have never broken a ferrule. The few I have seen others break I wondered if they had them tight to start with.

Dave,
Where they tend to break due to stress concentration is not on the butt side of the ferrule but on the tip side of the ferrule or on the female side of most of todays ferrules.
I will bet that many here will have seen these breaks due to stress concentration though they may or may not have know what caused the break.

AHMEN EMORY...

I formerly lived in Pacifica, Ca. just south of S.F. and I built better than two hundred Sevier Surf Blanks
in the 9 ft. class for a local bait shop and many of these blanks failed on the tip end of the blank and
upon putting these breaks under a magnifing glass it seemed like every last one had thin walls at about
3 inches above the female ferrule. These were very in-expensive blanks but, all in all the headaches were
not worth it [irate customers] I would venture to say I lost 1 in 10 to the ferrule break but never lost a single
one piece or a St. Croix or Lamiglas two piece. I might add that these rods were throwing mostly nothing
but less than 1 1/2 oz. Hair Raisers.

Tight Lines
Tight Wraps
Fishin'Stix by Fred

I prefer multi-piece rods because of transport. Until I find an affordable roof rack for my Ford Focus, my one piece rods are rather obsolete, though I'm working on an acceptable "in-cab" roof mount, that will run rods from the back dash to the front dash. With today's technology, and with what I generally build, I see no real difference between solid and multi's among rods in the same class. If I could just find a decent and affordable three piece S-glass blank that is worthy of big blue and flathead catfish in the MIssissippi and Missouri rivers.

I wish we would see more two pc rods. I think the up-sides far out weight the down. Even if you usually fish from a boat with a rod locker, it's nice to be able to take your favorite rod on evening trips to fish from shore or piers. I know so many people who vacation with family and don't have space for even 6'6" one pc. rods.

And with today's two or three pc. rods, the difference in feel is almost undetectable. And from a builders stand point, it is so much easier for shipping, and warranty work to just re-build the tip section, as most of the work is in handle end, and tips account for 95% of the breaks I've seen. And if ferrules were such a bad thing, could Sage sell 3 and 4 pc. fly rods for $500?

Just my $.02.

Marc

I am with Marc, I would prefer to see MANY more multi-piece rods. Not only do I agree with all of Marc's points ... but I also doubt we would see as many of those tip breaks if the rods were shorter when broken down. Most of my repair/replacement work has to do with "hatchet jobs" done by rod lockers, car doors, trunks, tonneau covers, etc. Those issues would be moot if the rod were only 2-4' long when disassembled.

I think that there are advantages and disadvantages to both one piece and multi-piece rods. And it seems to me that it is a question of trade offs and matching your needs to the trade offs. But to suggest that there are no disadvantages to multi-piece rods I think is simply ignoring some of the facts.

I agree that there are some trade offs for multi pc. rods, but most blank manufacturers have a huge selection of one pc. vs a very limited selection of two pc. rods, I am talking spinning and casting rods here. There will always be a place for both, it would just be nice for us two pc. guys to have a little more to pick from.

Marc