I saw something in another thread on this forum that made me wonder- other than the fact that they look strange, why aren't they more popular. Are there disadvantages to them?
I saw something in another thread on this forum that made me wonder- other than the fact that they look strange, why aren't they more popular. Are there disadvantages to them?
What kept me away personally are two reasons:
1. Optics: it just looks not appealing to me.
2. Practicality of storage/transportation. Regularly wrapped rods you know how lay/store in order to prevent guide damage. Spiral wrapped ones you have to be much more careful on how you store/transport them.
Curious to hear what others think.
Micro Guides made spiral wrapped guides unnecessary. With the shorter leg there isn't as much roll.Originally Posted by johnnybass
I had a handful of custom rods made with spiral wraps and my main gripe is how bad they tangle with other rods on the deck. Another issue is the guides that are in the wrap transition are more susceptible to being bent and broken going in the rod locker tubes or just from riding on the deck.
Those might seem like petty concerns, but I won't be getting any more wrapped guides.
Cost and optics. It would cost more to manufacturer spiral wrapped rods...rod socks protect most any guide today and if you place your reel top side down, most all the guides are out of the way of damage on the deck. Micro guides do not remove blank torque, they may negate some of it, however there are plenty of rods with micro guides that exhibit blank torque under load more so than that same blank built acid wrap.
In the end it's preference and availability and market acceptance (which is essentially controlled by what manufacturers tell their marketing peeps to advertise and their pros what to endorse).
I don’t see great use for them outside of tip down applications. I have only one of them in a custom loomis 847. The prior poster might have sold it too me in another lifetime if George Roth built it in 2005
2024 Phoenix 818
2024 merc 175 pro xs 3B411947
Hey David, haha - yes indeed that is a George Roth spiral wrapped CB847. I hope it's still serving you well!
In so far as spiral wrapped rods, it's best for lighter powered blanks and more moderate tapered blanks. The real market advent that has equilibrated the advantages of a spiral wrap is advanced designs of blanks, resin reinforcements, cross weave and multi-directional fibers and scrims, in addition to better guidetrains.
Still, among my current factory high end rods, from Evergreen to Luxxe to Shimano and Daiwa...all them will showcase more blank torque than even my light powered Lamiglas XMG50 SJ 781 spinning under load (as appropriate for their individual power ratings and tapers). Modern technologies for the rod blank/tapers/scrim/resins/reinforcements+components CAN help reduce blank deflection and torque, still the finished product would likely still be improved in fighting blank twist/torque with a
proper acid wrap.
BTW, the last fish I caught on that George Roth CB847 was a 6lb 2oz largemouth that was barely ticking 18" out of some ponds in Wheat Ridge CO off a 3/4 oz Dale Sellers custom spinnerbait, paired with a USDM Daiwa CVZ 203A and IIRC, 12lb CXX.
I have never tried one although I have thought about ordering on from ALX. I know they offered making them custom a few years ago.
"the liberties of the American people were dependent upon the ballot-box, the jury-box, and the cartridge-box; that without these no class of people could live and flourish in this country..."
there still is a rolling effect with microguides and because of the smaller guide foot, You also need quite a few more microguides to eliminate the line from touching the blank. The main benefit for microguides is it aids in eliminating line slap and streamlines the line path.
Acid wraps are more commonly seen for saltwater fishing where torque is actually felt. An acid wrap also allows the rod to be built with less guides because you’re building with the curvature of the blank rather than against. That results in less weight than a conventional setup.
the only disadvantage is public perception of it looking weird, and they need to be built with consideration towhat side of the reel the handle is located so it’s really not practical for factory rods. In function, there is no disadvantage. Quite a few custom builders only build acid wrap rods for their own personal use. Kind of like how nearly all reel techs only use diawa or shimano.
https://www.rodbuilding.org/library/SpiralWrapDemo.pdf
1995 Ranger 481v
1995 Johnson Fast Strike 175hp
Yeppers.
I haven't fished a conventional guides on top rod since the early 2000s. I bought one from Rich Forhan found that I prefer them and that's actually one of the reasons I started building my own. I mostly use Rich's Revolver spacing but there are other methods like bumper wrap...you don't even really need a transition guide, can just go from the top to the bottom. As long as you place the transition guides on the same side as the reel handle then damage while laying on the deck isn't an issue, use rod socks in your locker and you eliminate tangling. You can usually get by with one less running guide as well so a tiny bit lighter. The torque part of it (guides on top vs bottom) might play a part but probably not a ton on a regular bass rod. They cast just as well and you never have to worry about the line touching the blank regardless of your spacing. One thing I remember Rich telling me is that with a spiral your line is almost always touching a guide which translates feel from the guide to the blank better. Anyway I just like them.
I'd imagine that the reason we don't see more of them is that outside of Spiralite (or whatever that company is called) and customs no other companies make them so there are no sponsorship dollars so guys don't use them...or at least they aren't public about it. Take a look at some old Bassmaster footage of Gary Klein flipping and you'll catch that he wasn't using Quantums all the time. Shikari FS764 with a full cork colored hypalon grip and a spiral wrap (built by Forhan).
I don’t doubt benefits, but some of us may be too OCD for it.
Agreed, having used them for so long it honestly feels weird when I pick up one of my team partners conventional rods. I've no doubt they look and feel weird to someone who's never used one.
If you are asking that question, why not the internal line through blank? There was a number of companies that sold this style, did not last long, but from a thought process it had some merit.
I had no idea what spiral wrapped meant when I bought this from you. When I pulled it from tube I was thinking what did UPS do to my rod :)
My normal fishing is south florida and the CB847 see's most action when I am needing to throw a 3/4 ounce trap or chatter frog precisely to parallel a weedline or shoreline. Many a 8# fish give or take on this rod. Construction is top notch nearly 20 years after build and sub 4oz rod. You did great!!!!
2024 Phoenix 818
2024 merc 175 pro xs 3B411947
I have two Erhardt spiral wraps and two line-through-blank rods. I buy and sell new and used rods and reels, and I bought them because the price was right, and I collect interesting pieces and antiques. The line-through-blanks can be difficult to thread the line through, some come with an aid.
Honestly, I think they don't sell because they look weird compared to other rods and they tend to be expensive. It's sort of like getting a hot dog on a hamburger bun - it tastes fine but just doesn't sell.
Glad to hear my friend, and yes George Roth builds exceptional rods...send me a PM and we'll get caught up a bit.
Dang, haven't seen the name brand "Erhardt rods" in a few minutes...I really loved the wooden reel seats they used.
Also, those Daiwa interline rods would tend to get gunk/build up in them, which affected the casting performance and likely was not good for overall weight/sensitivity if enough "stuff" collected inside.
They were popular for a while on the west coast saltwater scene, but were a bit cost-prohibitive. I thought about wrapping a couple, but opted not to as conventional guide placement sufficed even on my 3x and 4x rail rod.
Freshwater applications don’t produce the torque to realize the benefit, IMHO, even on the donkeys on the Cali Delta. My conventional wraps worked just fine and I never experienced undue reel torque even on double-digit bass.
They look cool, but don’t really serve a practical purpose IMHO.
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