I've been building rods for a few months now and have started thinking about the blanks I've been using. They're 7.5' shikari blanks that make perfect live bait rods for flats fishing here in FL.

Here's where my question comes into play. I"ve been buying these "shikari" rod blanks for $12. I've soon realized that's dirt cheap. How do I know these are really shikari's?
A local tackle shop has a room with several thousand blanks, which they sell. They also build custom rods, (nothing spectacular, I've been building better looking stuff than they have).

So, am I really getting shikari blanks? How does one really know? Don't get me wrong they're well worth $12, just curious as to how they can sell them that cheap.

Thanks in advance,

Aaron

..........at that price!

The Shikari blanks that I have are marked in handwriting with the model number on the butt end.

Aaron,

A couple of points here. I am a Shikari Rod Blank distributor and I don't know whether your blanks are Shikari or not. The model and number should be stated on the butt as Bolt mentioned. At the price you mention, I see nothing in their listings even remotely suggesting which model you are dealing with. If you are happy using these blanks, just continue and don't worry about what brand or where they came from, but there can be little in the way of backing from the manufacturer if you have no idea about the source or proving the model.

The other point is your concern about the quality of the local tackle store 'custom built' rods. This comes up fairly regularly as to defining what is custom or simply assembled with poorer quality as you already witnessed. Many of these rodbuilders use the 'dirt cheap' lower quality components which a discriminating angler or custom builder would immediately notice as second rate. These rods may be just adequate as a fishing tool, and You get what you pay for.

Often 'custom builders' producing in quantity are available at many locations and one can, in some densely populated fishing areas, throw a stone in any direction and probably hit one.
Kidding aside, a QUALITY custom rod is worth the extra that a customer would pay, and knowing what components you are dealing with can assure that the outcome will be better than some of those mass producing 'custom rod' outlets.

I would mostly guess those blanks could be seconds and probably the cheaper E-Glass at that price. Just my opinion.

Rich
Richard's Rod & Reel Service

Rich, thanks for all the info, you too bolt. They're definitely graphite rods. The only markings they have is a crude yellow line marking the spine at the butt of the rod. This place sells fugi components and pretty decent grade cork, along with foam grips and mostly everything else you'd need for building and wrapping. Lots of threads. They do NOT carry some of the higher end decorative stuff like some of the fly rod reel seats. These are nice blanks, and for a total price at around $30 for components and blank, I'll continue to build them. Maybe I'll ask the staff if they can prove that these are shikari blanks.

On another note- they do not carry any brands such as St. Croix, G. Loomis, etc. I'm not sure if shikari ranks with these blanks, but I would assume if they did they would carry them as well.

Thanks again for all the information.

Aaron

......if you like them and you are building for your personal use, go for it!

The one thing that concerns me about some blank manufacturers is that they only mark the model number on the butt. If you break it and send it back, I don't see how they know that it is their blank unless they check the graphite like Loomis claims they do. I have some of the old Loomis, Allstar and Shikari blanks and sometimes I have trouble telling them apart.

Shikari is every bit as good as any other blank on the market, model and price number relative. I like them because they are almost identical to the old Loomis standard graphite blanks which I can't find anymore.

I think you'll find out whether or not they are Shikari's the first time you send one back for warranty replacment. The old rule of thumb used to be that if it had the manufacturer's label or printed on logo, then it was a first quality model. If not, it was a second or blem.