Rod Preservation During Transport in Vehicle

[islandbass]

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 for $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?

[Raul]

Berkley horizontal rod holders screwed to the ceiling of my Ram Charger SUV.

[.RM.]

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

Like Raul I use a rack made for my truck bed or topper.

It is the Rod Saver Vehicle Rod Carrier..

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_15989____SearchResults

Tight Lines!!!

[snuffy33]

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

I use 2" PVC pipe with screw-on caps for single rods. Larger sizes for multiple rods.

[Use ONLY Stren]

Nice CB in the dash Reel Mech

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Berkley horizontal rod holders screwed to the ceiling of my Ram Charger SUV.

I aint seen one of these in forever  .318 0r 340 ?? dana 44,s i assume .i love me some old power wagons and ram chargers back when they BUILT real TRUCKS .Matter of fact the big 3 made the best trucks in world from the 30,s till the late 80,s .then trucks turned into cars  ;D

[Maxximus Redneckus]

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

Like Raul I use a rack made for my truck bed or topper.

It is the Rod Saver Vehicle Rod Carrier..

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_15989____SearchResults

Tight Lines!!!

RM are them some 2 speed Abus i see ????

[.RM.]

Guys if you click the link you will see it is the same pic that is in the BPS ad, NOT my truck.

My truck (89 F150) has that rack setup across the bed frame inside the topper.

Tight Lines!!! 

[Raul]

Berkley horizontal rod holders screwed to the ceiling of my Ram Charger SUV.

I aint seen one of these in forever .318 0r 340 ?? dana 44,s i assume .i love me some old power wagons and ram chargers back when they BUILT real TRUCKS .Matter of fact the big 3 made the best trucks in world from the 30,s till the late 80,s .then trucks turned into cars ;D

Lots of horses in that injun and all of them thirsty , mine is '93, got a lil bit over 100 k miles and I ain 't planning to sell it soon, tows almost any boat like if it were a toy ( can carry up to 3 jonboats, 2 on a trailer and one cartopped ), got plenty of room, comfortably sit six and the seats are extra thick and quite ergonomical so after driving several hours to them remote big bass meccas in northern Mexico you don 't suffer from flat rear end syndrome nor back pain.