cidgrad96

Hopefully the forum will accommodate this post even though I am not a sponsor. I know a little about this topic since I own ALX Rods. What you have been told is partly correct, and it sounds like someone is also pulling at straws to stir things up. Yes, there is a major difference between rolling blanks and not. There is also a difference in outsourcing the manufacturing of proprietary blanks and using off the shelf blanks such as from a Batson, MHX, PacBay, etc. We do source our rod blanks from 5 different factories. This includes both US and overseas facilities. ArkRod in Harrison, AR has never been a supplier of ours. ArkRod is now closed and has produced rods for other brands in the past, notably Falcon. Anyone using ArkRod is looking for a new blank company. Our rod blanks are proprietary and built to our specs based on the type of fiber and actions we want. Certain companies specialize in certain things. We benefit immensely in being able to source blanks from companies that we feel make exactly what we want for a given rod model. Each one of our rods are assembled in house here in our 3,000 sq ft Aiken, SC factory. So why do we not roll our own blanks? Several reasons. One - capitol. You are looking at over a half $M investment in equipment alone. As many of you know, ALX is a family owned operation that has been bootstrapped over the past 10 years. We have never had investors nor taken out a single loan. This means we have zero debt and we can run the business the way we want. A second reason is the benefit I mentioned... we benefit immensely in being able to source products from factories that specialize or excel in what we want. Great example - our new ENOX blanks required a unique cello layup to achieve the finished product we wanted. That would have required a big investment in equipment if we did everything in house. That same line may not be so good at glass blanks. Well, we want to offer both. We do use off the shelf blanks and middlemen companies for our private label customers. These are other rod companies where we manufacture the finished rod for them. This may be where some confusion comes in. We use “off the shelf” blanks for these customers as their volume is typically unpredictable and rarely do these customers know how to design rod blanks or can they meet the minimum quantities required to produce proprietary blanks. At the end of the day it's important we put out a good product and serve our customers the right way. We feel like the way we are running today accomplishes that better than anyone else out there. We do tours by appointment. Thanks!

ALX Rods are produced by Hydra - so same company. The blanks are built specifically for Hydra, to our specs. The IKOS line uses OS series blanks. We import these blanks from overseas and have them built specifically for us. They utilize a midmodulus blend with an ultra fine scrim for added hoop strength. Our ZOLO line uses our US made NG series blanks. We use a midmodulus material with no scrim - so you have a final higher modulus rating because we only use one material throughout the blank. This creates a very quick, responsive blank and you will feel things very differently. All our blanks are proprietary. I agree that we do not produce super fast blanks and our fast action is a little slower. That is deliberate as we believe it contributes to fewer lost fish. All the rods are built in Aiken SC. That is something we refuse to compromise. We would be bigger if we did, but we're ok with that. We use Kigan guides as we have had fewer failures and greater performance than any other brand of guide over the last 5 years. Thanks DVT - I personally designed that hookkeeper and Kigan produces it. It's called the XLA-HK (ALX backwards). For full disclosure, I own Hydra/ALX Rods. This is not meant as advertising. I thank the current sponsors for their patience and appreciate the opportunity to one time make sure the right information is communicated. Thanks again for the opportunity! Alex President, Hydra Fishing, LLC

A product like U40 Rod Bond is very easy to work with. It's a paste form which makes it much easier to deal with (goes where you put it - no running) and it cleans up very easily with denat alcohol. Very user friendly.

Explain what that is... When you take the paint off, they look exactly like every other graphite blank without a paint job...

They aren't new. They have been used for over the last 20 years in Asia and Europe. They are just new to the US and bass fishing.

I prefer USPS Priority Mail. 2 -3 day shipping. Discount if you buy postage online. If you do have a claim, you can submit it online and it goes directly to claims processing. No middle man (like post master, clerk, etc) to handle it.

Marketing it's not as easy as you think. How are you going to get the press, the publicity, and the advertising to get it out? That's a lot of overhead and a full time job in itself. Let's say you hit a home run and sell a bunch of rods - enough to make a nice profit after you pay for all that advertising. How you going to make that many rods as a custom builder? Custom builders are a different market. They aren't mainstream. That's kind of the point of them. All these trends started from custom builders - not factories. Rich Forhan was building split grips, modified reel seats, etc a long time before the first factory ever did. Kinda funny if you think about it. You're saying the custom builder should copy the factory who copied the custom builder. ;D

I've had one failure from micros. A guide ring popped out. Keep in mind I have over 1000 micros in service - some since Feb 2008. That's 1 failure over 1000 guides. I'm happy with that %. No line cuts. The ring material is the same as in larger guides. No difference there.

IMO...No. If you're gonna spend that much, I would go with Fuji Ti/SiC over the Recoils any day. With that being said.....I really like the Alconites myself. If you want to save the weight, use all BLAG's and BLAG4's as your running guides. X2

Not that I know of. If it's not a terrible gouge, you could sand it down and just give the grip a little different shape. Who knows, you might like it! Use 120 grit drywall screen. Hit with a little 220 just to smooth it up.

Quick tip - if you want more brilliance to your white (like clean tube socks... ;D ) paint the blank white where your white thread will be. I just use a Krylon rattle can and just put a real light coat on. Even with NCP it makes a big difference.

Quality & pride = lead paint in our kids' toys and massive recalls in a large variety of products. But we put up with it. Sure some of the stuff is good quality. But don't kid yourself on mass produced stuff selling for cheap... it's monetary based. Lower pay, fewer compliance rules, a lot less overhead, etc. Factories doing contract work may turn out rods this week and easy bake ovens next week. They fill the quota and move on to the next product. (It's more likely they build Quantums this week and BPS rods next week. Just making an example up) Lots of pictures available on this site: http://www.glcfishing.com/folders.asp - notice who uses their products on the right hand side. The pic below is from the siliflash skirt factory. The lack chairs was the first thing that jumped out at me.

Only durability the clear coat will add is limited protection from chips and scratches. One thing to think about - if I remember correctly - some of the original Loomis blanks (the ones that made them famous) were natural graphite. Blanks don't need a top coat or a clear coat. It can make them more attractive or not so plain. Color some times helps with marketing too...

Wall thickness doesn't equate to rod strength. The load a rod can handle is a result of hoop strength. You can build a thin wall thick butt rod blank that is just as strong as a thick wall, thin butt blank. I would surmise the GL3, IMX, and GLX of the same model should have very similar strength and performance characteristics for the same model rod (this isn't always the case, but I've found them to usually be pretty similar). You should increase sensitivity going up grades of models because of the ability to use less graphite overall. Technically the fibers in a higher modulus rod should be "stronger" than those in a lower modulus, allowing you to use less material to achieve the same strength. It lets you build a lighter rod blank of the same power, and lighter usually means more sensitive. One side effect is the higher modulus rods tend to be damaged more easily by side impacts, etc because less material is used.

Kinda off from what you are looking for, but when carrying rods by hand, you are better holding the rear portion in your hand and having the length of the rod BEHIND you. Less likely to run into something and break a tip. A lot of folks don't think about that and run into something and break or damage a rod.

LCM - sorry I didn't pick up on that being your point (I use the i was getting tired excuse on this one)!

LOL...ok, here are the rules: You get a Shimano Talavera Trooling Rod (5'9" X-Heavy) and a Penn Saltwater Reel. I get a G Loomis GLX BCR893 and a Daiwa Zillion. We will have to cast a weightless senko 80 feet into the center of a tire. Again, I am not the best caster, but I like my chances with a "longer" rod. There's a couple other things at play on that one. If the rod doesn't load - you aren't going to get it where you want it. You might can, but it's gonna be a whole lot harder. That salt rod isn't going to load. Unfair advantage. I'm with vatech - you can develop the proficiency to be accurate - with any length rod. I can hand someone a 6' rod or a 7'9" - if they aren't proficient at accuracy, they won't do it with either one. RoLo is right too. Basic physics regarding levers comes into play. When you merge RoLo and vatech's comments you get a good picture of what is happening. The average angler is more proficient at keeping the correct angles on a shorter lever - it's easier. Those who practice or are naturally talented can develop a greater proficiency for accuracy with a longer lever/rod. Compare this to a hammer. Use one with a standard length, say 12". Whack away. Now, go make a hammer with a 2 yard handle and try it... which is easier to be more accurate with until you develop your proficiency? **No facts to support - just my conclusions and opinions**

MudHole are good folks, and now that Bob McKamey is down there, they will be even better. If you've never built a rod before, you might consider a kit. Everything you need is in one and takes the guess work out of it. You got plenty to worry about leanring how to put one together already! Mudhole has a pretty nice selection of kits and starter set ups.

I vote for the stain. That's probably the most permanent solution... although a sharpie is a permanent marker ;D ;D ;D

What's listed is not the line up. This line is expected to be available around Sept with 28 one and two piece spinning and casting set ups. 6' - 7', fast action rods.

Honestly I really don't know. I would suspect you might need to seal it or the paint would soak into the cork. I'd definintely consider coating the paint or it's going to get knocked off with use. Maybe try Helmsman's in the rattle can. Just tape up what you don't want the Helmsman's on. Try it on a junker and see what happens. Be interested to hear the results.

"I am able to deliver a true performance rod that once cost three times as much." http://tforods.com/ Makes you go... hmmmmm...

The CastAway blanks are pretty good for the money. I can't speak to the factory versions. I've had success out of the HG40s and the XP3s both. They use a multimodulus layup to create a lightweight and durable rod. Are they high end? No. But IMO you could spend that same amount of money in worse places pretty easily. I know Swampland Tackle ran out of the Big Show blanks pretty fast. Proved popular among custom builders.

thumbs up on the avids! I've got a 3C62MXF - use it for topwater. I've caught quite a few stripers in the 4-5# range on it and one 8#, who knows how many bass. The rod has held up wonderfully. Now I do admit, letting the stripes pull drag, not high sticking, etc has helped it survive... But those are really good blanks for the $.

x2!!!! Just very uncomfortable holding the same rod for long periods of time. I refuse to use them as well. It's also a heavier reel seat than the ECS, so adding weight for no real reason.