RipHair

Here's a photo of all 3 rods in the smaller one. I think I'll stick with this because it'll increase my chances of not having to check this thing in - I highly doubt I'd get away with being able to bring a carry on plus the MULTI one. Was trying to see if I could remove the material from inside the tube to give a few extra mm of room and thought what I found inside was pretty funny. No idea how this has anything to do with ladies footwear! Hope it's a legit TFO product and not some Chinese knockoff (I did order form Amazon).

Got both the MULTI and regular sized TFO triangular case. Regular sized is around 2.5" on each side, MULTI is much larger at 4.5" each side. Interestingly, I got 2 7'0 casting rods and 1 7'0 spinning rod to fit (although very tightly and not too easily) in the smaller one. MULTI you can prob fit 6-8 rods in. I'm tempted to go with the smaller one but if I ever need to travel with more than 3 rods I'll be out of luck...

Thanks, I'll check into these

That's a beaut!!! I didn't think about checking on Etsy.

Thanks Mick! I see there are multiple versions of this: https://www.amazon.com/TFO-Triangular-Rod-Case-TF-RCT-94/dp/B00JJ6O0N4/ including a "MULTI" that I presume would fit more than one rod but it looks like the page you linked is for the single 9/4? Do you know your particular model you think will fit all of my 3 x 7'0 3pc w/ KLH 16/20 + SK2 triggers? Not that I don't trust you but just wanted to be sure before buying.

I've built 3 7'0 travel rods and now I need a hard case I can use for airline travel or strapping it to my adventure motorcycle. I have one of the St Croix cases already and it's pretty nice and you can buy them individual for $30/ea: https://www.tackledirect.com/st-croix-traveler-rod-case.html but I don't really want to spend $90 for 3 cases if there are other options to group all of the rods together into ***" case perhaps. I went to hope depot to check PVC but even schedule 4 has super thick walls (probably overkill) and it's really heavy. Getbitoutdoors when I ordered my Rainshadows sent me the blanks in ASTM D2241 pressure pipe that is much lighter and has 0.06" walls instead of triple that for schedule 40 but I can't find where to buy it anywhere online... Also they shipped me 1.5" I.D. (inner diameter) so it won't fit my Fuji SK2 trigger that is around 2" nor my spinning stripper guide that is 2" high. I think I would need a 2" I.D. pipe that would fit 1 rod or perhaps a 3" might fit all 3 rods. Anyone know where to buy this pipe? Alternatively, the Plano airline looks good but it's minimum collapsible size is 47" which is too long (my sections are 28"). Sage has a ballistic case with either 4" or 6" I.D. that may work: https://www.flyandfield.com/products/sage-ballistic-bulk-6-rod-tube-10 this looks like the best "ready-made" contender. Some threads here mentioned architect drawing cases but it seems the quality and safety isn't consistent unless someone here knows a particular model that they'd trust going through TSA and airline handlers?

I've fished only hollow body frogs and mice with some good success but I'm curious to try some texas rigged style plastic frogs/toads this season. I plan on using my MH 7'0 with either 20lb braid + 20/15lb fluoro leader or straight fluoro. Any preference on braid vs fluoro? The cover I'll be fishing won't be too nasty - just mostly lily pads, maybe some weeds, etc - stuff you find in the North East and Ontario. Bass size are prob 1-5lb where I fish although I would be curious on what would need to change if I fished in Texas or Okeechobee for instance. My initial research showed rage toad and horny toads to be popular. Can I get away with any of these hooks I already have: Owner Wide Gap Plus Hook #4/0 Black Chrome 5PK Owner Wide Gap Plus Hook #5/0 Black Chrome 5PK Owner All Purpose Soft Bait Hook #4/0 Black Chrome 4PK Owner Weighted Beast w/ Twistlock 4/0 Hook #1/8oz. Black Chrome 3PK Owner Weighted Beast w/ Twistlock 6/0 Hook #1/4 oz. Black Chrome 3PK Or should I order something else? Also I saw some people using double hooks sort of like the ones used in hollow body frogs. Do they help with anything in particular? I prefer not to have to pack those as they're a bit bulky and their shape are a bit more annoying for the way I pack my terminal tackly (just little ziplocks). Any other similar surface baits to try?

Enjoyed reading this thread so far as I'm in the same camp of trying to build an extremely light rod. I'm building my 3rd rod which is a casting SB841-3. I used 4mm AC gray alconite guides, RV reverse stripper, thread size A. I should have measured everything from the get-go but a few measurements showed the 9-10 KB/KT guides to be less than 1g, or at least I need a better scale to measure micrograms. After wrapping the KTs on top section the weight of it plus the already installed tip top, its metallic wrap and epoxy it weighted 7-8g (sometimes 7 sometimes 8). I just finished the epoxy using Flex Coat Lite and what I did this time was heat it up with a BIC to get it more viscous and apply it as thinly as possible to all the guides. I then used the BIC again once on and wiped as much off as possible with a dry brush. Then I repeated one more time with the BIC and getting as much excess flex coat off. I then used a brush with 70% rubbing alcohol to clean up the epoxy that hit the blank. I measured the tip top again and it registered 8g, so I guess I must have put <1g of epoxy on just that top section and will weigh even less once dry. I plan on putting a second coat on though and will re-measure and update the thread tomorrow. Oh another thing is that I only wrapped the blank 2-3 times before ramping up the guide feet this time. I also did 3 locking wraps on all of my KT and KBs without any blocking wraps (thanks to @MickD again for the advice yesterday!)

I haven't tried them yet but all 3 of my custom builds so far are using Fuji SK split seats - guess I'm gonna have to learn to make them my favorite!

SB843-3 (my first build), just re-measured: AA: 75.2 IP: 675g ERN: 22.7 SB841-3 (the next build): AA: 83.1 IP: 609g ERN: 20.92 I think what's interesting to note here compared with the AT831-3 is that even though the AT841-3 is much lighter power-wise, it's AA is less than the much heavier SB841-3. It will be really interesting to take all of these rods out and fish them for a good weekend with different lures. My hunch is the AT841-3 will be great for weightless senkos, maybe T-rigs up to 1/8oz weight, hopefully creatures too, ned rigs, drop shot - overall finesse with spinning reel (will prob be my only spin setup). Hopefully I can skip wacky rigs with it too. Gonna throw 6-8lb tatsu on this spin setup. SB841-3 can hopefully still do weightless senkos, and all of the above but also some buzz-baits, maybe frogs? Odd crankbait maybe? Will be 8-10lb fluoro bait casting on my Scorpion DC 8.1:1. SB843-3 can hopefully still do all the above plus weightless senkos. But will use for heavier stuff like frogs, mepps #5 musky killers for muskies, use it in Okeechobee and heavier cover. One other thought now that I'm on my 3rd build: my original plan was to buy the Orochi XXX F4-610K 4P which has a similar "rating" to the SB843-3 but weighs 145g instead of my 99g complete build. It retails for 25000YEN ~ $200 USD. Anyone know anything about it and how my SB843-3 build might compare? Looking at the pics it looks like the F4-610K 4P uses the Fuji fazlite guides compared to my AC grey alconite. I also used 5mm guides the whole way and the RV first stripper. Here is the build link:

Took me a while to find this chart but I feel this is by far the best one: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KrbaZnIAOxhyli7O3f3WqUpvYzyzlXCB/view Also, I owe this thread an apology. It would appear my first CCS measurement may have suffered 2 sources of bias: 1) I had originally wedged the butt end of the rod into an open dresser drawer which may have thrown things off because I just got a new measurement under a more controlled setup where I stuck the butt end under a heavy object and ensured the rod again was 0deg (perfectly level). 2) I merely counted pennies (112 to be exact) and it seems as though weights of pennies and rolls of pennies may not be very consistent. I redid the test again twice, each time using a different surface and object and got similar results so I'm fairly confident these are the more accurate CCS representation of this rod: 1st Measurement: AA=77.3 grams: 346 ERN: 13.7 2nd Measurement: AA=77.6 grams: 353 ERN: 13.8 Also, the above IP in grams also concurs with @MikeK's results above. Using the linked table it would appear an IP of 355g translates into an ERN of roughly 13.8 as well. Also FWIW, if you use pennies or rolls of pennies, just make sure you actually measure the end result. In my case, I used a ziplock + string and stuck 2 rolls of pennies in and then individual pennies to get to the target deflection point. I then weighed the whole shebang on a scale to get grams - a bit better than counting pennies. Curiously enough, measuring each roll yielded one being 131g and the other 137g. ?‍♂️ Now.... with these *new* results, how are we looking @MickD? Still think she can only be relegated to a mere drop shot/ned rig?

Do you have any posts that reference how you do it? I'd love to give it a try if you don't need any serious equipment (I live in a doggone apartment).

Based on the data we have on this rod do you think it'll fish ok for weightless 5" senkos, weighted t-rigs up to 1/8oz weight? A bit worried about hook setting power... Guess maybe why this AT was the cheapest of all travel options.

The way I went about it was I started with the rod being suspended horizontally by it's reel seat. I measured the distance of the tip to the floor to be X, length of the rod is 7' so 7 * 12" = 84" / 3 = 28" so I added 112 pennies to a ziplock attached to the tiptop that made the tip deflect X - 28" from the floor. 112 pennies = ERN 12.15 if I looked it up correctly? To be sure, this rod is light years more "whippy" than either my SB843-3, SB841-3. In our other thread, I had measured SB841-3 to be 19.1-82 so indeed it looks as though this AT841-3 is much more light and certainly more moderate than the SB841-3. What grit(s) sandpaper would you recommend for doing so? It's too late to sand this rod down as I already got the seat and cork glued but I might try it in the future if I ever get another one of these glossy rods. Also, remember travel rods are quite slim pickings! I think also the MHX blanks have the same kind of non-matte finish as well. Wow, you really made that one look nice! I love the cork work compared to my plain-Jane Fuji cork. I wish I could rig something up to spin my own cork. I take it your thread wraps are CP? Did you use Permagloss or lite build epoxy? It looks very low-profile which is precisely the look I'm going for. What reel seat is that? I wonder if it's lighter than the Fuji splits I've been using. Lastly, how did you get that symbol in between? It almost looks like some Japanese symbol of some sorts. From the reply with @MickD are you able to get CCS measurements on your build to see if they match my measured ERN of 12.15 and AA of 73?

In my 30+ years of fishing I've only ever used 6'6 rods M or MH. Actually, I have a St Croix Tidemaster 7'6 that I absolutely despise so I only fished it a few times. So even if it gets chopped to 6'10 it'll still be longer than all of my rods. I agree I will try to fish it... But because I'll be traveling on my time fishing it, how do you cut it down? I saw a youtube video of someone using a file until it falls off. I would have thought a hacksaw woulda been the ticket. Either way, I'll need to bring the tools and new butt cap out on the field in case I need to chop it.

Oh yeah, one more question: since I mentioned I much prefer the matte finish on this AT rod compared to the Rainshadow clear coat finish, is it possible to sand down the Rainshadow to make it matte?

I went ahead and took the CCS measurements for this rod: ERN=12.15 AA=73.7 Since I haven't fished her yet, I have no idea what this actually means but would be curious to hear about others with similar setups. As mentioned in my previous posts I plan on using this as finesse and weightless 5" senkos wacky, T-rigs, whatever else that is light for bass in clear NE lakes.

I think it was actually this good man himself I got the advice from. And sure enough the first stripper guide is exactly 20" from the reel face. Thanks again! On another topic, I've been having a lot of fun reading through the Looking to build the lightest spinning rod possible thread. Since this bad boy clocks in at exactly 85g/3oz and the rod starting weight is 2.2oz, not sure how I managed to keep it that light. My only guess is either the stuff I stuck on was only 0.8oz or maybe the rod was actually a bit lighter (I don't think I checked it). A few things I learned from the other thread too I wish I could have applied to this build: 1. I like the idea of using Permagloss instead of two-part epoxy. Granted I used Flex Coat Lite but I as well hate footballs and I want the absolute minimum to keep those guides on there regardless of appearances or feel. 2. I wrapped too much before the ramp. Even though I grinded those feet down, I think I must have had like 4-10 wraps before going up the feet. Next time I will try to get 1-3 wraps only. 3. I didn't do my homework and really understand locking and blocking wraps @MickD tried to teach me. I merely just started wrapping behind the guide 5-8 times as you can see without locking (wrapping around the guide itself!). So I basically wasted a bunch of wraps and epoxy (and therefore weight). @MickD I think you mentioned you do the locking but don't bother with blocking? If so, how do you do this? Do you lock-wrap 3 times around the guide then do a few more wraps on the foot then pull through? Or do you pull-through directly after the last locking wrap? 4. I'm not sure how much glue to use when gluing the already heavy reel seats and cork. But I'd be curious to use as little as possible as I suspect a lot of the bulk weight comes from there, granted though it's in a spot that doesn't really matter. 5. I think I'll probably just go with Titanium + SiC guides here on out that I have had more practice - or at least Ti for the KTs and tip-top. Also question for the CCS crew here: is it too late to do CCS measurements with all this stuff on the rod or does the rod blank really have to have nothing on it?

Are you measuring grip length as being from butt end to trigger like I portrayed?

The SB841-3 is a 7' rod. I wanted to experiment with having my reel seat a bit further up as I thought my first build (the SB843-3 below it) was too short. When placing this one, I did a dry-fitting where I thought it would be reasonable - as in, I tried the various casting motions, etc.. and it seemed "OK". Anyway, now that the thing is glued I checked it against all of my other rods and it's 1.5" higher up than my heaviest duty rod which is a St Croix Tidemaster 7'6" MHF3 Inshore casting rod. It's 3" higher than the SB843-3. You can see the trigger on it is exactly at 13" from the end of the butt. Is this completely bonkers for a simple rod to be used for crankbaits, texas rigs, etc?? I unfortunately wont' be able to test any of these setups for another couple of weeks. Should I chop it down 1-2" to make it 11" or 12" from the butt and end up with a 6'11 or 6'10 rod?

Used a fixed offset for the first reduction guide, got it from another thread or anglers resource.com. Remainder we're carefully done using static load testing.

Sorry it's been quite a while since I've posted but I finally got around to finishing my second rod and I'm quite happy with how this one turned out. American Tackle AT841-3 Mag Bass Travel Rod Blank Fuji KL AC Gray Alconite 16H - 8H - 5.5M Fuji KB AC Gray Alconite 4mm Fuji KT AC Gray Alconite 4mm Fuji Micro Spinning Top LG - Alconite 4mm / 4.5 (~1.8mm) Fuji SK2 Graphite Hood with Graphite Nut SKSS - Size 17 Fuji SK2 Spinning Body SKSS - Size 17 Fuji Threaded Barrel for SK2 Hoods SKPSN - Size 17 RGK Rear Split-Grip with Rubberized Cork for Fuji SK2 Spinning Reel Seat Butt Grip for Fuji Split Grip SK2 Reel Seats Wrapped using Size A Fuji Color #14 Gold and Flex Coat Lite. Total weight comes in at 85g or 3oz. I went with an AT831-3 as it's quite light and it's primary purpose is for more finesse with 6-8lb fluoro. I plan on fishing this with mostly weightless senkos, light T-rigs, maybe get into some BFS stuff too. Also, in comparison to the Rainshadow RX6 travel, I really like how this is matte black/dark gray instead of glossy gray. I think it looks a lot better to me. My next build is going a casting setup on a Rainshadow SB841-3. Even though I think they are technically "rated" the same way, the AT831-3 feels way lighter than the SB841-3. For that build I plan on using the RV reverse 1st guide, then 4mm to the tip. Thanks again for everyone's help here teaching me how to build my own rods. I'm super happy with the results and can't wait to fish these.

Hey Lyman X, I should have updated the thread that I ended up putting it at 20". Right when I posted the last post I felt as though I didn't have enough KTs and KBs so tried to compensate by pushing the RV to 24". I ended up getting more KTs and KBs like I posted in my final rod building thread and I re-did my static load test I was able to get everything good with the RV at 20". Thanks for calling me out on this.

I just finished my first rod build and had no issues using my trust BIC lighter. I used it many times on each coat - using Flex Coat light build. I figured even if it did get sooted, it might perhaps make for a cool design (something my rod lacks because I have nothing fancy).

Thanks. I assume they don't make them anymore? Too bad there aren't so many 3pc options available and it's why I'm considering stepping it up to the SCV 2pc to try to get a taste of something more premium. At least with this rod I can tell it's much superior to my St Croix Triumph 4pc travel rod. One other question for the group: I don't think there was a serial number that came with the blank, just a sticker. I don't plan on sticking it on the blank either. Is this an issue with warranty? Also, I read up a bit on the warranty and you basically need to send them the broken piece with $20 for them to inspect it and only if they determine it's their fault do they replace it that broken piece? I assume if that's the case then one would probably be better off just ordering a whole new blank so they have 3 backup pieces?