I've been looking into these Unibutts and especially the Storabutts offered by Aftco. After seeing their prices I almost fainted! I might not be getting any of these soon unless I hit the lottery. However, I've gone over past threads and downloaded Aftco's catalog and se that they offer collet nuts and ferrules. So other than a harness to set the umniutt into while fighting a fish, what other items are needed to complete the assembly for mounting a unibutt/storabutt?

I've searched the archives and only found a post on using fiberglass mesh with epoxy to build the arbor prior to instalation, but not much else. Is there a link anywhere on "Unibutts for Dummies?

And because of the costs I was wondering if anyone ever fashioned a homemade unibutt of some sort, I can build the entire rod for what these cost. Thanks.

Tim, check with Fishsticks4u. Batson has the equivilent I think it may be cheaper in price but not quality. That's the unibut that I use. Call Ray or Robert and talk with them about it. Theu're very knowlegable on the saltwater products.

Skip

First off, what are you building? Unibutts are needed for offshore IGFA trolling rods. They're luxuries on most anything else. Do you need to be able to remove the rod butt/reel assembly for storage or security? Do you need a StoraButt so that you can take the handle itself into two pieces?

Most stand-up rods are short enough that you can store them without having to remove the butt, thus they're usually built "straight-through" on the blank itself. Don't worry over the price of something that you may not even need.

There will be a little on Uni-Butts in the archives but a ton more in RodMaker Magazine.

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

Try @#$%&. I have seen some there that look like the aftcos but are clones. Pac bay also makes them.

To shim the ferrule on the uni-butt I use 1/4 masking tape, 1/4" space, over the length of blank going in the ferrule. Put the tip of the blank in your dryer motor and coat the end with the tape with rod finish, two coats if needed. Sand on a belt sander untill you get a snug fit and glue ferrule in place.The finish will not compress and makes a good bushing. Jesse

I have used the 2" wide fiberglass mesh tape with great results but it is time consuming because it has eventually be sanded down to fit inside of the ferrule. A couple of sawed off rings off the end of the blank also works nice but again time consuming to make it fit "just right" Also if the rod is going to be in a rod holder and under alot of tension (trolling) an aluminum butt is nice to have to avoing chewing up the EVA/Hypalon Etc. My.02

If you build a "straight-through" rod, use one of the hard plastic Tuff-Butts to avoid having EVA or Hypalon chewed up on the rod holders. Uni-Butts are great, but you needn't use them just to protect the end of the rod. The Tuff or Slick Butts will do the same job for a fraction of the price. Just another idea to consider.

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

Thanks for all the help guys, I'm still on my "Making it easier for my older brother" kick who has really bad shoulders, and gets whipped after 2-3 Salmon fights. I've wrapped a large Delron ring onto the front of an NPS reelseat on his Batson Salomon rod and fashioned a harness that goes around his shoulders and can clip onto the ring so he can lean backwards when a Salmon strikes. If one of those short curved unibutts would make it easier for him then I'll build him another Salomon rod. He did alot for me growing up so I'd like to return the favor while I still can.