My dad drives alot and lives about 1 hour from me. I would like to get him a fishing pole for Christmas that he can store in his car. Are the collapsible rods worthless? I am probably going to buy him a regular 2 piece rod but I'm assuming he will leave it at home and not have it when he is out. I like the idea of the collapsible rods. Are any worth owning.

NO.

There are some nice 3 pc. rods but hard to find.  There are also some 3pc. blanks you can build or have built.  The options are few, but decent.

I have a Cabelas XML travel rod that I enjoy using.  It's a 4 piece rod that comes in a little sleeve/bag to separate the sections.  The sleeve/bag then slides into a hard case made out of pvc lined in nylon.  I've had it for about 4 or 5 years, and it still works great.  I use it for some of the spots that I need to get to with my mountain bike, but it straps right to my backpack.

If you have a sportsman's warehouse, check it out. There is a 3 or 4 piece travel rod that looks really good. I can't recall the name, I think it was like Maxx or something like that, but they are dark gray in color and there are about 3-4 models. All for about $40.00 too.

thanks for the info. I hadn't thought of a 3 or a 4 piece rod. I'll check those out.