While surfing the internet I came across this statement and picture.

This blank was constructed using a technique similar to the Hextekâ„¢ manufacturing process pioneered by the Cape Fear Rod Company.
This process involves bonding six T-shaped segments together forming three individual I-beams within the rod blank.
The design eliminates the traditional spine of the rod, ensuring that when the rod is flexed there is no side to side pull.
Our rod blank is similar in design to the Cape Fear rods but stronger and far superior to traditional rods.
Each has additional layers of fiberglass wrapped around the rod blank to dramatically increase the overall strength and functionality of the rod.
This rod offers unparalleled sensitivity, durability, and incredible strength.



[www.rodbuilding.org]

If this design is so fantastic then why are the other blank manufactures not using this design?

I have always heard really good things about the Cape Fear blanks from the offshore crowd around here, but I would think the cost to manufacture a blank like that is the biggest drawback. I imagine is much more difficult to make than a standard blank that is rolled on a mandrel.

For the same reason that the aviation layups used by GUSA and CTS hasn't taken the rodbuilding world by storm. It cost more, and the overseas blank factories used by most would have to retool.

Mainly because the performance such construction offers is not up to par with the better tubular/linear construction process. A tube gives you more stiffness/power for the weight involved.

The old Cape Fear Rods were indeed tough, and indeed heavy. These are likely along the same lines. Raford Trask, president of Cape Fear once told me that you could cut halfway through one of those rods with a hacksaw and it would stay together. So, if you need a rod that you plan to cut into with a hacksaw, or something that is going to withstand some tremendous abuse, they could be for you. If you're strickly looking for performance, they won't likely be what you're after.

You just have decide what attributes you require and make your blank selection from there.

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I have used a few of their heavier offshore models. Absolutely the toughest thing out there IMHO - There are a few lighter inshore models, but I have not handled those, but I hear they are not heavy. It is all about give and takes... The Hex design definitely gives some attributes that tubes can not - you probably have to see and use one to appreciate. Think about I-beam "i" construction, twist, crushing force, etc...

-Steve

Tampa, FL

Unless blank weight is your paramount consideration in a rod, the Cape Fear design was, and is, the strongest rod with the widest capability in any of the designs offered. They were built tough, from the grips to the tip.

The Cape fear blanks and rods themselves were quite expensive because the manufacturing process was quite expensive. But across the board, whether casting, spinning, trolling, live-bait or any other specialty, these rods were the most versatile sticks I've ever owned. Obviously, "absolute" weight was never one of my issues. My 6-1/2' casting rod is usually paired with an Abu-Garcia 6500 or a Boss270. The 7' spinner usually packs a Van Staal 150. The stories these rods hold about fish(es)-of-a-lifetime are - well, "priceless".

I've still got two, a 6-1/2 casting rod and a 7' "Matamuskeet" commerative spinner. I'm in the process of changing out the guides now, partly because some of the original guides were starting to show some corrosion (my fault) and partly because I want to maximize the design with current technology (i.e., high-frame VS3 or A-frame styles). When one of our local stores folded I was able to get a 7' live-baiter for $150 and I later sold it for $250 and I've regretted it ever since.

For those for whom minimum weight is a holy grail, I'm sorry if I've upset or offended you. But in many cases, this is the finest blank I can recommend, for me personally, and for our customers. I'd rather rebuild one of these, than do a scratch build of almost anything else.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods

Spencer can you give us a little detail about "aviation layups" don't think I've heard that term before. Are you referring to structural tresses in the blank itself or something else??

Dave

Used to be some info on the GUSA site. Also a lot of info in the archives and some of the graphite gurus explained the pros and cons of the different layups. There is no extra trusses of foof, it's all in how you lay the materials on the mandrels.
Essentially the aerospace industry needed to increase the fatique life of graphite structures, so they came up with a different layup than what was originally used to make fiberglass blanks, etc they using in WW II which got the name of the textile layup by some.

Dave, GUSA calls it the "Dual Helix". On the new GUSA COmposite blanks which have the DHX, the tip has lifting power due to teh design of the blank, whereas a lot of glass and composite rods need to have a much larger OD and more material in the tip...and a lot of them still flatten out when a fish is on.

It has never been hard to make a rod blank that is super tough - that's easy to do. To make one extremely light and extremely durable (resistant to abuse) at the same time is very hard.

I built the very first 2 HexTek blanks that came off the production line. These were 1-piece fly rod for Billy Pate made by request of Raford Trask, the company president. The rods worked fine but were extremely heavy and inefficient (sloppy even). As you might imagine, this isn't good for almost any sort of fly rod. It wouldn't be nearly as important for boat and trolling rods, of course.

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I am hearing a mixed signal here - is it being said that the CTS blank design and construction leaves something to be desired???
Herb

I haven't ready anything like that. I think we're discussing the HexTek and similar type products - all of which were designed for use in structures related to buildings and bridges. If I recall, what Cape Fear sold was the HexTek design that originated in Australia.

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