Availability of Carpenter rods

[Brandon Khoo]

I've been getting a number of PMs and e-mails about the availability of Carpenter rods so I thought it might be easier if I simply posted my understanding of where things are at the moment. Please note this is not intended to be for anything other than the information of members who are in the market for Carpenters popping rods.

In a nutshell, I suspect there will be little available from international distributors for much of this year. I understand there will be a small number of DJ-83s available but not much else as far as popping rods go.

Hopefully, this situation will be alleviated by the end of the year after Carpenter is able to get on top of its domestic demand in Japan. I have no idea of what may be available if you have contacts in Japan as I do not know what is on the production schedule for domestic purposes.

Konishi San was here for a few days recently for the ill-fated week one of Shoalwater and I made him aware of how popular the heavy Super Popping rods (in particular) are here. He has advised that he will get back into producing these as soon as he is able so those of you who have heard that these are no longer going to be made should treat that as a false rumour. That said, I think it is fair to say that there are other models that will get priority in production.

With a bit of luck, we might start to see the availability of rods slowly open up again from late this year.

So, if you want a Carpenter, they will be available again in hopefully, the not too distant future. You just need to be a little patient. For those of us who have been popping for some time, we are used to waiting patiently for our Carpenters. This is an age old issue!

Jon, did you want to add anything?

....... and no Mick, I do not have a SP78UHL I want to sell! 

[Mick Cunningham]

....... and no Mick, I do not have a SP78UHL I want to sell! 

You got me     
i will be patience on the UHL .
and also i would like to get another SP710H-SHP too   

well done spoken brandon 


i hope jon can tell us  what is availabilly at the stage.

[Jon Li]

Hi Brandon ,

Nothing more to add at this stage , you probably are more up todate than me having had Mr. Konishi as your house guest for a few days earlier this month .

Jon .

[Brandon Khoo]

One additional point I will make is responding to a question that I have received on a few occasions and that is whether Carpenter limits supply in order to build on the demand and mystique around the brand.

I can only offer my opinion on this but that is a resounding "no". When Konishi San saw me getting my rods ready at Jewell Reef and saw I had about six Carpenters on me, he was genuinely delighted and must have thanked me on about five different occasions for carrying his equipment. I advised him then that there was a big demand even just locally here in Australia that couldn't be met and that wasn't even getting to the lures which were impossible to obtain. I told him I remembered a time when I could pick and choose the size and colour of Sea Frog I wanted at Anglers Hut in Singapore to now when even they had no stock at all.

He was very apologetic about this and said the reason was that Carpenter is just a small company. He would very much like to meet all demand but has to find the right balance with maintaining quality which is a real issue and as it stands, he is struggling with domestic demand.

As an aside, one of the new sea frogs he has been testing looks fantastic. Pity we will probably never see any!

[Brock Arifovic]

So how many did you manage to get your hands on Brandon?

Just joking mate.

BTW how many Carpenter rods do you actually have? or is that a bit personal?

[Sachin Chaudhry]

Brandon, I am after a PE 6 - 8 rod that I want to use mostly for large pencils and stickbaits which I have not done any serious work with yet. What would you suggest from the Carpenter stable for this. I will couple this up with a SW10000 XG most likey although a carbontexed 6000GT may also get the knod. Looking at a rod around the 7ft 6 inch mark and the lure to be 220 g max. Having three PE12 outfits is making me realise that something less than an elephant gun is better sometimes.

[Andy Rowe]

Brandon, I am after a PE 6 - 8 rod that I want to use mostly for large pencils and stickbaits which I have not done any serious work with yet. What would you suggest from the Carpenter stable for this. I will couple this up with a SW10000 XG most likey although a carbontexed 6000GT may also get the knod. Looking at a rod around the 7ft 6 inch mark and the lure to be 220 g max. Having three PE12 outfits is making me realise that something less than an elephant gun is better sometimes.

DJ83MH, PE6-10, max lure 220, looks like the one!! Just worried it may be not balanced with the 10Kxg, maybe you are going too heavy on the lure weights for this category.
I match my 10Kxg with CV7940, it throws lures to 150gm beautifully. you may also look at DJ83M or SP80M but I've not used these Jon Li & Brandon will know better.

[Brock Arifovic]

SP80M would be a little light for the lures that you are looking @ throwing, you would be better off using a SP78H-SHP, this would be a much better option, it will handle the pencils & stickbaits due to the weight that you want to throw, might be a little stiff in the tip but i'm sure you will handle that. It would also be better suited to your reel that you intend on using.

Just my opinion.

[Brandon Khoo]

Sachin

I can't think of a PE6-8 rod that will cast a 220g lure decently. You can always lob one but for a proper cast, it's too heavy, I think. A CV79 RF40 would be good but I'd think that about 180g would be as high as you'd go on that. I'd also throw the TBL711 RF35 into the mix.

I don't think a SP78H would be suitable for stickbaits, especially if you were looking to use surface stickbaits. If you want to use big heavy stickbaits, probably best to go to your WV80XH. You don't need a rod that will cast weights of 220g because you already have those rods.

Other possibilities include the DJ83M or Long Reef but these are too long in terms of what you're looking for. SP80M is essentially a popping stick.

Brandon, I am after a PE 6 - 8 rod that I want to use mostly for large pencils and stickbaits which I have not done any serious work with yet. What would you suggest from the Carpenter stable for this. I will couple this up with a SW10000 XG most likey although a carbontexed 6000GT may also get the knod. Looking at a rod around the 7ft 6 inch mark and the lure to be 220 g max. Having three PE12 outfits is making me realise that something less than an elephant gun is better sometimes.

[Andy Rowe]

you would be better off using a SP78H-SHP,

By the way if anybody has an SP78H-SHP or SP710H-SHP (essentially same rod longer handle), in good condition, that they would be willing to trade / sell, I would be very seriously interested.

I have other 2 other new carpenter rods that I could barter.

[Brandon Khoo]

I have the odd one here and there, Brock

So how many did you manage to get your hands on Brandon?

Just joking mate.

BTW how many Carpenter rods do you actually have? or is that a bit personal?

[Efendey Juneidi]

thanks for your information bro, it's perfect explanation for a lot of questions

[Jay Burgess]

By the way if anybody has an SP78H-SHP or SP710H-SHP (essentially same rod longer handle), in good condition, that they would be willing to trade / sell, I would be very seriously interested.

I have other 2 other new carpenter rods that I could barter.

I have a SP78H-SHP but I think it's unlikely I'll want to sell/trade it. Out of curiosity though, what other carpenters do you have to barter with?

[Andy Rowe]

By the way if anybody has an SP78H-SHP or SP710H-SHP (essentially same rod longer handle), in good condition, that they would be willing to trade / sell, I would be very seriously interested.

I have other 2 other new carpenter rods that I could barter.

I have a SP78H-SHP but I think it's unlikely I'll want to sell/trade it. Out of curiosity though, what other carpenters do you have to barter with?

WV80XH and CV79/35RF

[Mick Cunningham]

hey jay

did you sell/trade/swap the rod with andy or not ??