Batson

This is the best stuff: http://alpsforecast.com/products/supplies/dyna-tek-products-rod-reel-performance-kit/ You can clean and coat!! It also works on your rod and line too!!

Seriously.. For the money, you can build your ultimate custom rod!! And you can have almost 2 rods built!!

We are the exclusive partner for NFC blanks.. This means anyone can buy from not only our distributors and retailers, but online as well. If you need a builder, either DVT can build one, or we can refer you to one.

For that money get a custom!! You get to have it exactly built the way you want!

Only if you guys knew!! lol.. But come on, 85 million modulus for $99 really?? Im all for marketing, but .... Lol They are doing well with it though. Look everyone is talking about them!

This is a great subject!! What is more important actually is who is the designer of the rods and do they fish competitively and/or know what fisherman want? Now that is the better question!

Nice!! Don't you mean RainShadow Spinning blank? What model and series did you build with?? Looks great!

Hm.... That is interesting.. I guess everyone has their own opinion lol!!

Here is our websites.. Your are getting rod blanks built and design by fisherman and rod builders as well. Everyone in our office rod builds! Even the CEO and the President! We want you our customer to fish with the best! Tried and true and tested not only by us, but professional fisherman around the world! This way you can be rest assured you are fishing the best! Infamous Gary Loomis: www.northforkcomposites.com RainShadow Rod Blanks: The designer is Mike Thorson, VP of Engineering and previous head product manager at St. Croix!! www.rainshadowrodblanks.com Need Components? www.alpsforecast.com

There are so many advantages to spiral wrapping a rod. You would have to go out and fish with it to see. One of the main turn offs of spiral wrapping isn't performance, but rather the aesthetics of the rod. Most can't get over what it looks like.. lol

The short answer is YES!! The longer answer is, make sure you have the correct sizing and the cone of flight is proper. So many people build a micro guide acid/spiral wrap and but doesnt realize the guide train. If your line touches your blank, you don't have it down right. Best is to tape the guides on and then put a reel with line on, deflect the blank with the line and see where your line ends up!! BTW, we have a full line of guides and components as well!! www.alpsforecast.com Let us know if you get stuck!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Well good news, those have been some of our best selling rod blanks! What components does it have? Lets see a pic!! The new models have replaced some of the models you have though. The new RainShadow Eternity2 has new RX9 materials, designs, and NANO!! The RainShadow Immortal is an improved RX8 with new designs and better material. The RainShadow Revelation replaced some models in the RX7 lineup. The RX7 lineup still have some great models too!! Enjoy, Tell us about your fishing experience!

nice build!!

You have a few questions of course.. More guides = more guide insert failures.. I've never seen or heard of more insert failures than I have the last several years..( micro ) A: In theory yes.. But if you use higher quality guides then you have less insert failures. FYI out of the thousands, meaning 300k+ we get a total of 20-30 avrg units that come back stating they have ring failure. That being said only 30% of that number are real ring failures. the 70% is because some was doing something dumb with their expensive rod. Of that number less than 1% say they had ring failure due to stepping on their guides. SS316 guides and design could be that as well. Kevin Van Dam fishes with ALPS guides and over the many years of fishing, with Quantum, he has never had a ring failure ever! Another note.. There are Micro and Mini guides. Micro guides are so small its even hard to hand hold one of them. Therefore, a spiral wrapped rod having a few more guides will not create more insert failures if your using great guides. I realize all guides are not created equal, nonetheless, the problem still exist.. A: Yes see above.. They are not created equal! The problem exists only if there is a problem. Again we experience very very very few guide failures. Plus grams do add to a ounce. Yes.. Sorry.. I meant grains not grams. Still, I agree a builder can create a rod based on his own or well accepted, modern engineering knowledge and apply it his way.. ​A: Yes this is true.. Remember this is a thread about is spiral wrapped rods good or not? Spiral wrapped rods are great! Just depends if you want to have one that is or not. Most are turned off about the "looks" of the rod rather its performance value!

Very cool. We have been having really amazing feedback on the RainShadow Eternity2 rod blanks. Remember this blank is more sensitive and lightweight, but not as strong as the Revelation! You can still trust it though! We went to Lake Okechobee last year after Icast and we purposely put them under the ringer. Still no problems!! The RainShadow Immortal is a wonderful blank. It purposely replaced the RX8 with all new refreshed materials, designs, etc.. Great choice too! It is actually more affordable than you think. If you were to match pound for pound what you get in a factory rod vs a custom, you would be astonished what they charge. Then again what drives cost as DVT said, it all depends on what you want. You start changing out different grips, different reel seat configurations, guides ( Titanium or Stainless Steel ) then color.. That is when the costs go up due to the ultimate customization.

Nice Grumpy!! What rod are you going to go with? RainShadow Eternity2??

Always go custom! You get the best of all worlds. There are a ton of different blanks and components out there. Just do your research and talk to DVT about what are some good ones to go after!

Spiral wrapping is the way! Curvature or Deflecting is key though. I hope that he doesnt just space every 3" rather than space out depending on the size of the guides. 14 guides might be a little bit much, but that is why rod building is so great. You can create what ever you want to do. 9-10 is just standard. You will start to see more rods come out with more guides because the concept micro or mini guide system is proven. Most of our rods have between 11-12 + tip on 7'2" rods. So 14 is not completely overboard on a 7'6". Casting a 7'2" with 11 guides + Tip is amazing.. So much control and distance! The weight is nominal since we are talking grams not ounces.

You have to purchase from a dealer. Any one of our dealers can help you out. Where do you live? This is correct DVT!! Thank you. Utmost is a great shop that is located near our HQ. Looks great!!!

FYI.. we switched the name of the rod blank to RainShadow. So if you can't find a "forecast" rod blank you can find all of our rod blanks over here: www.rainshadowrodblanks.com Btw, Excellent choice on rod blanks and kids! I think you'll really like how it performs! Also think about putting trim bands in your wraps. Some people do it every guide, some people do it on just the first guide. It give it a little more pop without having to do too much extra work.

Hi Hogsticker. We understand.. We are trying to vary our models and lineups within each models. The Immortal lineup does have Popping actions. They are fantastic!! And for your lighter actions in casting, you got it bud!! Build a spin blank out of it. You will be happier! We are constantly looking at adding models. Maybe we will add a few 2 piece UHMR models to the Eternity2 and the Immortal lineups, but that is up to engineering. Btw, if you like the RX8 popping the Immortal is that on steroids! We understand that people like both painted and unpainted blanks. They both offer pros and cons. We might be doing a "Limited Run" of non coated blanks, but again that is up to engineering. We have several reps across all the boards talking. Everyone is very knowledgeable about our product offering. Please don't hesitate to ask!

Hi Choporoz, If you look at the top of all our websites, you can navigate to everything brand that we have. You just need to think like a rod builder First you start off with the RainShadow Blanks then move onto the ALPS/ForeCast website to pick out your components. Don't worry about sizing etc.. We have built this for you to put together all the items you like into a "wish list" then send this to any of our dealers or even a rod builder. They will find out exactly what your wanting to order and make sure your building it correctly to spec. From then you can pay any of the rod builders to build it for you. Its as simple as that

Choporoz, You are actually a customer we are wanting to have. We understand that most people want to have a custom rod, but don't want to spend the time to build one. All of our lives are busy, but going custom is the best route. Why?? Its because you get to have the perfect rod! Most people that we have talked to have stated, "I like my rod, but... " now you can have everything! We would implore you to go the custom route and talk to any of our custom rod builders or even ones here on this forum to get you into a custom rod. You will find that with a custom rod, you get more bang for the buck as well as fully customized colors, jewelry, spec, etc.. You get the picture! Thank you for taking time out to respond! We appreciate it.

I agree, DVT is one of the premier builders here! And you are correct. If you fish with built rods, 80% chance your fishing with one of our products. We just don't go out of our way nor due to agreements we have with customers let everyone know about what they are using. The RX8+ is a great blank, the Eternity2 and the Immortal is the GEN2 or refinement of blank models that were great! With the Eternity2 blank, we should have covered 90% of the most common techniques. Is there something you were specifically looking for? The ETES68M is the perfect blank for you if your more of a finesse fisherman for throwing the Senkos. If you like doing big hook sets, go with the ETEC68M. The same goes in the Immortal lineup as well. Btw, by the time you put your tip top and but on your rod it will come out to about 6'9"-6'10" depending on your setup. Hope this helps.

ksboy, Thank you for your consideration. And welcome to rod building!! Your opening a wonderful can of worms on both price, atheistic, and performance! Now you can have your rod built the way you like it!! Here is some tutorials from our CEO and master rod builder: https://www.youtube.com/user/BatsonEnterprises This being said.. We recommend to build a few easier and smaller builds, not on expensive stuff first. You may get others telling you from other companies it should be ok etc.. We have a few RX6 kits that you can do to be successful! Then you can tackle more complicated and more expensive builds If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask anyone here or contact us. Weedsnager1, we like to update our website with every model at once. We have tested the most common builds, but still in the testing phase of the lighter models. If you need a specific build for any model, we have no problem sharing this with you. Please just contact us and we can send you our "BluePrint" Delaware, thank you so much. We try to keep it as fresh as possible always. Of course these are just guidelines, always measure twice and cut once!! Thank you for your support!