Would there be any damage done to a rod if the butt end was left open and some water got into it? I understand the importance of the overall rods comfort with added weight near the end to help balance a rod. But say I put an eva butt camp on with the end open and the eva 3/8" past the end of the blank to protect it from bumping and standing on end, would water do any damage to the blank if it was left open and allowed to dry out on it's own if water did happen to get inside?

Andrew,

First of all I don't think leaving the end open will do any harm to the rod/blank. The only initial draw back is getting dirt or other debris inside the rod. As for damage to the blank, unless you are going to leave it out in the open and have constant exposure to the elements I cannot think of anything that can happen. All the materials are cured and any incidental water that may get on or in the butt area should be able to dry with no issues. Just out of curriosity, why do you want to leave it open?

Tight lines,

John Hernandez

I just built a full rod, a phenix ultra MBX 700MH, fuji ECS cut seat, eva handles, ti-sic fuji 3.5 micros spiral wrapped to the tip. Total rod weight came to 2.84oz. I think I can take more weight off that without affecting the fishability of the rod, more of a personal challenge for me for a personal rod. I would never build a rod for someone else like this unless they really really really begged me to do it but I'm thinking:

Skinnier handle

more cut off the seat

no winding checks

no accent wraps

take more material off the grip, and then rib the handle with a triangle file

no label, or finish to cover the label

I think I could hit 2.6 oz if I really pushed it, but it would be a rod for myself.

Why not just do a VERY small eva or cork plug? Somthing like 1/4" think in there? If you even get a little mud or junk in there it would end up being more than the little plug in the first place?? I would also agree though that I could not see it hurting anything. And oh yea WOW that is lite!

Andrew,
Certainly you could leave off the butt cap.
You could also leave off the reel seat and the handle.

If you want to really save weight, tape the reel to the blank, tie on about 4 guides and call it good.

It wouldn't be a very comfortable rod to fish with, but you would certainly save weight.

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Having said that, most folks find that the butt cap - with its small amount of weight puts a bit of weight on the rod - right where you need it. i.e. many many rods tend to get pretty tip heavy. There are some types of fishing as was pointed out the other day that actually favor a rod that is heavy on the tip.

But - leaving the butt cap off with certainly not hurt the rod. Just check the rod from time to time and dig out any dirt that might be up on the inside of the rod.
If you want to plug the end, you could make a plug out of cork that weighs about 1 gram and seal the end of the rod.

Roger

Andrew: i used 3 of those 1 inch foam balls Mudhole was selling at one time to build grips and my butt piece was also one of those balls. Nothing as a cap in the back of the blank and no harm that i could see occured.
This was on a SJ720-mhx. reel seat drilled out like swiss cheese with many small holes rather than a few bigger ones.TiCH Minima 4's for guides (very light, compare them to what you are using).
Two coats of PG over the wraps instead of epoxy (you better want those guides there, they are there to stay!).
You can cut the weight way down in many ways.
I think the Phenix blanks may be even lighter than the MHX that i used but i have not tried them yet.
Not the site for it, but you may also want to look at modifying your reels to cut down the weight there too.

Steve Gardner.....you have rubbed off on these guys! LOL

DR

Lou, the SJ720-mhx is listd at 1.3oz, the Phenix blank comes in at 2.02 oz., the same length and lure rated mag bass MHX comes in at 2.5 oz. I did see pics of that rod, I even sent the pics to a friend who build a rod similar to that with all of 5 cork rings on the rod, 2 for the butt, 3 for the rear grip, and micro guides.

Andrew,

I built some prototypes for a gent well known in the industry a while back that came in at 2.8oz. From building those I started making rods with split grip Tennessee handles that worked very well and came in even lighter. Just another thought for you to ponder. Looking at your email address are you in the AF. Former 13 year Marine so thought I would ask.

Tight lines,

John Hernandez

Andrew, I fished a rod that way for two years, before finally adding a cap, but never had any issues. I eventually got tired of the unfinished look.

George Forster
Fort Collins, CO