I am looking at building the new Sage R8 Salt rod. But after tallying up the cost of components etc. I would only save maybe $200. So , what to do...pay full retail and get the rod built by Sage or build it myself.

Saving money is rarely a viable reason for building a rod. In fact, if you consider your time spent in building it, you are almost certainly better off buying the commercially made version. The other thing to consider is the warranty. Granted, it will be a limited warranty against defects in materials and workmanship, but that covers the entire rod if you buy it from Sage. If you build it, it would only cover the blank.

So the only good reason for you to build it would be so you can dial in on specific things that you want on the rod that sage does not offer. Maybe you would like a particular guide set or a different sized or shaped grip. Or maybe you just want the enjoyment of building it. These would be the things that I would be looking at if I was going to contemplate building that rod.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/14/2023 11:59AM by Tom Kirkman.

You have to consider resale value too! Unless you are a nationally known builder with a long waiting list that blank would be more valuable as a bare blank.

Dennis J. Danku
(Sayreville,NJ)

Dennis Danku Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You have to consider resale value too! Unless you
> are a nationally known builder with a long waiting
> list that blank would be more valuable as a bare
> blank.


YUP!!
Herb
CTS

A lot of these high end fly rods actually replace (for a nominal fee) breakage for any reason. That alone might be worth it if the savings is only $200.

If you're talking about the most expensive rods in the $1000.00 plus range you can definitely build cheaper but the warranty those expensive rods offer is usually very very good even if a break is your own fault .

As Tom alluded to, if I want to build a rod to accomplish something that can't be done with any rods available, no problem, I buy a blank that I think will accomplish what I want and just make it myself. Like for example I want to chuck a herring a long ways using it as the only weight, without jerking the hooks out after one or two casts. I buy the blank and make my new rod.

Is building a rod for yourself really a "is it worth the effort" kind of thing? Unless you absolutely hate building rods, then isn't it a labor of love?

There are parts of building a rod that I don't love, like doing guide wraps with trim bands, or inlays in the wrap itself, but I love the results, so if I want to do them on a rod I am building for myself, I do them without complaining. If I was building a rod for someone else and they wanted something about the rod that I really don't like, then it becomes an effort, and that person is going to pay for it.

But this rod is for your own personal use. You get the satisfaction of catching a fish on a rod you built. The satisfaction of the rod doing something as well and perhaps even better, than any rod you can buy off a rack.

As far as warranty goes. I have never purchased a rod or a blank because of the warranty it has. Sure the cost of warranty is included in the rod, but I have never had a rod break that broke on its own. There has always been something I did that I shouldn't have been doing, or a fishing situation that was out of my control, that caused it to break. I don't care how good the warranty is .... if I did something that caused the rod to break, I sure as heck won't be filing a warranty claim. Regardless of how much the rod may cost.

I don't agree with the idea that you don't save money by building the rod yourself. I'm a bass fisherman, and I have built three rods that I know are as good as, or better than one of the gold standards in bass fishing, a G Loomis NRX or NRX+ Those rods retail for over $600. I have between $350 and $400 in components, including shipping in each of those rods, and they're better rods because they are built with specificity in mind.

I'm using a rod I built, that is built to my specifications in every respect, and I'm saving $200 to boot? Heck yes it's worth it.

I agree, if you don't care about the warranty it is so worth it, and there is much money to be saved. I can almost mimic David's post.

You will only save money if you consider your time worth nothing. I build most of my own rods because I like certain things that I cannot get in a factory rod. If I was concerned about money I would buy off the shelf.

I build for the pleasure of fishing fly rods that I’ve had a part in the aesthetic design, and in the technical characteristics I work into the rod. Things like guide setup, grip design and especially reel seat customizations.

Rarely do I have the opportunity to test cast a factory finished fiberglass rod when I’m looking to purchase a blank. This was also true when I built primarily graphite fly rods. If buying a blank somewhat blindly, there is risk that the finished rod won’t perform as well as you’d hoped. There’s also performance risk when you assume that famous blank maker’s 8’2” 4wt blank will perform as marvelously as his 8’3” 5wt blank - and you end up deconstructing the $325 blank to salvage components because the finished rod just plain sucked. Happens now and then.

Risk during the build can also be a factor so keep that in mind.

Good luck with your decision.

"The greatest barrier to discovery is not ignorance, it's the illusion of knowledge" - Daniel J. Boorstin

Of course it is worth it. The real question is based on what you use to define worth; is it monetary value or is it something more intangible such as the satisfaction of owning an implement of your own making in a sea of others with commercially produced rods? Then again, the question was posed to a room full of rod builders with a slightly bias skew on the subject.

Mark, you're absolutely right about the question being posed to a room full of rod builders, which is why I am a bit perplexed by some of the responses to the OPs question.

If you are building this rod for yourself, and you're building it while you would normally be do something that you don't get paid to do, like watch TV, then how can how much your time is worth even come into the picture. .

If you were selling the rod, that's a whole different story. If you have $300 in components for a rod, and you sell that rod to someone for $450, then an hour of your time is worth $150 divided by the number of hours it took you to build the rod.

I you buy a rod for your own personal use for $450, and you could build the same rod for $300 in components, you didn't get paid $150 to build the rod, you saved $150 by building it yourself. On your own free time. Like while you could have been watching TV instead.

I don't know ...... I hear tell of folks that paid to watch TV. Maybe that's what we have going on here.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2023 10:32AM by David Baylor.

It all depends on your priorities, what is most important to you...

1) your time, if so then buy it off the shelf..

2) your money, if frugal build your own,.

3) your self satisfaction, if you can build a better rod than available build it yourself.

Any time I spend building a rod is more valuable than banging away on the computer, playing games, reading gossip or watching a lot of TV.

It gives me pride and satisfaction to build a rod and at the end of the day I have a rod to use, sell or give as a gift.

Have fun

The whole reason I started building rods was because I wanted a Sage fly rod and could not afford one, or at least didn't want to pay that much for one. The rod was 425 brand new and I got the blank for about 125 and spent another 75 on components. Since then I have built hundreds of rods and even a few more Sages. Looking at the price of the new Sage R8 Salt blank at 700 It is not a great value, it is not a 50/50 deal anymore. So to answer your question, no it is not worth it when next year they will have that same finished rod on sale for 700. To me the Sage Salt is too heavy compared to other blanks in the same weight class. I would look at NFC or CTS (Herb), much better value and to me a better blank. If you do go the build rout and put down the cash for the Sage blank, you can use better components than they use along with your own guide train, so you could make a better rod than you can buy. Sage will warranty the blank if you build it too.

I would not buy a Core 8 fly blank unless you have cast or fished the rod and totally love it and believe it is the best rod you have ever cast or fished. The cost of a Core8 blank is way too high IMHO.

There are many other blanks that can compete with a Core 8 -- if not outperform -- and cost far less -- CTS, Epic, NFC. The new NFC Carbon Air and Batson RX10 fly blanks are no doubt quite good, though I have not heard them reviewed yet.

I can tell you the Epic 690G rod I built from a blank is superlative, and in my mind superior to the Core 8, and many CTS users will claim the same of their top fly blanks.

So Mike, are you saying I should pay myself for building it? What is my time worth as a hobby builder? Key word being hobby. My time is my own.

If it were about money, I’d burn my rod building equipment and cut my losses. I’m a bass guy and one of my favorite off the shelf rods is Dobyns. There’s no way I can build comparable rods for what I can buy theirs for. I build because I love doing it.

Lynn---

I did not say or suggest anything to you about your time or paying yourself. I was responding to the OP who clearly stated that he would only be "saving $200" if he built the rod. I addressed his statement as to how I feel about the idea of buying off the shelf vs building in order to save money. For me rod building is not about saving money.

I agree with Lynn and David.

Building is a hobby for me, and my time spent enjoying a hobby means more than a monetary value.If I ever saw my time spent for a hobby or activity that brings me enjoyment as dollar signs, then I’d need to reevaluate my priorities. That’s just my opinion and I only build for myself and family. I don’t do it as a side business, which then obviously time is now a monetary factor.

You can absolutely save money building rods for yourself, but not the main reason to build. A person will be better off to just buy $100-$150 factory rods if they just plan on minimizing cost and using cheaper blanks or components. Cost savings are more apparentwhen building higher end rods. Some examples below:

RS Rev 6’6” 2wt fly rod and total cost was around $140. A similar rod, from a local builder that’s world renown for small stream rods would go for $400, albeit his would be significantly better finished quality.

NFC F904-2 Classic build cost me right around $180, a comparable Loomis rod were around $600 brand new, $420 savings.

NFC IM MB704 cost me about $120 to build and is comparable to a Loomis IMX, which retails for $400.

The main advantages I see from factory rods like St Croix are finish quality and warranty. My finish quality (epoxy, thread wraps, etc) are subpar compared to some factory rods, but better than others. I’m relatively new, have only built about 20 rods, so still improving each time. Other than that, I think my rods feel and fish better than comparable factory rods, and they’re set up exactly how I want. Cost savings is just an added benefit.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2023 12:11PM by Evan Cobb.