Was fishing with a friend, who had a new BPS rod. A fish hit, and he set the hook fairly hard, but did not hi-stick it.

I was tying a rig and looked up and saw the whole thing.

The sound was similar to throwing a glass rod down on concrete, and the rod looked the same. The rod shattered from about 10" below the rod tip to about 12" above the cork. I would guess it broke into 8-10 fragments. Not stringy, but clean pieces. He sat there looking stunned for a second, and then I helped him handline/reel his fish in.

WHAT ON EARTH could cause that particular type of shatter?

Any ideas?

TH

I'm no expert here but Rodmaker did full story on how to determine what causes the different kind of breaks. I do seem to recall that if the rod was new and it had not be subjected to previous impact that day and broke in many pieces all at once then you have the rare but truly defective rod. I would think BPS will replace it for him.

Talked to Gary Loomis at the conclave he also said that is the true way a defective rod breaks. He actually stresses rods to that point and has them fail in just that way. Have never seen it myself but it does happen.

Thanks for that info. That is pretty interesting. THAT is what a defective blank does. Shattered like a piece of glass.

He's not sure if he wants the replacement or simply a refund. I hope he goes for the replacement, because otherwise, he is going to want ME to make him a rod! (for free, of course)

TH

Obviously a defective blank.

Before I construct a rod I bend the blank in all sorts or ways to make sure it has no defects. After I complete the rod I do another flex test to check the normal limits (with reel and line installed) a rod would normally be subjected to. Plus a little extra bend just to make sure. This way I'm confident the rod leaves me has no inherent problems. After that anything can happen of course and sometimes does but at least I'm reasonably sure I don't have a blank that came to me defective. If possible I will perform this last test in the presence of my customer. Personally I don't warranty abused rods.

Capt. Harold