Does anyone know what % of rods sold the big rod companies see returned broken? I read that 98% of all broken rods are "operator error", and not defect, but what I am interrested in is what percent of rods sold get returned broken, regardless of reason.

Thanks!

Marc

Not sure. It's a safe bet that most broken rods never get returned. A few are returned to dealers who offer across the counter replacements (most are not supposed to do this but it's the Wal-Mart policy and their wholesalers honor it).

The better and more expensive rods are owned by fishermen who are more likely to return them to the manufacturer. Tom Bedell at Berkely told me that in 1986 Berkely replaced over 12,000 Lightning Rods as part of their "no-fault" replacement policy, but he didn't say how many they had sold to begin with. Only that the 25 cents added to each rod to make the replacements possible would have allowed them to replace as many as 16,000 rods before losing anything.

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I am always amused when I see statistics such as those quoted that 98% of the broker rods are due to "operator error." Just who came up with that number and how did they arrive at it? Throwing unsupported "scientific" numbers like that around has as little validity as "anecdotal" numbers. Using my own anecdotal numbers, the percentage of "Operator error" caused breakage is only 67% (2 car door slams crushes vs 1 fly rod snapping during cast). But that sort of thing really means nothing.

While I would not argue that more fishing rods a broken due to unusually dumb things done to fishing rods by anglers, I just don't think that there is any way one can accurately measure this degree of "Dumbness" in the fishing community.

it is said that 84.37% of the time, figures are pulled out from nowhere... this one included....

sorry... couldn't resist

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Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day..
Teach a man to fish, he'll be broke!

That number comes from the companies that make the blanks and rods. From the products returned, it isn't hard to see what caused a rod to break - defect or customer abuse.

If you continue compiling your own anecdotal evidence to the point where you can draw your percentage from tens of thousands of broken rods, that figure of 67% is likely to rise to the number quoted by Marc.

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I repair on average about 300 rods a year. Small numbers granted but I always ask "how" the rod broke and many of the anglers will give me an honest answer. I have only returned one rod to St. Croix in the last 10 years that was a "defect". You could see and measure the difference in blank wall size. ST. Croix agreed. 80% operator error? At least that amount probably more.

I don't have a magic number, but I can throw this at you. I've been designing blanks for St. Croix for 13 years. We have a machine "The Blank Analyzer" which allows us to test the durability of blanks. Over these years I have put thousands and thousands of them on this machine and have had only one break from what I would call a manufacturing defect. The rest...........took an extreme amount of flex to get them to blow up. For what it's worth, I thought I'd pass that along. Oh yeah, the 2 St. Croix 's I broke while fishing......totally my fault......darn boat cleats!

Jason Brunner
St. Croix Rods

"Oh yeah, the 2 St. Croix 's I broke while fishing......totally my fault......darn boat cleats!"

I do hope that you didn't try to slip those past the warranty department ... LOL.

So far, I have yet to see a broken rod that didn't show evidence of impact damage, highsticking OR overlining. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean I haven't replaced rods at, or near, my out-of-pocket expense as a show of goodwill.

GREAT to hear about your experience Jason. Very reassuring to hear about your 'stats' through the years. Thanks for posting.

Mo

I have had a fair number of fly rods and blanks break over the years that were not my fault and I am pretty sure I did not damage. When you wrap a new blank and go out into the driveway and the middle section splits lengthwise about a foot long in the middle of the section I see that as a rod problem. . Perhaps they sanded the scrim too thin? This blank was a replacement for one that had a very sharp crook in it, so I know they do not all come out straight. I think it is hard to design and manufacture a light rod from graphite and some of the companies cut corners in quality control and perhaps design.