I'm having some custom rods built and I'm struggling to decide which finish to have in the butt section Cork, full shrink or standard?

Any help guys I know it's normally personal preference but I just would like some feedback from people who have had the same decision to make?

Cheers

In reply to Post #1
Shrink, looks nice and when looking tired and tatty, 10 minutes a rod to strip off and re shrink at home giving you a nice new handle.

In reply to Post #1
Cork every day of the week ... so damn sexy
Cork plus chestnut blank, does it for me

Cork, burgundy blank
Cork chestnut blank
Cork, raw blank with burgundy whippings

In reply to Post #1
I'm with the others who choose cork. I had 2 rods made for me by Cotswold Rods, and they have burgundy blanks, cork handles, and my name inscribed on the blank. I love 'em!

Full duplon all day.

Shrink tube with a flared end is my choice and a nice stainless button to finish it off.

She loves a bit of cork..

In reply to Post #7
Got my vote as well.

Cork with black reel seat

Full duplon without alps as they're awful looking

Alternatively just the reel seat with a little duplon either side and nothing else just a black butt cap

Full duplon with a small gap between the reel seat and the duplon so the blank can sit into small butt rests. This way everything is minimal on the bankware side of things & the duplon handle acts as a stop to stop the rod being dragged forward on the rod support (bit like the peg or stop used on some Nash rods underneath or on custom builds with the Steve Neville stainless peg).

Similar to the image below (this was where I got the idea to have mine done as thought it was both a practical solution and a good look to my eyes.

I would say 70% of the rods i build are jap shrink, the rest being cork, hardly anyone asks for duplon these days , alps reel seats i hate them , despite looking nice they are cold and are hard to keep clean due to design.all my own rods have trusty fuji reel seats.I built myself three 13ft 4lb t.c ballista rods for piking on a big loch with just a rubber butt cap and stainless collars and they look surprisingly cool.Its a personal choice .

I have always favoured the abbreviated style handles, shows off more of the blank, I have Horizon x5's and I think they're the best looking, and usually it's the cheaper option 🤷🏻‍♂️

In reply to Post #11
I may be wrong but didn't some off the shelf Infinities Have this build.
Practical yes but as for looks 🤔

In reply to Post #13
My preference too, had 7 Harrison rods built up like this including float rod, can be a bit cold on the forearm though in colder conditons. I have cork handled match feeder rods too, they look good but invariably they get stained and look a mess, but that's the sign of a well used rod I suppose!