What is the intended purpose of an under wrap; strength, cushioning, appearance, or some combination of these three?

Hi Phil,

Two things, one stops the guide feet from digging into the blank and causing damage to the blank, proper guide prep will minimise but not eliminate it. Two, gives the guide feet a better platform and stops them from slipping on the blank and you end up with a more secure guide. More necessary on heavy saltwater rods but I have never liked metal on blank and prefer to use them on all my saltwater rods except when I'm looking to get a light as possible rod. To each his own but I still like to use them most times. Also gives the rods a better look and you can add some trim to give you a bit more bling, which doesn't do anything for performance. The additional weight of extra thread and finish is debatable but I doubt if most people could tell the difference in performance.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

Col: When you say "stops [guides] from slipping on the blank" do you refer to the guide rotating around the axis of the blank or sliding longitudinally along the blank? Having little experience with big-game fishing I am not acquainted with either problem.

Opening up a can of worms, I will proceed. Their use is mostly cosmetic and traditional. As far as the heavy saltwater argument goes, when the guides are mounted on the top of the blank and the blank bends downward, the tendency is for the tiops of the guide feet to move away from the blank not towards it. In a spinning application, or the running guides of a spiral build, as the rod flexes there could be a possibility of the feet digging into the blank as it flexes. However, if the guide feet are properly prepped and not sharpened to a knife edge, this should be a non-factor. Also, after wrapping and epoxying the guides, how are they supposed to slip?

I have removed the guides off a number of rods, some of my own which had heavy use, and none showed any marks on the blank from the alleged "diggin fin". I use them in heavier applications only because there is more space on the larger diameter blanks to exhibit thread work and I like the look, but I am inclined to believe that they don't do much.

If anyone has any photos of such damage, I would like to see them as there are those on this board with far more experience that I and they may have seen such a condition.

I really like to do underwraps on my boat rods....It is fun to add some trim bands and a good way to introduce more colors which you can then use in a dec butt wrap. Does it protect the blank?

It can't hurt! :)

No real purpose. Guide feet shouldn't cut into the blank, and won't if they've been properly prepped. But if you want to use them, they won't have any detrimental effect on heavier rods. I'd avoid them on anything but the heaviest saltwater rods.

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

I use underwraps on the first 3-5 guides on all my saltwater rods. The tips I dont usually worry about. The only reason I use them, as stated above, is for the bling factor. I cant crosswrap, so I add the all the trim rings etc on the underwraps.

My normal fishing is in 80 - 100 metres of water offshore. I have pulle doff many guides and never seen a guide "mark" a blank. even when I dont use underwraps for the upper guides.

I only do it on the first 3-5 guides as they are the only ones with enough space between the guides feet to make good looking trim wraps etc

Regards Adam

Hi Phil,
Long time ago I saw a couple of rods ( tradtional overhead ) that weren't underbound and they both had guides that had come loose and started to rotate around the blank. Never got to have a look under the bindings to see if there was any blank damage. Probably more to do with the construction techniques (or lack of) that were used in those days but I still like the insurance that underbindings give me on my saltwater rods. Doesn't take much of a nick in graphite blanks to cause breakage. From the above replies you can see that most people don't think they are necessary except on heavy saltwater rods. If you decide not to use them pay extra attention to your guide feet prep. If you choose to use them they are not going to cause any adverse affects.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

I like to use underwraps on most rods. I have a few reasons for this:

1. I like the bling factor of combining really nice guide wraps with a cross wrap or some other decoration. I like "theme" style rods.
2. I like to recondition/bind my rods every few years and I've found, for me, it is far easier to remove a guide with an underwrap than it is one without and not cause any damage to the blank in getting them off. Particularly, if you haven't used CP and the epoxy has soaked right through to the blank.

I usually don't use an underbind on most of my single leg guides on very light rods. On these I try and keep all binds to an absolute minimum and epoxy in the same way to maintain the blank action as close to original as possible.

Regards
Mark
Outback Rods

i live i australia and 90% of my fishing is in salt water, light and heavy.i have seen rods break and get damaged from foot rub.
i've done my fair share of rebuilds and have seen foot rub, unfortunately i have not taken any photos.
as rod builders we tend to go as fancy as we want to or dare to. so bling your rod up as much or as little as you wish,just be awhere of the extra wait issue on the lighter rods