I've worked with foam and carbon fiber tubing and love it, but have no experience with extensions. The thought crossed my mind of possibly using a CF handle itself as an extension (Tennessee handle type). I mostly work with heavy duty eglass blanks where a huge amount of weight is located in the butt. Really, once the blank "shuts off", all that's needed is a strong rigid structure through the handle. Nothing new. Graphiters are a good example, where a 7' 270 takes 4 ounces off the eglass version.

I'm hoping that those with more experience on extensions might chime in. My initial thought was to fit the blank several inches into thin wall (.035) aluminum tube and pour the foam/carbon grip over that, so that the aluminum could prevent any gouging in the foam. I also found some good .250 OD carbon fiber tubing with an attractive weight, though it certainly wouldn't be strong enough by itself to hold. Then there's the AFTCO ferrule and nut for a unibutt setup and possibly a few inches of threaded aluminum tubing. Lots of possibilities. The idea being similar to a lot of blanks out there--use a lighter/stiffer material where the blank's already stopped flexing anyway. Since the CF/Permagloss shell is more or less CF tubing, might as well have it do double duty. BTW, I've read Tom's article, but this is outside its scope. Thanks!

Not sure I understand what you're proposing. The foam and carbon skin won't give you any strength - they rely on the tube they're built on for that. If the extension that you're using is up to the task, then you can put anything you want on the extension, including foam and carbon skin. But the method for making these grips doesn't turn them into tubing or anything approaching it. The carbon skin is just that - a very thin skin to protect the outside of the foam. It doesn't form nor act as a tube of any merit.

There is an article in the library on extending rod blanks that explains the various scenarios that tend to work well.

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A carbon sleeve over foam can be just as strong as a CF hollow tube. Carbon sleeve when used correctly has very good compression strength. Not sure how either would work as an extension though.

You'd have to use a lot of it, much more than a thin skin. And the foam itself, which would be the core of the tube, would have to be skinned or strengthened on the inside where it fits over the rod blank butt. Or, a much higher density foam would have to be used.

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Thank you both. As usual, straight to the answer requested, Tom. Did I mention how much I missed being away?

As a ballpark, what thickness would you lean toward for an aluminum tubing extension on salt rods in the 15-40 range, using 6061 with an ID of .75?

You should really do more videos, Tom. You're good at it--straight to what people want to see and need to hear, as always. I think you and I are about the same age. I'm sure you remember the Curt Gowdy shows growing up. I know he got a bit flaky in his latter years, but he was doing some good stuff when we were whippersnappers. I'm just sayin'--sports writer (specializing in rods), fishing nut, rod building celebrity. We haven't had a Curt in a while.

"And now with your host, Rodmaster Kirkman..."

Jason Cosby
Cos Rods

I appreciate the comments but not sure I'm cut out for it. I do plan to add more videos, however, as that seems to be the coming trend.

For any type of heavier power rod I'd want to use aluminum tubes with a wall thickness of at least 2.5mm and that would be the absolute least. Even then, the length of the extension would have to be taken into account - the longer the extension the greater wall thickness you'll need.

You can always fall back on carbon or glass tube extensions and either of these will often get you by at less weight than an aluminum tube.

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