Quote:
Originally Posted by Saltheart
The canal is a rediculously perilous environment for both the rod and the fisherman. How many people , much less their rods get all banged up there. The difference is rods don't heal. You ding your rod and thats a permanent potential failure initiation site.
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I really think this summarizes it all, and is of course not limited to
the canal. Goes for using it as a wading stick, dropping it from the
car, dropping gear on it, accidentally getting it jammed in the
bushes or the ground as you are walking, and most of all falling on
the sucker.
Its sort of human nature to pass the blame or forget things like
how used your rod on the rocks to prevent a face plant when you
tripped. Last season, I did that with a brand new rod....landed the
full 210# of falling weight, bracing the rod on the corner of a
rock....on the banks of the canal. I am just waiting for it to talk
back....amazing it hasn't.
If I break a rod, i just eat the cost if there is any reasonable doubt
that I may have caused the issue. I have only redeemed warranty
on one rod where I broke the rule....and it was earlier in my
surfcasting career, before I knew it was a no-no to high stick.
Believe me...I know I am broken, and I wish I could just demand
replacements like everyone else.
There is something about graphite or carbon fiber that gets jacked
if hit on the perpendicular. Permanent weak spot. I have had more failures
with early fresh water graphite rods in this way. I remember the
impact....followed soon with a failure. Sometimes after an impact it
would look fine, but all you would need to do is touch it and the rod
tip would fall off like a dead leaf.
Its really a testament to the advances in technology that these
rods can really stand up to considerable abuse. I don't know much
about the technology, but there is a lot of talk of these stronger
resins. I guess the industry is motivated to protect themselves
from warranty claims. On second thought perhaps bogus warranty
claims are a good thing! Never mind! We do demand better rods! We want progress!