I am saving about 100 dollars if I build my Sage VXP rod vs. buying it. Look I'm not in this hobby to save money but it's interesting to see how low the price of rods are getting. It's like when I started tying flies to save money. LOL I don't want to know how much I've spent on flytying materials. Bill

Depends on the blank i guess. 7 ft St Croix i can buy a ready built one from Dicks for about 30% less than just the blank is from anyone i have ever tried! Plus no $20 shipping and handling. But it has never been about the price for me.

Different folks build rods for different reasons. There are certainly a lot of pluses to buying a commercially manufactured rod. Price and warranty are two of those.

I chose to begin building rods because I couldn't find what I wanted in an off the shelf rod. At this point, I'd have a hard time going back to commercially produced rods due to the handle and grip ergonomics problem I find with them. They don't fit me. What I build is a joy for me to use. That's the #1 reason I build my own rods.

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

Ditto Tom here...

Yes you can buy ready-made rods cheaper than what you can build in many cases. The difference is in the components and the actual build. I have seen production rods at very reasonable prices, but they typically have set-ups and components that I don't care for. Not that they won't work, or catch fish, but they aren't what I want on a rod. Fly rods, for example, usually come with snake guides and, what I would consider, an under-sized stripper guide. The grips are so thin they aren't comfortable to hold for very long, and they are typically plain to look at. Some people like all that, but not me or most of the people I build rods for. So I build my fly rods with a nice comfortable grip with some detail in the cork, a fancier reel seat, a larger stripper guide, and single-foot running guides usually with ceramic inserts because that's what I like and in my opinion they perform better than snakes. To each his own, but as Tom and Lou both said, it's not about saving money for sure.

I am with you on the fly tying too...I could have bought alot of flies just for what I paid for my Renzetti vice...lol

Matt Smith
Greensboro, NC

I see StCroix 7 foot finished rods at $390 vs $185 for the same blank. You would have to try pretty hard to end up with more than $205 in the rest of the components.

When you add up the cost of all the rod building tools and supplies you'll need to make a nice rod, the first rod you build may end up costing you several hundred dollars more than a similar store-bought rod.

Rods number 2 through 84,999 will cost you less, and there will not be another rod exactly like them in the world.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2011 12:06PM by Gary Snyder.

It's a widely known fact that building your own rod is MUCH less expensive than buying one. Please do nothing to clear up this myth...um - fact! Many relationships depend on this. (It's FRIDAY)

_________________________________________
"Angling is extremely time consuming.
That's sort of the whole point." - Thomas McGuane



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2011 12:48PM by Chuck Mills.

Good Morning all,
I think one idea that was not covered is the sense of accomplishment that I get when I finish making a rod that is as good as or better than any commercial rod. The idea that one can build something seems to be an anachronistic concept in our modern world. My rod building has also given me the confidence to do many repairs around my home. I suspect that the percentage of rod builders who do most of the repairs in their homes or with their tools is much higher than among the population in general--of course this might be my own self-delusion.

In terms of cost of building a rod, the posts above do seem to neglect the time it requires to build a rod. If you include labor costs, the cost of a high end commercial rod is likely to be as inexpensive as the rod you build.

Mike Blomme

It is something that I enjoy and love to do, so I would no more consider the time spent as an expense as I would include the time spent drinking a beer into the cost of the beer or I'd never be able to afford beer! LOL!!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

There is no greater satisfaction then whatching my kids fish with their own rods. I have a sense of pride thet they have a sense of pride that Dad built it just for them.

They sure take much better care of the rods I build, then any rod I have bought them.

Building my own as Tom said was because I was not able to find what I wanted in an off the shelf rod. It is actually easier for me to find the "right" blank then build to my specs that try and search through 100's of rods at the local BPS. Last trip we took to the rod show I think I spent over $600 on blanks alone, but I had projects for most of the rest of the year and 6 really nice rods to go in the boat. All but the swimbait rod are used almost every trip and most of these are SCIV or SCIII blanks. If you factor my time in then they would "cost" many hundreds each but the satisfaction of building and using them is "priceless" to borrow a quote. Mike the beer quote I will have to remember!!

Chuck,
Right on - it is a myth.

It is very seldom that if you buid a rod with the identical components as the commercial rod, that you will end up saving any money by the time you consider shipping etc.

If, on the other hand, you have your dealers license and can buy wholesale, you can then save a few $$.

Don't build rods to save money - over time and effort it isn't going to happen very often.

Build rods for all of the reasons mentioned above.


One of the biggest costs for rods these day, past the cost of the blank, is the cost of high quality cork.
Manufacturers can get their cork handles premade by the manufacturer for a few $$ per handle. A builder needs to buy the handles 1 by 1, or buy cork and glue the handles together. That is fine, but the cost of really high quality cork is approaching the stratosphere due to the world wide shortage of quality cork.
Roger



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2011 02:48PM by roger wilson.

"It is something that I enjoy and love to do, so I would no more consider the time spent as an expense as I would include the time spent drinking a beer into the cost of the beer or I'd never be able to afford beer! LOL!!"

Mike,

You could take it a couple steps further as I have done. I've been building my own rods for over 3 years, brewing my own beer for less than 1 year and this past week made my first batch of beef jerky. Life is good in the man cave...and less expensive too!

Thanks,
Chad Huderle

Huderle Custom Rods
Prior Lake, MN

The Mikes and others are right .When you catch your first ``BIG`` fish and you see how the rod that was built by you out performs the store bought rods ,will bring a sense od accomplisment to you.

If you follow instructions on how to for guide placement etc. and the use of comparable components it will out perform any store bought rod.


Chad, It must have been terribly smoky in the man cave.


Bill

Ohio Rod Builders

Canton, Ohio

Because I grant you this, I never build two the same, so that makes them truly one of a kind and I am sure you cannot buy one like it, anywhere!
Satisfaction in catching a fish on something you create with your own hands is truly a joy!

It's a widely known fact that building your own rod is MUCH less expensive than buying one. Please do nothing to clear up this myth...um - fact! Many relationships depend on this. (It's FRIDAY)

Woodsmen Rods
Alexandria, MN

Oooops...yeah...um...I forgot about that. What I meant was, some people spend more on building rods than they would cost and not me or anybody else in this post. Honest, honey! Its true!

Matt Smith
Greensboro, NC

Its hard to beat something built by your hands and that could be anything!!!!
I love fixing stuff ,
fishing rods, cars ,hvac units, furnaces, welding, Workin on tractors, making jigs, growing a garden, Whew!!!
Also,,If you count ALL your cost... well,,,hmmm,,,you prolly shouldn't do that!!!
As for the MYTH,,Chuck is right on!!!
It kinda makes you proud when a person you made a rod for comes by and says..."Man,that rod is sweet I can feel the fish BREATH on my baits".
My only wish is that I had started sooner so my Dad could have fish with one of my rods. :(
thanks Ya'll,,
mikeb

Home Town,Gretna VA

Mike Burnette -- I really enjoyed reading your last statement about have built rods sooner, so that your Dad could have enjoyed fishing with them. My Dad passed this last summer and he left each of us letters about the things he appreciated that we had done for him. He loved to "Fish". He did not fish for anything in particular. He went "Fishin". I started building rods in 1975 and Dad was one of my first customers. In the letter of appreciation of the things he liked about me doing for him, was the mention of the custom rods that I made just for him and how much he appreciated the fact of me building the rods just for him, with his name on the rod and custom built by me. That is truly a case of the type rods he had always used, would have been way less money than what I built for him in just the cost of parts alone.

Bob McKamey
bobm@mudhole.com

I'm fussy and I like to alter my rods for the exact balance that I want when fishing. Plus I haven't seen too many spiral wraps for baitcasters at Cabelas quite yet - I know I've built at least 6 of them, I might find 7 if I took inventory . . .

Chad,

Brewing is next!!! Make a lot of jerky, do a lot of smoking (in a smoker LOLO) and made wine. You're right, Life is good but it's MUCH better when you're retired!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!