A good many places that I fish have no trails along the streams and have heavy undergrowth of one type or another and include a bush-wacking hike to get to the water. Even with short sectioned pack rods, it seemed that I was forever getting my rod tube hung up on undergrowth as I concentrated on getting my rod (and myself) through the stream side brush. I tried carrying it over my shoulder on a sling and I tried stuffing it inside of my backpack. Neither solution really worked well. Either the tube was to long to completely fit inside of the back pack or it would catch and snag on brush as I was working my way through the thick stuff. This is especially true of the North Carolina streams I fish, but not so much where I am currently. ( I am currently living abroad)

About a year ago I had an idea to make a collapsing rod tube. The basic idea was to have a rod tube that would store the rod safely and allow me to hike into a back country stream, but yet not hinder me while fishing. What I did was make a two piece rod tube out of two different diameters of PVC with a compression fitting to snug it down. It is very much like the Cabela's travel rod tubes but a fraction of the size. It works like a charm! I don't have access to a wide selection of PVC fittings, so mine looks a bit cobbled together but it works great!

I built it mainly to see if the idea would even work and did not really plan on using it where I am currently living. It was mainly for when I got back to the States where I have much longer hikes into the stream. However, I have been using it here and have found it to really be nice.

Extended it is just a touch longer than each section of the rod and collapsed it is about 1/2 the length of each section. So for my 662-4, the collapsed length of the tube is just about 13.5 inches. That easily slips into a backpack.

I just returned from a day trip to a stream that is really nasty to get into and out of and was ever so grateful to have the rod tube for the hike in/out and not laying in the car. This makes a pack rod that much nicer.

Please post a picture of your creation. Thanks in advance

You need a good machete to hack your way through the jungle!

cool idea - a rod tube makes much more sense than a rod tub :-) I'd love to see a pic - I'm about to start a rod for a friend who fishes some heavy duty brush streams in the UP of Michigan - give him a collapsable rod tube to go along would be cool :-)

I'll see if I can post a picture.

I do carry a local version of a machete, and I use it often!