We all hear stories of rods snapping on the cast or on the hook set, and we usually assign the blame to rod manufacture defect, which is possible, and some times the case, but what if all that banging around adds up to damaging the rod blank?



Until today, I’d have the two pieces of my 8’6” rod kept together by a strip of Velcro.  However, doing this does little to protect the two halves of the blank from banging around against things in the trunk or each other.  I suppose it’s the upper half of the rod blank that probably needs to be protected more.

To address this, I placed most of the upper half of the rod in some ½” pipe insulation tubing and the lower part of with ¾” pipe insulation as shown below:

Two strips of Velcro hold the pieces together.


This is a closer look where the two pieces of pipe insulation meet.

I hope that the insulation material will serve to absorb the vibrations and protect the blank from loose objects in the trunk.

So far, as a unit it feels secure and is easy to hold.  The upper half doesn’t move much, if at all.

The protection of spinning rigs, which by nature have larger guides, might be a little more limited but it should still work to the extent where the tubing covers the guides. 

For one piece rods, I think that placing pieces of the tubing strategically on the blank in areas we know we banging around occurs (like the tip) could be helpful.  The tubing could also be kept in place with Velcro.

I think I will keep the insulation material in trunk when I hit the water.  I don’t like to carry more than I have to.

I got the tubing at Home Depot. They come in packs of 4 for $0.98.  In my humble opinion that’s a small price to pay to protect our precious gear.

What do you guys do, if anything to protect your rods during transport in your vehicle?

Jack,

Those look really nice. I have a cabela's rod sock and yours look much nicer.

Unfortunately, most of the time my two piece rods (ones that need the protection) need to be protected from banging on things or each other.  My rod sock just doesn't cut it.

The price is too high to pay to have rods exposed so they must be kept broken down when not in use. My one piece rods are never left in the car if I am not there and that is when the socks are handy.

Neat idea, IB!   I've used the BPS Rod Socks for quite awhile now, especially when transporting the rods in the bed of the truck.   Another item I use are the Lure Tamers, especially when transporting the rods in the car or truck. The Lure Tamer will completely cover the lure and keep the hooks from snagging upholstery, or people during transport.  Plus, being the ocd person I am, I also cover the reels with BPS reel covers. 

You can see the elastic strap of the rod sock where it goes around the reel cover and the Lure Tamer:


Here's the link to the Lure Tamer:  (I bought the set and they have held-up great)
Lure Tamer

When I transport rods in my truck I stretch a bungee cord across the front of the bed and another one across the rear of the bed. I lay the rods diagonally on top of the bungees and then I close my decklid.


GETFISHED !!!