Northwest Fishing Reports

We all hear stories of rods snapping on the cast or on the hook set, and we usually assign the blame to rod manufacture defect, which is possible, and some times the case, but what if all that banging around adds up to damaging the rod blank?



Until today, I’d have the two pieces of my 8’6” rod kept together by a strip of Velcro. However, doing this does little to protect the two halves of the blank from banging around against things in the trunk or each other. I suppose it’s the upper half of the rod blank that probably needs to be protected more.

To address this, I placed most of the upper half of the rod in some ½” pipe insulation tubing and the lower part of with ¾” pipe insulation as shown below:

Two strips of Velcro hold the pieces together.


This is a closer look where the two pieces of pipe insulation meet.

I hope that the insulation material will serve to absorb the vibrations and protect the blank from loose objects in the trunk.

So far, as a unit it feels secure and is easy to hold. The upper half doesn’t move much, if at all.

The protection of spinning rigs, which by nature have larger guides, might be a little more limited but it should still work to the extent where the tubing covers the guides.

For one piece rods, I think that placing pieces of the tubing strategically on the blank in areas we know where banging around occurs (like the tip) could be helpful. The tubing could also be kept in place with Velcro.

I think I will keep the insulation material in trunk when I hit the water. I don’t like to carry more than I have to.

I got the tubing at Home Depot. They come in packs of 4 with $0.98. In my humble opinion that’s a small price to pay to protect our precious gear.

What do you guys do, if anything to protect your rods during transport in your vehicle?

I know this seems a little obvious, but I purchase a cloth rod bag and put my rod in a hard case. Sure, it takes a little extra room, but I have rods costing up wards of a couple hundred bucks, and it only makes since.

Your idea will stop rod slap, but it does little to protect against closing trunk doors, rolling up windows, a partner's big foot, or a shifting tackle box in transit. PS, I have either seen all of these things or have friends that have had it happen to them.

Still, with most people not using anything at all, your idea is a terrific, and inexpensive, start.

White PVC pipe works very well. Get a piece of pipe, a glue on end cap, and a twist off end cap. Glue foam in both end caps, glue on the bottom cap, and the top threaded cap. Darn near indestructible.

At my work we recieve bolts of fabric wrapped on a large cardboard tube. I save the 72" ones for transporting rods while driving or flying places.They are made of heavy cardboard.

Anglinarcher wrote:I know this seems a little obvious, but I purchase a cloth rod bag and put my rod in a hard case. Sure, it takes a little extra room, but I have rods costing up wards of a couple hundred bucks, and it only makes since.

Your idea will stop rod slap, but it does little to protect against closing trunk doors, rolling up windows, a partner's big foot, or a shifting tackle box in transit. PS, I have either seen all of these things or have friends that have had it happen to them.

Still, with most people not using anything at all, your idea is a terrific, and inexpensive, start.

Sorry in that I forgot about this thread! I agree with you 100% My main goal is minimizing vibration and rod slap when my two-piece rods are in the trunk. When I carry my one piece rods, I usually take 3 with me and when they're in my rod quiver, the is zero chance rod banging or slap.

BTW, I can step on rods or crush them in car doors as good as anyone.

Thanks for all the suggestions and ideas. I might come up with something using PVC or look into making an iron man themed crankbait. I think Red and Yellow would make a good color combination. :cyclopsan

wolverine wrote:White PVC pipe works very well. Get a piece of pipe, a glue on end cap, and a twist off end cap. Glue foam in both end caps, glue on the bottom cap, and the top threaded cap. Darn near indestructible.

I was going to make one of these for my Yakima rack on my car. I inquired with the company and they didn't have anything for us fishermen... They do make straps to secure a round object to the rack so I will most likely end up having that when I take the "Gas Mileage Car!"

wolverine wrote:White PVC pipe works very well. Get a piece of pipe, a glue on end cap, and a twist off end cap. Glue foam in both end caps, glue on the bottom cap, and the top threaded cap. Darn near indestructible.

I've had one for years, works great!

Thanks for the tip, guys. I slapped one together this morning.

I used black PVC so that it blends in to the carpet in my hatchback–doesn't stand out if I leave my rod in the car (and pretty much just looks like a crappy piece of PVC to anyone who might look more closely.

One modification I made was to use a PVC drain cap on the end for ventilation if the rod is wet when I stow it. I also cut a slot for the reel so that I don't have to remove it to stow the rod.