This being my first split grip, how would you determine the distance from the reel seat to the butt of the rod. For example, I have already made a rod with a nine inch grip that goes from the bottom of the reel seat to the end of the butt cap. This is a very comfortable rod to me. When setting up the split grip would I measure from the bottom of that reel seat down nine inches to the butt plug to get the same fit. The rod I am making this time is for the father or a friend of mine and we want to surprise him with the rod so I wont be able to get an actual measurement to see what length the grip really needs to be. The split grip is for a medium action blank and will most likely be used for largemouth bass. Any help and responses would be greatly appreciated.

Take a quick gander to see if your and his arms are the same length, if the are approximately close - it should be fine what is comfortable for you. I build a lot that measure 5"-6" inches from the butt of the rod to the bottom of the grip, the grip would be about 4"-5" from the bottom to the bottom of the reel seat. Or, just measure where reel seat is for the 9" grip you just made....I probably wasn't much help, but I tried..............

Handle length is the same weather it is split or not.

Since you would want to get the handle length right (as much as possible) for the person using the rod, I would see if a measurement could be taken from a similar factory rod that the person uses. On the sly of course so as not to spoil the surprise.

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

+1 on what Raymond said. Quietly check out a current rod your friend's dad is using (and likes) and if possible, measure the distance from the reel stem to the butt end. Then simply ensure that the rod you're building places the stem the exact same distance from the butt. After that, it up to you how you wanna split the rear grip ie. the length of each piece of the split and the space in between.

Cheers
Linus

I think you should also think about what application the rod will be used for. For my cranking rods I like a longer handle than most to brace against my side. For spinnerbaits a little shorter and rods where you impart a lot of action on the bait such as jerkbaits and topwaters still shorter so that the handle doesn't interfere with the action you are imparting on the bait.

the rod im building is just a general all purpose rod. its not for one specific technique.

I would probably stick with a 9" length like your other. It shouldn't change from a full length.

Thanks for all your help guys