# Shikari custom rod on ebay? good buy?



## Z (Sep 22, 2014)

Hello,

I'm new to custom rods. I've done some googling and found conflicting information about Shikari rod blanks. some say they are made in america but some say ATC farmed them out overseas. 

I am interested in a rod for my wife and this one looks great. I'm sure she'll love it no matter what, but I want to know a little more about it. 

Just looking for any information yall can provide on this custom rod.

Here is the description from the seller (i've bought rods from him before and really enjoy them, but i know close to nothing about what a "quality" custom rod is)

7' moderate fast action rod is built on a legendary American made Shikari graphite blank rated 6-12 lb line weight, medium power, 1/8 to 5/8 oz lure weight. features include cushioned graphite minima split reel seat with superior 316 stainless alloy hoods , mounted with solid blank-to-reel seat contact with no foam arbors for superior strength and sensitivity, highest quality 316 stainless alloy frame, zirconia ring match guides that are super light weight, super sensitive and will stand up to any line, premium quality custom turned portugese burl cork grips in split grip styling, and nice custom wraps. this will make a nice rod for bass,walleye, pike, panfish, perch, or similar size fish. the moderate fast action blank is insanely sensitive, casts with ease,develops an amazing amount of power and is the perfect action for braided lines. the match guides feature a silver zirconia ring that is great for mono, braid, or florocarbon lines. the extended frames give a more direct line from the reel spool for increased distance and sensitivity and decreased line slap. this is a top quality rod, well balanced and sensitive, constructed from the finest components.


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## Z (Sep 22, 2014)

*pictures*

i have attached pictures


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## Z (Sep 22, 2014)

lots of views, no comments yet?


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## TXFishSlayer (Apr 28, 2014)

I don't know anything about the blank, sorry that I can't help you there. I'm sure that you and the wife will enjoy it. Good luck with your purchase.

One recommendation I might make is to check out some of our builders here and the rods that they post. Check out their profile and see if they have an image library of rods they've built. If you find something you like, use that as your guide to help you decide what you want a rod to look like. As for quality, well that's in the blank, components, and craftsmanship that put the rod together. There is no "definitive" answer as to what is quality and what is not. Everyone has a different flavor of what they like so there is no model to determine quality.

I'm sure that if you contacted some of the builders here, they would be more than happy to build you a rod and would work with you directly to get you a rod built. They would walk you through the process of selecting a blank for your specific application, to components and threadwork (colors and styles) to get a custom one-of-a-kind rod built just for you.

Cheers!


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## ellisredfish (Jul 5, 2005)

What is the price? The rod looks ok to me except for the space between the second and third guide. I would have to run line through the guides and put the rod in a bend to be sure that the guide spacing is ok. Nice workmanship though.


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## TXFishSlayer (Apr 28, 2014)

Jawbreaker is asking $139 for the rod. I would have done a few things differently as well, but like they say, different strokes for different folks.


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## Z (Sep 22, 2014)

@TXFishSlayer
Thanks for the great insight. I will support the custom rod builders on this site going forward. I am working with a limited budget and am actually pretty embarassed to try and get a rod commissioned for under $100, which is what I've paid for these jawbreaker customs. 

I bit the bullet and purchased the rod. As a return customer Jawbreaker was able to do $79 + shipping, which is pretty good based on the blank prices I've found by googling shikari.

thanks for the replies


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## Goags (May 28, 2004)

Z said:


> Hello,
> 
> I'm new to custom rods. I've done some googling and found conflicting information about Shikari rod blanks. some say they are made in america but some say ATC farmed them out overseas.
> 
> ...


 I don't know Jawbreaker Rods, but if you're happy w/ the rods that you've bought from them, that's good. Here's what I remember about Shikari: They built some awesome blanks in Kellyville, OK...they weren't inexpensive. Seems like their SHX trout/red blanks were around $100, and that was maybe 10 yrs ago. When they closed down they sold a big lot of junk blanks to a salvage co., by the lb. Somehow, these ended up back on the rodbuilding market, touted as seconds, which they weren't even. There were several folks that bought up the last of their 1st quality blanks, as well as their seconds...maybe this rod is part of that. ATC (Advanced Tubular Composites) took over from Shikari, moved the operation to Washington state, but didn't buy the mandrels and blank making equipment. ATC sourced their blanks from Asia. I've always wondered what ever happened to the mandrels/equipment that Shikari had. This is how I remember it...if anyone else remembers different, speak up, my feelings won't be hurt.


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## Swampland (Mar 25, 2008)

Ellis is right about the guide spacing. It looks off some but on a spinning rod it may not make much of a difference.


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## Goags (May 28, 2004)

Come on, Lance, spill it...you were around back then. Did I get it semi-right?


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## Speckled (Mar 19, 2008)

Goags said:


> I don't know Jawbreaker Rods, but if you're happy w/ the rods that you've bought from them, that's good. Here's what I remember about Shikari: They built some awesome blanks in Kellyville, OK...they weren't inexpensive. Seems like their SHX trout/red blanks were around $100, and that was maybe 10 yrs ago. When they closed down they sold a big lot of junk blanks to a salvage co., by the lb. Somehow, these ended up back on the rodbuilding market, touted as seconds, which they weren't even. There were several folks that bought up the last of their 1st quality blanks, as well as their seconds...maybe this rod is part of that. ATC (Advanced Tubular Composites) took over from Shikari, moved the operation to Washington state, but didn't buy the mandrels and blank making equipment. ATC sourced their blanks from Asia. I've always wondered what ever happened to the mandrels/equipment that Shikari had. This is how I remember it...if anyone else remembers different, speak up, my feelings won't be hurt.


I wasn't building back then, but was on sites where people that were building talked about SHX blanks from Shikari (top end blanks by Shikari).

Sounds about right Jerry from what I remember. Not real sure from when ATC took over though.

Same site had custom builders upset when G.Loomis (Shimano) stopped making blanks available to the custom builders.

Fishing related news travels fast in our community, good or bad.


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## Swampland (Mar 25, 2008)

Jerry I seem to recall Castaway was a big user is Shikaris. Not sure about this either but I think Kistler bought a lot of the equipment and mandrels. I'm just thinking out loud though trying to recall some conversations with Castaway and another blank designer we know.


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## Salty Dog (Jan 29, 2005)

I built a ton of rods on Shikari blanks years ago. I'd say at least a few hundred. I started out building lots of rods on GLoomis blanks and when they started jerking the rodbuilders around I switched to Shikari and St. Croix. 

I remember buying three different grades of Shikari blanks. The highest end blank was like a matte graphite color. Looked similar to a Loomis IMX/GLX in finish. I also remember a gloss blank that was a deep red, I think that was their mid-range blank. From there my memory goes fuzzy on what the low end blank looked like. Seems like I use to sell the SHX blanks for like $100-125. Seems like the red colored blanks were in the $80 range and then the lower end blanks were like $50 blanks. That was around '99-'03 if I remember right. Blanks have gone waaaay up since then.

In my opinion the SHX was as good as the high end Loomis blanks. At least as good as the IMX and maybe better. I never had any issue with breakage on them either. I hated to see Shikari go away, I liked their blanks. I think I probably still have a doz or so blanks squirreled away to build on for myself.

As far as where they were built they were billed as made in the USA in Oklahoma. That is where my blanks shipped from. I heard from several sources back then that they were the blank supplier for Falcon rods but I don't know that for sure. I do know that in their early years American Rodsmiths used their blanks, back before they started sourcing their rods from China. I'm sure some other manufacturers used them too.


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## Z (Sep 22, 2014)

Thank you,

I'm guessing I got one of the junk blanks.


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## Silverfox1 (Feb 21, 2007)

We use Shikari back when I was at Castaway and American Rodsmiths, I don't Remember the Logo looking like that. Goags is pretty spot on with the story. I would be cautious.


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## backwoodswoman (Sep 8, 2015)

*pics*

my fiancee built this rod, and the guide spacing isnt as it appears in the pics. the last guide is 3.5" from the tip, the next 4", the next 4.5", and so on. im sure anyone who has tried to take detailed pictures of fishing rods will agree that it is one of the most difficult subjects photograph.


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## Goags (May 28, 2004)

backwoodswoman said:


> my fiancee built this rod, and the guide spacing isnt as it appears in the pics. the last guide is 3.5" from the tip, the next 4", the next 4.5", and so on. im sure anyone who has tried to take detailed pictures of fishing rods will agree that it is one of the most difficult subjects photograph.


They are hard to photograph! Any input on the source of the Shikari blanks he's using?


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