Can anyone tell me how they store and ship one piece casting rods that are 7 feet long? I am looking at a number of options other than sections of PVC which I already have. For example, St. Croix offers cloth rod sacks that can accommodate spinning or casting rods and it looks like you can get aluminum tubes up to 84" long.

Thanks

Tony,

As far as shipping goes, I would stay with the PVC Tube. I use pipe insulation, (available at Lowe's & Home Depot, etc.), to protect the rod inside the PVC tube during shipping.

Don Campbell
don@sensorfishingrods.com

Another option is to use triangle shaped cardboard shipping tubes. Check U-ship for details.
You can use plastic rain down spouts. Nice and stiff and inexpensive.
Carpet cardboard tubes from the center of a roll of carpet, but these tend to be pretty heavy.
You can use cardboard tubes from U-ship or other shippers as well.
When storing 20 or 30 7-foot rods, you can use a 7 1/2 foot long cardboard box of about 12 inches square. That is what I use when shipping a bunch of finished rods to the same customer.

Most rod shops get their rods in bulk from suppliers having packed them in appropriate length and size cardboard boxes.

You can get a piece of steel pipe and put end caps on the pipes if you want. They will only weight about 20 lbs per pipe.

You can get woven pipes from the south pacific natives, if you have contacts in the region. Wicker makes great pipes. Most of the how air balloons use baskets made of wicker. Nice and light and strong.

When storing a bunch of my own rods, or a bunch of built up rods, I use cardboard boxes of the appropriate length and shape to accommodate the the length and size requirements for the number of rods being stored. I store these boxes horizontally on a wall, using appropriate wall brackets spaced at appropriate intervals to prevent any sagging from the box of rods.

For Rod Socks, check out the CRB line for a great value and selection:

Fly:
[www.mudhole.com]

Cast/Spin:
[www.mudhole.com]

For shipping - most of our customers use PVC pipe, just be sure and put extra packing in the ends, between the end of the rod and cap of the pipe. Most damage we see is from the end on blanks puncturing the caps of the pipe. Wrapping the rod in a protective rod sock keeps it from getting scratched up in shipping.

Regards.
Team Mud Hole Custom Tackle
Web: [www.mudhole.com]
Email: sales@mudhole.com
Toll Free Phone #: 1-866-790-RODS (7637)

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By the way, for storage and shipment to customers, I put all of the rods that I build into myler sleeves and then heat seal the ends with an impulse sealer:

I typically keep a roll of 3 inch tubing on hand. 3 inch will take care of any blank or built up rod that I build. In one builds surf rods with size 50 guides, one might have to go to 4 inch tubing.

Then, I use an impulse sealer for the ends.

[www.uline.com]

[www.uline.com]

You can go to several different on-line sites and find used sealers that work just fine. I happen to have found an 8 inch sealer for a very good price that I use, but a 6 inch sealer would be just fine to take care of any sealing needs for rod tubing.

Be safe

p.s.

If I happen to start a rod build and am not able to get finish applied for some time after a build, I will put the newly built rod that is under construction in a similar piece of tubing to prevent dust and any other contamination from getting to the rod and possibly affecting the finish application.

Also , if I get a rod order in and completed, but know that the client will be in a very long time later, I will bag it and tag it while the rod is awaiting pickup for a similar reason.