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Cork vs Duplon

Always cork for me, for 60yrs+. However I have bought a couple of spinning rods the last few years with duplon handles and I love them. Somehow it feels ok to have duplon on sea or spinning rods but I'd never consider it for any coarse or fly rods
Odd isn't it?
 
Cork and wood can look OK and be hardwearing.

pair crop combo 1200.jpg
 
After a couple of dismal experiences with Duplon in the 80s, I'd have said cork without hesitation for the last thirty years. However, after trying the Browning Sphere float rods, in spite of my reservations about Duplon, I'm not quite so concerned anymore. The days of Duplon compressing and going smooth/shiny seems to be a thing of the past.

I still marginally prefer the aesthetics of cork. However, I've found that the Sphere handles are the equal, or better, of cork in other respects. I particularly value the ability to keep them very clean in spite of heavy use.
 
I grew up on cork rods and just love the feel
personally I dont give a toss what anything looks like and never have I am just interested in how it works
I used to fish a local club carp lake where the new generation of fisherman that are more concerned at how well things look than how it works ??
I KNOW!!!!!! IM sad but !!!
I would purposely set my 3 rods up at different heights and at an angle one would be leaning over from the 90deg upright when someone came by and chatted I could see the look on there faces 😂
 
Gerry Giles said:
I grew up on cork rods and just love the feel
personally I dont give a toss what anything looks like and never have I am just interested in how it works
I used to fish a local club carp lake where the new generation of fisherman that are more concerned at how well things look than how it works ??
I KNOW!!!!!! IM sad but !!!
I would purposely set my 3 rods up at different heights and at an angle one would be leaning over from the 90deg upright when someone came by and chatted I could see the look on there faces 😂
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What, no pod with all 3 reel handles immaculately aligned?! And all the bobbins exactly level?! 😮
 
Would anyone have that shrink wrap?
 
Joe Winstanley said:
I've got JSW on my heavier carp rods, 2nd hand bargains. Plan was to put cork on instead, but 5 years on I've never got round to it and must admit I've kind of grown to like the basic, stripped back utilitarian feel of them.
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I see it on some carp vids on You Tube and think, 'why not?'.
 
I wonder whether the opportunity to personalise a shrink wrap is there?
 
I think it needs to be quite a hefty blank to work or there isn’t a lot of handle diameter there with Japanese shrink wrap.
Having said that I would definitely prefer it to duplon foam personally
 
Different types of generic 'Duplon' over the years. Seem to remember that early types were quite rubbery in texture and were not complete closed cell.
'Duplon' was a trade name as was 'Orblon'. Seems that EVA is widely used now.
 
I got some pike rods made with shrink on them
Not quite sure why to be honest but I discovered more by accident that when using a rear fox drop back alarm and haveing to angle the rod so the tip is submerged the cork handles had a tendency to slip forward whereas the shrink was very grippy
That said by wrapping a Velcro rod band on the cork that stopped that issue.
I’m not too fussy to be honest. I think a mixture of a good Eva near the reel seat and cork further down is my favourite
But I do know a few anglers who have lost rods to savage takes and they swear by cork as the buoyancy has assisted in recovery on the odd occasion
Would EVA be as buoyant??
 
And then you have EVA (see Mark Tunley's site), which looks like duplon but feels smoother and less spongy.
Cork for me, however.
 
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