Hi guys,

So far I have had a few custom rods, but none of them i really loved the action of the blank. Currently I own 3 Greys Aircurves 3,25 of which I absolutely love the action of and therefor I am thinking of giving them the 'custom treatment'.

I like the look of handles like this: example

I am now wondering 3 things with such a setup:

1: How durable are the front duplon flares in front of the reel seat? I like the feel/extension they give the handle but if they look tatty after a year, I don't want them.

2: I always choose uncoated silver collars or (Alps) reel seats, because I worry about chipping the reel seat Collars making them look *****. How well do these black collars hold up with their black coating?

3: Do you rate the carbon reel seats instead of the regular ones?

Thanks in advance!

I've had one set of duplon handles and they became very shiny and didn't look as pristine as when I bought them. I felt they looked really cheap after a while. Since then I've always gone with cork which always seems to look fantastic and even better when it starts to darken over time. Custom rod builders can make a flared cork section after the reel seat which looks really good. My current rods have the Alps seats in black which are great. They are fairly durable but will scratch if you are not careful - you have to make sure you don't put them on the floor etc but tbh that's the same with most reel seats in black. The carbon is definitely more durable and due to the pattern scratches are not as easy to see. I worried about mine in the rod bag with the second section rubbing up against them so I bought some felt based material and made some covers for when they are in the rod bag and this has kept them in great condition.

I dont have the flared dupion, I've got the cone type and mine are +20 years old. They will smooth over with time and as a result will appear less matt and more shiny. To me its not a issue, more a badge of honour for the rods, guess it depends on your personal opinion.

I have +20, 6 and unused with the same duplon cone I'll take a comp pic if you want.

I don't know if the formula for modern Duplon has changed, it probably has like everything else due to chemicals being fazed out, so modern Duplon may be different, I wonder if anyone can confirm. I know it sounds jaded but some things did genuinely used to be better (like paint hardness).

Personal preference, maybe a consideration, I'm not a fan of flared fittings in front of the reel seat if that's where my thumb sits, when I grip my thumb grips downwards and the flare adds pressure over time, I suppose less of a problem for Carp rods

In reply to Post #3
Hi mate, thanks for your reply. I was thinking my best bet could be a cork front cone with shrink tube shrunk over it. Then I have the best of both worlds, but I should have to ask the rod builder is this is possible.

In reply to Post #4
Duplon will age / take on dirt, this is remedied by giving them a wash / steaming the handles clean again. the steam makes a huge difference

Just a word of caution on Greys rods..if you have full handles and want abbreviated, the carbon armour wrap might not go further than the reel seat. My brother has just had this issue on his xlerates so had to get them put back to full length grips. Although it might not be an issue with the aircurves as they did offer an abbreviated handle.

In reply to Post #4
I'm also going senile My old rod is abbreviated duplon, small cones either side of the real seat, my new rods, only the duplon on the butt! In any case the pics will give you a idea of how it ages.

20yo top, 6 middle, new bottom

Front cone 20yo

Rear cone 20yo



I still like the gloss finish bottom, apparently they don't last, bottom 2 Torrix.

EDIT, I really like the look of the nightfall Cork on Lee Prestons site, I'd love that on my rods with the same short butt.

Thanks for your input guys. Really useful. I think I will go full shrink again, but double layers to increase the diameter. I like the duplon look, but the way shrink handles work and age.

I think the 1k weave is only cosmetic on the Xlerate, but functional (integrated in the blank) on the Aircurve (can't explain it properly) . When both rods are cast, the Xlerate looks much floppier than the Aircurves, which makes me think the weave on the Xlerate is only cosmetic. But I could easily be wrong.