I had built a flyrod almost two years ago (dark green), and used Light Blue Wraps (Nylon thread) and UV protected Formula Flex-Coat.
Now, the "back of the wraps" ( the ones that get the most of the Sun rays) look light grey almost white. Is it Because of the SUN ? How terrible could UV rays could be ?
Is there anything to protect that light or bright colour?
THANKS!

Solana,

About two years ago I completed a G.Loomis Popping rod for a customer and had the same results occur. I wrapped the rod with Teal Gudebrod Regular in size A. The rod had a complete full color weave of a Speckled Trout. Approximately 5 months later I asked how the rod was performing and got the bad news. He stated that the rod handled well but the wraps had faded to a White color, with the absence of all Teal color. Later in a fishing tournament we participated in, he showed me the rod and as stated the Teal color had vanished. This particular rod was wrapped, two coats of Flexcoat CP on all guide wraps/underwraps as well as the wraps which frame in the weave, 2 days drying between, then the finish, UV also. He stated that the rod has not stored in sunlight but a closed in boat stall. I called Gudebrod/Flexcoat and they stated that they had never heard of this. I have been building for 16 years and this is the first of this incident. Since then I have used the same spool and wrapped several rods and all came out perfect. Go figure..... Best of luck....

Pat Barnard
Pat's Custom Rods

I have seen factory rods do this also, I was told it was due to trapped moisture in the wraps.. I have also seen this on a complete rod, it was suppose to be brown but the finish on whole rod turned a gray color... It was one ugly rod. Thanks Davesrods

I had the same problem a couple of years ago with 2 rods. Both were wrapped with Gudebrod regular A in a bright blue (the color evades me, not 245, 050 or 037)that I picked up in a tackle store. Gudebrod stated that the thread I used was made for fly tying and not for rod building and that the dyes in it were not up to the rigors of being in the sun. (One of the rods spent most of its time in a closed shed!) Checking the spool that i store in a closed drawer, it too had faded.

I have also had a blue carpet in my house fade to a pale gray both in areas of direct sun and indirect sun. Color retention is fine under the furniture. I have been told that most blue dyes are suspect to fading and there are no guarantees for color retention, particularly in nylon.

I've never had a problem with other shades of Gudebrod blue. Gudebrod replaced the problem thread with a spool of #037 when I returned the partial spool of faded blue.

Don't let anyone tell you that nylon rod building thread will not fade in the sunlight. It will. How much depends upon how much exposure it receives.

Many of the epoxy rod finishes on the market claim to have "UV Inhibitors" in them. That might be the case, but they will not keep your thread from fading. Sadly, the ones that tend to turn brown or yellow will do a better job of keeping your threads from fading by the very nature of letting less UV light through to the thread. The "water clear" finishes show off your work better, but typically allow the thread to fade more quickly.

I have been told by some rod builders that using sunscreen on the wraps will keep this fading to a minimum. It's something that I am doing some tests on but cannot say for sure until a full year has passed. Sounds far fetched on the one hand, but it may work to some degree.

I have also not seen any difference between threads coated with color preserver and those not, when it comes to fading. I do know that certain colors seem to fade more quickly and completely, light blue NCP being one of the worst. Others are similar.


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Seems to be that Light and / or Bright Blue are the "deffective" colour here, or the most likely to "fade" like "watercolor painting".-
If factory rods did that, well , then the colour it is.-
Bad. It is the colour of one favorite team.-
Thanks to ALL for sharing personal experiences!!!.