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ceiling or floor "poking" works, but be careful. anytime you bend a built rod or blank w/o putting any line thru the guides, you put stress on a certain area of the blank. typically, it's near the tip, but not always. you'll get mean looks from the custom rod builder or owner as well. the best thing to do is to politely ask the owner/builder/salesman if you can "feel" this rod and ask them if they have a reel they can put one it w/ line. put the line thru the guides, have the saleperson hold the line and bend the rod as if you were fighting a fish. this evenly distributes the forces thru the entire rod. you only need to bend a rod to 90 degrees. anymore than that and you are not using the maximum power of the blank. also, you are putting added stress on the blank. in other words, you are "high sticking". the story for another day...
best advice, ask the salesperson to put a reel w/ line on the rod.
if i had a dollar for everytime i saw a salesperson at a show or even a shop grab a built rod and hold the tip while a customer bends the rod. that's just like ceiling poking.
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