8 hours ago, WRB said:

I will go out on a limb and say you or Hovanec don't own these rods and may not know if they were sold at a discount. Is it fair to display photos of blemished products without knowing the origin or history of the defect?

I've examined NRX's in Cabelas and Field & Stream......no different.  The NRX's that came across my bench were not blems, seconds or discounts.  They were bought from a retailer by one of my good customers.  Every one of them looked just like the pics BBF posted.  I also took pics at the time they were in my possession but I am unable to locate them at this time (800+ pics of various rods on my phone).

 

8 hours ago, WRB said:

So now bashing Loomis NRX rods, one of the top off the shelf rods availble today, is in play.

I'm not just picking on NRX.  I'm an equal opportunity basher if nothing else.  I don't discriminate and have posted all of these findings at one time or another.

 I may be a St. Croix fan boy, but I posted up pics of 25 OEM fly rods that were bought to resell at a show.  Footballs just like the Cashion, all the way out, on double foot snake guides.  Talk about ugly and unnecessary added weight.

I've had high end Sage's come in looking the same way.  When I do the repair, it looks out of place cause I can't bring myself to create a football on a guide.

My dislike for Cashion may only be rivaled by my hatred for Abu.  They make up 75% or more of my repairs.  So many broken guides.  Their 'top-of-the-line' Villain is actually a 2 piece rod glued together at the handle.

Speaking or rods being spliced, I've encountered multiple Shimano rods with a splice under the stripper guide.

On to Kistler.  There was always rumors that there was inconsistencies in their models. Buy a 703 this month and it's a different rod than it was 3 months ago. They were sourcing blanks from multiple vendors, which isn't a big deal as long as it's the same action/power.  You would think however, they would remove the manufacturers sticker from the blank before assembling.  One rebuild revealed/confirmed one of the rumored blank suppliers.  I stripped off the rear grip to uncover a Rainshadow decal.

Tore into a Dobyns to do a handle extension for one guy.  Did you know that pretty butt cap is actually a 2" long piece of steel epoxied into the end, apparently for balance?

Every company has their dirty little secrets

 

You should be happy the Abu is keeping you busy. Anglers still believe Abu makes thier rods and reels in Sweden, with a few exceptions they are made in China. I don't own any Cashion rods and don't know where they are made, however they are in the mid $170 makes them equal to lower end St Croix rods and Chasion are better rods IMO at that price point.

Buyers of NRX or most other rods have the option to contact customer service if not satisfied with the rods. I have no idea other than to exchange unused rods is for Abu or other off shore made rods because workmanship may not be a warranty issue. 

My choice has been to use a custom rod builder for the past 30+ years, Lamiglas custom shop until they stopped offering to make them, still offer blanks. I now use ALX custom rods and Alex now has a line of rods at TW. 

Beating this to death isn't going to help the OP with his decision.

Tom