I’m primarily a bamboo fly rod guy BUT this is possibly the best all-weather, all conditions blue lining fly rod that I’ve ever built.
CTS Quartz 7’0” 3 weight
Titanium guides
Custom rattan wrapped cork grip
Snake Brand reel seat with Alaskan white cedar insert.
If you’ve never cast one of these you owe it to yourself to try it.
Extremely lightweight, very fast action, blindfolded you’d think you were casting graphite.
Disclaimer: this is a rant, based on one old guy’s on opinions.
My wife and I just purchased our first travel trailer, a second-hand 2021 Heartland Mallard M210RB. It checked all the boxes, exactly what we were looking for and it looks new.
Now my rant. I’m not sure that there is another market in the U.S. that manufactures products more sub-par than RV manufacturers.
Why? Well because they are built by unskilled labor, many of the laborers are drug addicts that are actively using while at work. The remaining laborers are only there because they couldn’t find a job anywhere else, they have bills and they need a job. Non of the laborers give 2 flips about “quality”, they are crunched with time to hurry and do the bare minimum on their specific task before someone starts yelling at them for “slowing down the line.”
Why do I assume that this is the process? Well I live in a part of the country that has mobile home manufacturing facilities AND Tiffin Motor Homes.
I am an attorney and I’ve represented several individuals who work at these facilities and I’ve had several conversations with these laborers.
Additionally, my son works in a management position for a mobile home manufacturing facility and I hear stories from him all the time.
RV manufacturers, just like mobile home manufacturers, build units for trade shows every year. USUALLY, they take extra time and extra care with these units built for shows (imagine a photo menu at a fast food restaurant, it NEVER looks like the inaccurate order that they recklessly threw in a bag and handed to you) and these units are usually a far cry, quality-wise, from the exact model that you purchase from the RV lot. I don’t see anything changing in the foreseeable future.
It’s just sad that hard-working folks pay a premium price for a product that was, more times than not, thrown together just good enough for the buyer to make it out of site of the RV lot when they purchase it.
Rant over.
What are your thoughts?
Added a framed poster to make the camper feel more like home.
Had a pop-up years ago.
Have towed boats, tractors, backhoe, building materials, etc., not new to towing.
Purchased a travel trailer for our fly fishing adventures because the better-half doesn’t like camping in a tent. I make custom bamboo fly rods and our adventures are usually in the southern Appalachians.
Finished up the F.E. Thomas “Fairy” taper build and took it fishing. It didn’t disappoint.
6’8” 3 weight based on the F.E. Thomas “Fairy” taper.
I’ll be blue lining for brookies with this rod next week.
LSpann
River got to go on her first road trip, a quick trip to the beach for my wife’s birthday and for Father’s Day. She loved the sand.
My wife and I are spoiling this baby and loving every minute of it. Her name is River and she is 8 weeks old.
River is an absolute retrieving machine.
This is “River” she is a 7 week old ACD and will be accompanying us on fly fishing adventures soon.
This is River, she is 7 weeks old and she is our first ACD. We have 2 Malinois but we wanted a new member of the family. We wanted a bold, courageous, prey-driven, medium-sized dog that would make a great fly fishing/hiking companion that wouldn't be as intimidating to others as our Mals are. The ACD matched what we were looking for. River is fitting in really good here with our family and I hope to have her out on the stream soon.
