WHAT'S THE FACINATION WITH OLD GEAR!!!!!

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

THOUGHT SINCE WE HAVE A NEW MEMBER HERE, LARRY, I'D start a new discussion about why some of us are facinated by the old gear.
  HERE'S SOME RAMBLINGS FROM ME: 
   I really don't know when it started for me in the past 15 years or so but one day I just thought to myself , I wonder were all the old rods went that I had when I was a younger man? Back when I was 40 some 23 years ago I started wondering that and I know the answer now. I sold em or traded em for something I thought was better and would bring me more fishing satisfaction! WWWWWWWWWWWWWRONG AGAIN OLE TOOTY!

  Yup the new gear did bring a level of satisfaction for a brief time ; BUT IT WAS JUST A PHASE I WAS GOING THROUGH! I remember when Graphite first came out and was labeled as the new wonder material for rod building and making. They were right about it's attributes, Lighter, Stronger weight for weight, LLLLLLLLots more sensitive, and VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVery expensive if memory serves .

   Just had to have em my self and made many many rods for myself and others , but it all has a price beyond dollars. They were and are wonders of technology and there is a place for em in todays world of gear , JUST NOT IN TROY GROVE ILLINOIS  FOR ME. I still marvel at their weight as opposed to older forms of rods , glass and steel etc. 

   What's every body's ideas here!

[Leo Nguyen]

You have to understand Tooty, from one technological advancement, such as fiberglass, new technology comes about, which is graphite. Do you know that the new age of advancing rods are coming about, using memory metallic alloys wrapping mimicking spider web, which has the strength to haul 2 tons of weight, light as a feather, and so sensitive that you can feel a fly landing on the rod because the rod is skinnier than a toothpick? It's being developed in Japan right now after they came out dense metal fiber armor for military application.

I'm not extremely hyped on new tech, but I'm not tossing the old tech away either. Learning about the evolution of the technology is critical, but, without learning the fundamental basic of where all these technology all evolved from, we'll be lost. First thing first, we all need to start with the basics: fishing with a cane pole. Survival dictates that we must know how to select proper equipment in the wild in order to survive. My kids may joke and play around with broomsticks as fishing poles, but they are understanding how to use the basics properly. I will teach them to make cane pole next, either be from a whole stick you find in the field, or from available resources at their disposal.

Slowly, they will know the feeling between the different material of the same class and length. Survival knowledge is the key, regardless if you're living in the urban jungle, or the real jungle.

This is the reason why people like you Tooty are essential to our learning, not because of your knowledge and wisdom you have, but also the equipment you've collected and passed on, as most of us would have our thumbs up our butts trying to search for due to the lack of time. We live in a time period that moves way too fast. We can't slow down even when we want to. Slowing down will simply placed us in a disadvantage that we cannot afford.

One day, I will retire, and things will slow down for me. As I slow down, everything around me will pass me by. Yet, by that time, I don't give a damn. I will continue to pass down the knowledge and wisdom I've obtained from my own experience, and from those who were kind enough to pass their lives upon me as I lived through them.

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

GREAT LEO AND I'd like to see one of the new fangled  memory rods in action!!!! I wouldn't imagine they'll be expensive do you!!!!! Yup I've slowed down and glad of it and like to smell the roses , so to speak.
   Great job with the kids Leo and keep me posted on all the new fangled stuff Leo as it is very interesting to me, NNNNNNNNNNO I WON'T BUY ANY , but it is a good read anyway!

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

I'm with Leo on the new tech. It is fine with me, in a nutshell. It isn't the end all, of course - nothing is. But it'll do. At the same time I can appreciate the old stuff for what it did. Men were able to enjoy the Noble Sport with it and that is the key.

I read a lot of old fishing books, going back to the 1700's and right now it's Henry Shakepeare's, "Secrets of Fishing," from 1960. Mr. Shakespeare is very clear about the face of "fishing tech." Remember, 1960 was a modern moment in its own right and there were many advances then, as now.  He makes much mention of what were, in his day, new technologies.

Hollow fiberglass rods were supplanting the solid variety, while hollow steel rods were passing away entirely. Bamboo was moving over for synthetics, while silk and braided lines had already given way to monofilament by 1960.

But if he said one thing, he said it a hundred times: if all you have is a safety pin, a stick and a can of worms, go find some string! Fishing is the aim and is to be enjoyed above all things. You don't pay for fish nor do you BUY your way into success in this game. No matter what gear you have, the aim is catch something  - anything - and to enjoy doing it.

What I like about the old stuff is the fascination it brings. When I realize that those things worked as well as anything, I am pleased. I only rarely buy anything new off the shelf, except for things like hooks and sinkers. These are timeless and the gut basics one must have.

But a lot of the older gear I see is the same stuff I USED myself as a lad. It is both nostalgic and known to work, all at the same time. I actually feel more capable as an angler because of my familiarity with it. I'm not tied to some newfangled device or gadget because I know what worked when such things didn't exist.

[Vince Fusco]

I remember when tubular fiberglass rods replaced solid one's, and when graphite replaced tubular fiberglass. I wonder what is next? The first time I held a graphite rod was when my buddy got one. We were out at the road I lived on, and he was demonstrating how sensitive his new rod was by having me stick the top end on his throat, and letting me feel the vibration as he spoke. It must have looked like we were in a fencing match. lol 

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

Oh yeah Vince I remember too the facination with new gear. Here they'd hold out a dollar bill and touch it with the rod tip and you could feel it too!!!!! Don't know what's next , or really care for that matter. Master Leo is up on that stuff and says MEMORY rods are going to be the next big thing. I really think David said it best, THE OBJECT IS THE FISHING, NOT THE STUFF and couldn't have said better myself any other way!!!!! I guess I'm a throwback to the past and enjoy my methods of fishing with vintage rods. Reels are another story however and rrrrrrrrrrrrreadily use em with no excuses thank you................