Paddle-Fishing.com

I've always liked the look of stacked leather so I decided to give it a try. It turned out pretty good for first try.

Nice looking grip and wraps. How does the weight of the leather compare to cork? I like the look, but have been afraid it might be too heavy.

What reel seat did you use? I was looking for a blue one like that and decided on the Mudhole Tribal seat. When I recieved it, it looked a little cheap. I noticed you mounted it downlocking.

The weight is a bit much (4oz total fore and rear) but isn't an issue since its on the rear of the rod. If the blank were heavier it might make a difference but @2oz it still has a light weight feel. There's no tip weight to speak of which is what, I believe, puts excess pressure on your wrist. The fore grip is purposely larger in diameter also. That could be reduced a little. I did this shooting from the hip so now that its done I should be able to get the weight down by maybe 30 to 50%. My main concern was, it needs to be water proof. It is, even if it gets chipped.

I believe the reel seat came from Donartrods. I got tired of looking at them trying to figure what's good or bad so I called him and told him I didn't know one from the other. I said I want a good reel seat, I don't want a piece of junk but I also didn't want to pay gold bullion prices for something that's hyped up to be the best thing going buts really no different then anything else. Just give me a good reel seat in the colors I needed and that's what he sent. I think the hoods are just polished which might be an issue if allowed to get corroded.

The main reason for down-locking the reel seat is with up-locking the threads dig into the heal of your hand. That's uncomfortable, annoying and serves no purpose. Besides that its rare to find a rod that's had the seat shortened to a reasonable thread length. So I flipped it up, cut the excess thread and started the tapper of the rear grip about 1.5" back. Its really quite comfortable.