I buy a lot of rods and reels at yard/estate/moving sales.  I was culling through some the other day and noticed that some of the older ones had metal ferrules.....METAL....wow, most newer rods don't even have a ferrule....you just stick the top part into the bottom blank.....

I like the feel and the backbone of a metal ferrule rod.  Are they really stronger???

not really stronger per say , that ferrule puts a lot of strain right were the rod and ferrule meet You have one force that wants to flex and one that dont not a good combo .but hey it worked

If I remember correctly most rods had metal ferules 50+ years ago.  Only real thing I can recall about them was to be careful when joining the 2 parts.  My dad always insisted on applying  nasal grease to the male end that aided in pulling the 2 pieces apart easier.

Metal ferrules are stronger but the rods aren't any stronger.  The 2 reasons I see them being used is uniformity/ease of fitting & cost.  They do cause a flat spot in the action and that does increase pressure on either side of it.