Loomis L904 blank for good 1-piece flipping rod?

[Gulfcoastwader]

Guys,

I got 3 Granite L904's on closeout and plan to build them up as one-piece flipping rods.

I have heard they are great for this. I will be using braid so even though they are GL2's they should still be pretty sensitive.

I have built two Shikari FS764's up as one piecers (those blanks are long gone) but want yalls feedback on the L904.

Have any of you used a L904 for a good pitching/flipping rod?

Just wondering

[Mattman]

Personally, I haven't. But I know a fair number of guys did and liked the results.

It used to be quite a bit harder to find one piece flippin sticks, especially in longer lengths, so using blanks outside the norm was a good way to get a longer one piece option.

[fshn4lmt]

I have not built on that blank,but I hear since the fs764 Shikaris are gone-that is the next best thing.Wish I could get my mittens on a couple.

[Mattman]

since the fs764 Shikaris are gone-that is the next best thing

Check out Bingham Enterprises Bing-SHX BSF764.

[snooking80]

I think Matt meant Bing-SHX BFS764

[falcon]

Matt how similar is that bing blank to the shikaris of old?

Also whats the blank weight or where can i get a list of the bing weights? The bingham website doesnt have that info that i have seen.

[Mattman]

I think Matt meant Bing-SHX BFS764

Correct. Thanks.

Matt how similar is that bing blank to the shikaris of old?

It is my understanding...

Bingham purchased several of the Shikari mandrels after Shikari shut the doors. They were sent to North Fork Composites. The Bing-SHX blanks are rolled by North Fork on Shikari mandrels.

[falcon]

That's quite interesting info there thank sir.

[fshn4lmt]

Thanks Matt!.........good to know.Do you know if they have knocked any others off?

[Mattman]

[quote="fshn4lmt" ] Do you know if they have knocked any others off?[/quote]

There is a list of blanks on the Bingham website.

I don't know if I'd call them knock off's. If they're rolled on the Shikari mandrels, they're not really being knocked off. More like reproduced.

[Gulfcoastwader]

Thanks for all the info guys.

I miss Shikari. I was sad when they closed their doors. Kind of like an era coming to an end...

Next up was Loomis stopping selling blanks....(I have several stockpiled)....

Go St. Croix....I am rooting for you guys... Our last hope for USDM blanks... and now clearly #1

[Mattman]

Our last hope for USDM blanks... and now clearly #1

I really like St. Croix...but they aren't our last hope...don't forget North Fork Composites!

And if you want to talk made in the USA...read this from their blog...


North Fork has now conquered our last and most dubious obstacle in our quest to be “100% MADE IN THE USA!”

At 2:17 P.M. Friday March 12, 2010 Marsha—The West Coast Sales Representative of Spiral Binding—completed our order of 10,000 paper staples, all of which were made right here in the great U.S. of A!

Now we are 100% made in the USA from the blanks that we make all the way down to the papers we staple.

Special thanks to Jim Hicks for responding to our earlier “Made in the USA-a funny question” blog post and giving us a heads up of where to find made in the USA staples.

[Gulfcoastwader]

I will get a North Fork Composite HM-1 one of these days.

The one piece flipping rod in particular (I thought I saw that offered on their website).

I am glad to see both St Croix and North Fork still going strong. I like Rogues but those are even harder to find now.