I have been building rods for 10 years now. 99% of these are fly rods in the 2 to 5 weight class. The stripper and tamer guides I have come to prefer are the Pacific Bay Minima 4's. As for runners- single foot Recoils. For a tip-top I have been using a Fuji Alconite CFAT. As you can see I am worried about weight, so my question is: Do you guys think the tip-top is to heavy and if so what would you use? Or am I just to concerned about weight even if it is at the most sensitive area? This shouldn't be an issue but I don't like the appearance of the Recoil Tip-Top.

Tkx,Don

You should weigh your rods with different guides to see if you are gaining anything
After 10 years what do you think maybe Ti guide for the top

Bill - willierods.com

Sorry I am not as experienced as you Bill but I was not looking for criticism just help.

Not meaning anything
You sound like you are getting the lightest as you can You should weigh maybe the Minima tops - recoil and Titanium tops and see which are lighter Short wraps One less guide ???
You seem to have the best
Unless some one else has any ideas ??
maybe permagloss on the thread wraps

Bill - willierods.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/23/2015 07:32PM by bill boettcher.

Unfortunately I don't have a scale to weight items that small. Was hoping someone out there would be able to give me some insight, but thanks anyway Bill.

Buy one

Bill - willierods.com

Thanks again Bill

Don

I don't think the tiptop alone is going to be enough to denigrate the rod's performance. Sure, a lighter tip will quicken the response time but we'd be talking a miniscule amount - what you're using now isn't a terribly heavy top.

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Don,
You are correct to be sensitive to weight of a fly tip top.
I use either a Recoil, which I'm not crazy about the looks, or a std chrome fly loop.
The recoil is lighter but the std loop looks better.
The inserted guides carry the penalty of more weight at exactly the worst place.

Gene Moore

A light weight wire tip top is hard to beat for weight. Most fly fishermen couldn't tell the difference between it and another set of options. I also greatly dislike the recoil tip top appearance, looks like I made it in my garage with scraps! Take a look at the Batson light weight wire tip tops.

Hi all,
REC has changed their Recoil tip-tops such that they replaced the aluminum tubes with stainless tubes so they can apply a black finish to match their black series. I told them that they shot themselves in the foot for doing this. They now weigh as much as a conventional tip-top. The Snakebrand small ring tip-top actually weighs less.

But to answer your question - YES - weight is VERY important in a fly rod - especially on the tip - and especially in the weights you are building. I would stay away from ceramics - titanium or not.
Herb

Tkx for the input Guys.

Here's an idea for you - build your next rod per your standard component use. Leave off the tiptop. Then install, with hot melt glue, one of the mentioned tiptops. Go cast or fish it. Then remove that top and install another of the one's mentioned. Again with hot melt glue. Then go cast and fish it. So on and so forth. In a short period of time you should be able to determine if what you're doing now is fine, or if another top is more to your liking.

...............

What if you just pulled the NiTi wire loop out of an ugly Recoil tip-top and wound the loop's legs like you would a guide, but at the very tip of the blank? Even when the wraps are coated it should be the lightest tip-top.

Excellent idea Tom. I will try it.

Don,
I've stopped using tip tops altogether because of the weight. I just bind on a guide (identical to the smallest guide in the set) instead. It's a little more awkward than slipping on a tube style tip-top, but the weight is much less and the rod performs noticeably better.
David