Bamboo Rods

Gentlemen, I recently saw an add on e-bay from someone in China who is selling brand new bamboo rods. I am amazed since his finished cost is less than my cost for materials to build a comparable rod. So, since I believe in the 'boo' I'd say maybe you might want to look at these rods if you want inexpensive boo. I haven't purchased any myself but I'd like to know an owners assessment of their value. I have repaired other rods from various overseas builders and some of them were "one size fits all" construction which doesn't say much.

Indy - Interesting you should bring this up. Last spring I was talking to a gentleman who had purchased one of these. Paid about $300 for it. After fishing with it though he realized that he got what he paid for. The fit on the ferrules were very loose - not tight at all , in fact he said it almost felt like they would fly apart when casting.  Plus he said that the type of cane that is used was unlike any other rod he had and he has quite a few. Said it was like casting a tree branch. Very stiff. He tried contacting the seller on ebay with no luck. He's pretty much stuck with it. Maybe it's just an isolated case though. They do look like a rod with nice fittings for the price. I think this may be what your talking about:

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Superb-7-6ft-3pcs-2tips-Deluxe-Bamboo-Fly-Rod-4-/150484405433?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item230991ccb9

ORIGINAL: indsguiz

Yeah that's one of them. I can't figure how they can make and sell a rod for less than I pay just for parts.

i ask my self the same question on a daily basis with my profession... i'm sure your quality is far superior and will always be in demand by the avid angler...

Those headwater rods are a crap shoot when it comes to bamboo build integrity. Those China rods go by many names, but most are built in the same shop. I've heard of some that were well fitted together and some that had glaring gaps and glue lines at the cane joints. I've seen and cast two and  one was of poor quality, especially with it's consecutive adjacent nodes which is a no-no.
One was well done and cast very well, though not even close to the copy of well liked taper.
Almost all builders offer at least a 3 day inspection period. So, if you do pull the trigger on one, make sure it has a no questions asked return policy.
Otherwise, you might get stuck with a very expensive tomato stake.
 

Indy, I am curious if when you talk of building a rod. Do you split your own culms of bamboo and then make the rod from those culms or are you salvaging old rods and restoring them? The reason I ask is a good friend of mine buys his culms, splits,dries, mills the tapers and does all the steps necessary to build a rod. I know that on some of his rods he has over 100 hrs of labor in them. That is not counting the time for drying, glueing impregnateing and so on. If you are making your rods from "scratch" I tip my hat to you.