Any of the above being sold as blanks for custom builders?

I will have to assume the Sintrex rod is a fast action rod. Either way I know of no other rod that could bend like that without breaking.

It's nice to know that G. Loomis is back on track with innovation. I have owned a couple GLX's for years and have been waiting for their next big deal for sometime. G. Loomis Company has changed hands, stopped selling blanks and (I think) stopped making blanks for other companies in the past decade which left me guessing on what direction my favorite rod manufacturer was headed. I did recently pick up a very nice Loomis Bronzeback for bass fishing and it is nothing short of a spectacular rod.

I cut my teeth on fly fishing St. Croix rods and have nothing but good things to say about them. For the quality of guides, cork and reel seats they continue to be a great value.

I'm a party pooper on this one, and have gone back to using the old IM-6 graphite formulation, and like the actions that were built using IM-6. It lends itself to a nice casting Med. fast action rod. All the "20% lighter" stuff means thinner blanks that can be cracked easier, and after adding a reel and line, the slight difference in a rod's wt. becomes negligible.
But then again, I can pick up a newer model 8wt rod that feels like the 5wts. use to a few years back. Guess I own too many rods, and don't want to buy a new one, What gets me mad is when Sage comes out with a new model, and then eliminates the model I just purchased a few years ago!!

buckhunter, I don't think you have to assume that the rod is a fast action rod. Sage ran the same ad a long time ago suggesting they had the problem of the stiffer graphite rods exploding when their load was exceeded solved. New apoxy resins I believe was the improvement, and they continue to improve those resins. Playing a fish on a rod is one thing, and dead lifting a big fish to the boat from deeper water is another thing. I don't think the rod action has anything to do with it...the rod has to be forgiving when load limits are reached. Fiberglass was very forgiving in that regard, just didn't have the casting properties of graphite. In that regard epoxy liquid, any liquid is heavy. The challenge is to maintain strength, and use less of a bonding liquid. Fiberglass driftboats have the same challenge. There is a lot of weight in the epoxy, bonding agent used to make the boat. I think I am right on this subject..probably needs some modifications. I use to make rods commercially, and toured the Sage plant on Bambridge, Island, WA.

I gotcha. I own two Sage SP rods that are a medium action I would describe them, a great trout rod, and they discontinued that. Then I bought a Sage XP rod in a 9' 7wt, and they discontinued that rod, and it is a great rod. I have 3 of their original IM-6 trout rods, and use them often. I think I just like to pick up and fish different rods, and have good things to say about them when I use them. LCI was not the first co. Loomis worked for, however. He was a production guy for Lamiglass,.. failed in that job, and failed in his LCI endeavor, and then got into GLOMMIS and was a success...story of many entrepreneurs. I knew Gary Loomis. He gave me a great Loomis rod with my name on it that I still have to guide in Alaska with. The lodge I worked for on the Alagnak River was just downstream from his Katmai Lodge. I told him I'd promote his rods, and he said, "Sure, I'll provide you one with two tips, and your name on it."
Now, I've done my name dropping for the day. Tight lines.

...Sayfu, my pleasure.

I see your reasoning now. I just enjoy casting different actions and makers of rods to keep my interest up. I've got an old, refurbished bamboo that I'll probably get an erg to fish one of these days. I haven't been a proponent of bamboo, and as I get older, I like to have the rod do the work vs. having to aggressively stroke a fast action rod to get the rod to load up. Salt water is a different critter, but for most of my freshwater fishing, I like medium to medium fast action rods that are more relaxing to cast. I'm 1/2 into, not totally committed to spey casting with a switch rod, a 10 1/2 fter, to make the effort more efficient, and easier as well.(for trout) Good fly rods are somewhat personal depending on ones casting stroke, and approach to fly fishing. I see young guys false casting as if it were work making aggressive false casts, and way too many of them. Efficiency, and ease of casting in order to get the job done is my focus as I get older.

buckhunter, You are on my wave path. A 7 1/2 ft bamboo has been my thinking with the wt. then not a big factor. I have an 8fter that a Dr. friend of mine refurbished after taking a bamboo building class. They brought back those short, fiberglass rods that would also fill that lt rod, nice flex slot pretty well, but they want a lot for them. I've been a strong proponent of function, and have rejected that nostalgia stuff. I'm a fiberglass driftboat guy, and don't care to get into the wood boats other than to look at some really good looking ones.
I own 4 Hardy reels, and have beat myself up good for not getting more of them! I bought my Dr. friend the three size reel series of Hardy Perfects for $35 ea. at my discount, and then never got any for myself!!(and I reel rt. handed/cast rt.) I see they brought the Model Perfect back in a limited amount for $900 !!!! I'm a click reel guy, and don't see a need for a disc drag. Another sickening story...I left a Sage Rod, and a Hardy Princess reel along the boat ramp, and rowed off without it!

Here's a way to look at it. Do you want to buy a $80 rod?..or pay US labor prices and pay $350 for the same rod? The US techicians can set up the quality control in Mexico, and make them just as good, as long as they set it up, and oversee the operation.

Think of it this way..If it were made in the USA there would be very little sales. Being made in Mexico for an attractive price provides jobs for the distributors, the retail guys here in the USA, the co. guys that have them made in Mexico, sales reps etc., even the guys that write the articles about them.
And how about this benefit?..jobs for Mexicans making the rods so they don't have to enter the USA illegally looking for a job!

Absolutely! Most liberals don't see the benefits! They want US UNION jobs that end up like General Motors, and the tax payer is forced to bail them out time and again. The libdems in congress just proposed a 200Billion dollar spending bill on top of the 800B stimulus bill that didn't work! 165B was for having the tax payer replenish the mismanaged union pension funds!!! Sounds like a great plan no?
Here is another one on US labor. Liberals attack China as if we shouldn't buy their inexpensive goods. Let me get this straight. Someone makes a buck, and their buck goes farther buying cheap, Chinese goods..their wealth increases!... and then the Chinamen gets our dollars. Would you like to tell me what the Chinaman can do with the dollars he has collected? lol Besides all the jobs created in this country by buying the Chinese goods, I'll wait for your response on what the Chinaman can do with his dollars. lol. Let's see if a liberal knows anything about economics.

TheSheriff,
now tell us you by everything you can made in the USA...other's pay a $1 for the item sold at WalMart, but you pay $10 at the corner store, made in the good'ol USA.

If it weren't for a lot of co.'s doing the same thing, you might be able to pull it off, but they are all doing the same thing.... Our corporate taxes are the highest in the industrialized world just for starters...jobs leave, co.'s move.

And maybe you can tell us what the Chinaman can do with the dollar he recieves for selling us inexpensive goods that even YOU are happy to buy.

Sheriff....a word on free market capitalism. First off it is the consumer that makes the choice, not choices being forced on the consumer by the govt. Law of economics says the gpvt can not force you to buy anything, and is why we will continue to subsidize GM because the environmentalists have forced 1 out of 4 cars that will be manufactured to be "clown cars" that the consumer is forced to buy.
Secondly, a Dollar has to be spent in the USA, unless the Chinese want to wallpaper their walls with them. The dollar has to be re-invested back into the USA...we get a double wammy..our dollars go further when we buy, and then the dollar has to return home as an investment in our economy. I'm for unions if they can be competitive...not if the taxpayer has to subsidize them.