Where do you put your rod?

Be very careful with carbon rods to protect them from bangs & knocks. CF bruises & is weakened easil, this is the main reason they snap. When looked after, its pretty difficult to snap a CF rod.

I use a layer of foam from a cheapo sleeping mat to protect mine & I've never broken a rod yet :biggrin:

The Bazooka stuff looks good. You'd only need 1 locking end cap & just glue the other end on :)
Bazooka Conduit Clamp Clamp 100mm | eBay
Bazooka Conduit END CAP 100mm Lockable | eBay

Also comes in 150mm if you have several surf rods...
 
Last edited:
^ Don't think I'd really worry that much about the one lockable end, I would take the risk... Good tips on the CF rods too.

silver said:
What is paracord? The bungie straps never caused me a problem and the fact that they stretch keeps the pressure on the tube and the rack.
It was hard to tell what difference it made to economy as if they were on i would have had the boat or van or a loaded up car but in general anything on the racks will make economy worse.
Even the racks themselves have drag that's why i never leave them on if i am not using them.
Click to expand...

Paracord (parachute cord) is strong, nylon rope - very handy and useable in every circumstance I have found. Nothing against bungie straps though.

Yeah that was a bit of a hard question - of course it's going to affect fuel economy but probably going to be hard to spot.
 
Can get all the pieces required to make a PVC pipe rod holder for under $20 bucks from Bunnings...
 
Too dark to take a picture of the result, but installed the rodloft thingo and will do a trial weeks driving with the longest and shortest rod to see how everything goes. Pretty impressed... didn't have to use the panic bars at all, was able to use the plastic moulding further up close to the head lining. This means the fishing rods are carried closer to the roof lining. By using this method it meant that the front support rod goes directly above the headrests of the front seats... so that the tips of the rods are more fully supported and don't jiggle about in your vision. It does constrict headroom in the middle back seat, but usually there are only 4 people traveling so not a huge drama. :-) makes me real happy to finally have a home for the rods.
 
Finally some pictures. Only 2 rods in to test the long and the short of it, but they seem to be ok riding around up there!

11007608863_8be088201b_z.jpg


11007552894_525ebac0b4_z.jpg


It does inhibit the centre back seat... ok for Hobbits though ;-)
 
Last edited:
Very cute. How secure are the rods though? I'm not sure I'd be happy in the back seat with a relatively heavy reel able to flop around near my head in the event of an accident.
You have the "small" mounts at the front and the "large" mounts at the rear. I notice on the rodmounts web site they show some illustrations where they're the other way around (which might allow it to firmly grip the handle/butt end of the rod?). Have you tried it that way?
I also notice some of their illustrated installations have the reels behind the rear bar (although this is obviously dependent on the rod design) which would further separate the reels from the passengers' heads.

Probably wouldn't work for me as a driver: too much interference with the headroom even at the "high" mark. Apart from cost one of the reasons I don't have a car with a sun/moonroof is the reduced clearance inside the vehicle. But we're not all tall.
 
Some great ideas here! Athos, I think you're right. Will reposition the back bar a little further forward so the reels are on the other side of the mounting rod. Nothing is set in concrete just yet... need some time away camping when you have oodles of that stuff called spare time to waste to get it all working trick.

Pigsti, your rod setup is awesome! Would be brilliant for us too only Scooby2 lives outside (yes, I too am shocked... and am working on at least a shade sail for some respite from the sun).

Best regards,
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top