Why do rod manufacturers always put a bunch of epoxy coating between the top of the reel seat and the 1st guide area where the logo/specs and hook keeper is...?

 

Is it mainly for...

A. Strength. Which leads me to...

B. Protection against breakage during hard/brutal hooksets. From what I have seen and heard, this area is the area most prone to breakage on a hookset. 

C. Protection for the blank against hooks/baits when using the hook keeper. Protection for the logo/specs sticker/label.

D. Counter balance. That is, in order to make the rod not so 'tip heavy', you would need to add more weight towards the back 3rd of the rod, which usually means adding some epoxy in this area. 

E. General durability/longevity of the life of the rod. 

F. All of the above.

 

Therefore...

 

1. Am I supposed to do the same thing also when building a rod?

2. How much epoxy (i.e. layers) are you supposed to use in this area in order to achieve the same thing as above?

3. How much of the area (i.e. inches of the blank) are you supposed to cover up in epoxy? Is it going to depend on the blank's quality and/or length? 

4. Can you forgo the epoxy in this area if you are going for the 'lightest weight possible' rod build?

5. Can you forgo the epoxy in this area if you are working with a high quality blank? 

6. Does questions 4 & 5 above mean that you will also sacrifice a lot of the advantages of having the epoxy there like stated above? 

 

Sorry for all the noobie questions. 

If there is no hook keeper, no thread, and no decal in that area, you do not need epoxy. Epoxy adds no strength to the blank. It’s there to protect what’s under it.

They cover the logos and such with epoxy to keep them from peeling off.  If I'm adding a hook keeper or doing a decorative wrap, I'll coat them with epoxy, otherwise you don't need to coat the blank in that area  with epoxy.

I was really confused but now it looks like I don't have to put any epoxy since I am not planning to put a hook keeper, decal/logo or decorative wrap in this area. Thanks for the heads up guys.

8 hours ago, ITO_ZILLION said:

I was really confused but now it looks like I don't have to put any epoxy since I am not planning to put a hook keeper, decal/logo or decorative wrap in this area. Thanks for the heads up guys.

Correct, totally unnecessary if there's nothing there.