[www.rodsbyairrus.com]

Is it just marketing hype?

It seems reasonable considering that the same way Point Blank markets their butts to essentially do the same thing. Doing this would then add grips that do what the Point Blank butt is claiming to do - and it seems many if not everyone who has used a point blank thinks very highly of them.

Are there grips available with a similar design shape? They claim to use no dampening components to build their rods, but they must use glue/epoxy which would be dampening - unless they have some secret way of doing it we don't know about.

Anybody ever use a rod or blank from this company?

This is a take off on about a thirty year old design from Shimano. Cannot remember what they called their swelled but rods. It was part of the blank but not sure about this one. If it integral to the blank you probably cannot build it. If it is an add-on then you can if you know how to make and shape carbon skinned grips. P.S. "dampening" means to make wet. I think you mean damping which is absorption of vibrations and anything you add to a rod will damp it to some degree. Some marketing mumbo jumbo in there I think. No the swelled handle will NOT amplify vibrations. This goes back to the idea of a resonant chamber where sound is amplified due to a shape or interior volume. Airrus has been pulling this stuff for years.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2023 02:44PM by Mike Ballard.

EI,

Before you can have this discussion you have to understand that what you feel on a fishing rod isn't an actual vibration - rather it is resistance against the rod whereby the fluctuation in that resistance is interpreted by the angler as a vibration. You will not feel anything on a slack line. You can feel quite a lot if the line is taut (this doesn't necessarily mean straight).

Whatever you get at the tip of the rod is all you're going to get. There is nothing you can add to the rod that will amplify the resistance at the tip of the rod to the handle. There are really only two or maybe three ways to gain more "sensitivity."

1. Make the rod longer. This provides whatever it is that is resisting the rod (fish, crankbait, spinnerbait blade, sinker along bottom, etc.) with a longer lever. For the same amount of resistance it will pull harder and further on the rod.

2. Build the rod lighter. A lighter rod moves easier.

3. Switch from mono to braided line. Mono has more stretch so resistance is somewhat lessened by that stretch. Less stretch means a more direct connection to whatever is resisting the rod.

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

I like the disclaimer….

“ Please note, this Airrus fishing rod is a technical instrument assembled with H.M. carbon fiber and it is not recommended for novice anglers.”

Ie - pleas no high sticking - this isn’t a UglyStik

Mike, the Shimano rod I think you referenced was their "Fightin' Rod". I still have the two Speed Master FIghtin' Rods that I bought back in the early 90s. The one is a 6'6" two handed casting rod. The other, a 5'6" pistol grip casting rod. The pistol grip rods had the reel seat set into the blank, which makes the reel sit much lower in relationship to the surface of the blank. The picture in the link shows the reel seat on the pistol grip rod I referenced above.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

I have said it in past threads that I will break down and cry if I ever break that rod, as I could never build another rod to replace it. The recessed reel seat really makes it a dream to cast.

As far as the Airrus rod goes ......... Not sure I'd be a fan of that reel seat. Doesn't look like it would be all that comfortable. And while the rear grip looks really cool, they could definitely lose the big red letters on it.

Had friend who loved those old Shimano bullwhip fighting rods. When he broke one he went on a quest to buy everyone he could find.

El, you can certainly build a rod which would be similar. The grip is very similar to the American Tackle G2 CF grips, the NFC soft touch CF grips, and the SeaGuide CF grips. There are a number of split casting reel seats which could be used as well as one piece seats. The guides used are Kigan Z guides, which are similar to Fiji KR guides. The Kigan ZDH casting butt guide is sort of like the Fuji RV6 butt guide. It is a double foot high frame small ring butt guide. If you like the looks of the Airrus rod, you can build something similar but do it your way. Just need to find the components you want.
Norm

After reading a lot of the information about their technology from the link you provided I can confidently say most of it is the standard manufacturers marketing jargon that is designed to get anglers attention and open their wallets . Some manufacturers come up with fancier names and explanations of their technology than their competitors but all the top rod companies are very familiar with the latest tech and none are way ahead of anybody else . The rod designs might catch your attention for being different but the technology is not superior to everybody else they just want you to think it is .

The only exception that I know of is NFC's C602 blanks , at this time I'm not aware of any other manufacturers offering the same or similar .

Swelled handle design that is recommended for novices:

[www.ronco.com]

Michael Ward Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I like the disclaimer….
>
> “ Please note, this Airrus fishing rod is a
> technical instrument assembled with H.M. carbon
> fiber and it is not recommended for novice
> anglers.”
>
> Ie - pleas no high sticking - this isn’t a
> UglyStik

I got a real kick out of that too. So how much does it weigh? I imagine that grip adds a lot of unnecessary weight. I like the high guide concept.

Thanks forbthe replies yall

Haha yes autocorrect trying to wet my blank!

@TOM I think I agree and respectfully disagree simultaneously. I have bumped into a number of threads over the past handful of years here and I think I may try to run some tests myself and create another thread. But I do believe most of the time what is felt is merely opposing force on the end of the lure as it pertains to actual strikes.

@David you got me RrREEeEaAAaLlLyYy curious to try am offset grip/seat now. I already was curious before, but you might have just tipped the curiosity meter into expirement zone.

@CHRIS how do you feel about the jargon from Point Blank? They essentially make the same claim about how they engineer their blank butts amplifying sensitivity.

@Norman I think its supposed to he the shape of the grip that they say makes more of a difference in sensitivity vs it merely being CF. Although I have some CF grips on their way and I'm very excited to try them.

@Lance they certainly can't add any more weight than any other CF grip I'd imagine.

Building rods in MA, Building the community around the world



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2023 10:28PM by El Bolinger.

El, the off set casting seats of today that I've seen, are handle assemblies. Meaning that the rod blank doesn't run through the seat, to the rear grip. The seat and rear grip are a unit that you epoxy onto the end of the blank, which was fairly common on lower priced factory rods, many years ago. I remember seeing and reading advertising where rod companies were praising their "new" blank through construction. I had a couple of cheaper Shimano Convergence rods that used handle assemblies, instead of having the blank being the entire length of the rod.

The Fightin' Rods I and Norman referenced were different, On the pistol grip rods, as you can see in the photo I provided the link to, the part of the reel seat that cradles the reel's foot, is set into the blank itself. The rear grip is an assembly that is inserted into the end of the blank. So while it's not "blank through" construction, the foot cradle part of the seat is a separate part, from the rear grip. A long time ago, I thought the rod had broken because the reel foot cradle had come lose while I was fighting about a 30# flat head catfish that had eaten my spinnerbait.

I was lucky enough to land the fish so I could get my mangled spinnerbait back, but I thought the rod was done for. Once I got home and completely removed that part of the seat from the rod, I was able to see how it was constructed. Off to the local auto parts store for some JB Weld, and I had the rod back in business.

And Norman, I can completely understand searching for more of those rods. In the past I've searched for the same rod that I have now and was unable to find one for sale. As luck would have it, I just did a search and found one for sale. $90 for a rod that when new retailed for $49.99, or there abouts.

I think I'm gonna buy it LOL

Many years ago, I attended a BassMaster Classic event and spent all day at the expo. I believe that is where I first seen an Airrus Rod, it had split grips and split, skeleton reel seat. And I fell in love. Then came the Carrot Stik rods and that's when I dove into rod building. Almost immediately I got into making my own grips using a foam core and epoxy on top. The man who taught me rodbuilding and repair, taught me by allowing me to build a rod. And he taught me to make my own grips out of foam. I believe that you can duplicate the Aiirus rod above using the same techniques we use in building carbon fiber grips. I like the look of that rod, thanks for sharing. I'm gonna try and build one, thanks for lighting the fire.

Steve