[Derek McLaren]

Has anybody had a cast of the new reactor rod it,s supposed to be as light as the Helios,I heard  a wee rumour thats Sharpe's are up Huntly way  .

Must be worth a chuck if it,s as light as the Helios 

any thoughts or opinions 

[Hamish Young]

Has anybody had a cast of the new reactor rod it,s supposed to be as light as the Helios

According to something I read, their 'carrot' rod is supposed to be some 15% lighter than an equivilant carbon rod.
Now that I would like to see 

I heard  a wee rumour thats Sharpe's are up Huntly way 

Well, they used to be. Sharpes of Aberdeen went under a while back and were based at Glass, near Huntly. They have re-emerged and were re-branded as the Sharpes group (I think), but I thought they were based down in Fife somewhere (Burntisland possibly)

Must be worth a chuck if it,s as light as the Helios 

If it's as light, maybe..... but I doubt if it'll be in the same class. I'd like to see though 

any thoughts or opinions 

Personally, I've been a bit underwhelmed by most of Sharpes stuff since the Aquarex range of the mid-'90s. In fairness the Gordons weren't bad but there were/are better products around for the same price. However, that's true of many more rods than Sharpes so perhaps I'm being a wee bit unfair. It would be interesting to see how Sharpes have incorporated the carrot 'technology' into their rods. I was told that the first rods to come out with that "curran" were amusing pieces of kit, a bit like old glassfibre rods but softer.....  So how Sharpes have done it will be 'interesting'.

The one man who would know would be Magnus.......  played with any of this kit yet Magnus 

[Derek McLaren]

 The one man who would know would be Magnus.......  played with any of this kit yet Magnus  .

I think Magnus is going to be very busy,I have just had the sportsfish catalouge pushed through the letter box and the new sage 6000 reel is stunning so are the lamasons, and the new orvis Western and the new guideline the list goes on  .
cant see anything about the reactor though  .

Ok Magnus over to you   

[Peter McCallum]

According to something I read, their 'carrot' rod is supposed to be some 15% lighter than an equivilant carbon rod.
Now that I would like to see 

I had a cast with a 'carrot' rod at Magnus's and thought it was ok............. then he told me the cost!!!! It would have been just ok for an economy priced rod but it was retailling at around £300!! The butt dia was quite big and it was so-so as a casting tool but £300 quid......

[Sandy Nelson]

I saw it too.

Made me laugh quite a lot

However, i believe they have a guy designing the actions now who understands modern flyrods. Still i also believe that it is probably a badge engineering exercise , and wonder where they are being produced and how. As Hamish says it will be interesting to find out.
The last i heard they were based in Fife, and little more than a name

Sandy

[Derek McLaren]

I had a cast with a 'carrot' rod at Magnus's and thought it was ok............. then he told me the cost!!!! It would have been just ok for an economy priced rod but it was retailling at around £300!! The butt dia was quite big and it was so-so as a casting tool but £300 quid......

Was this the reactor rod or was it the curran prototypes, I cant find much info on any of the carrot range of rods 

[Magnus Angus]

Hi Guys

Lets not get confused - Curran is a biofibre or composite material developed by the guys behind Cellucomp. The material is a reinforced resin/fibre composite - same as most modern composites - except they extract cellulose fibres from carrots to use as the reinforcing fibre. As far as that goes these guys have something rather exciting and I like that its a British and Scottish based innovation. The cheap-shots taken at carrot rods was partly in reaction to the advertising used to introduce the material which emphasised the source of the fibre and gained a huge amount of exposure for the material. I'm more than sceptical about the way their PR company introduced Curran because it was simply not taken seriously thanks to their actions.

Their first rods were actually hybrids, they had a carbon fibre tube at the core and Curran was built (moulded) around that. Carbon fibre for rods comes as a sheet material. Curran is a gel or liquid. IMHO the reason the tackle industry hasn't jumped on it is they don't need to, it involves a complete change in how rods are made and the marketing could be tough. The thinking is something like 'if it ain't broke why fix it?' with a seasoning of 'what will the market reaction be if we introduce a Carrot fibre rod?'

Again imho the material may have mileage but their first rods did not show that potential very well - that's about design and build not the material.

Must be worth a chuck if it,s as light as the Helios  dunno

The shrug/question at the end of that is right. Put it this way, I could take a Helios blank and make a heavy dull rod by means of build alone. In their marketing blurb Orivs emphasise the blank because they use an innovative material. But we cast with rods. As it happens Orvis also do a rather fine job of building a rod. The taper design needs to exploit the material and then the build needs to be thought out and designed to get the best from the blank.

Sharpe's were based at Glass, the company went through very tough times due to a program of over-ambitious expansion - buying other companies - among other things. It was then sold to a company called Seoul Nassau. Now it's with Cellucomp. I don't know the exact situation but I think they bought the brand and have some ex-Sharpe's management. That has allowed them to reintroduce Sharpe's rods - which are good. Hopefully the combination of an ambitious company with a radical material plus guys with industry experience will lead to them having better designs and build for their Curran based rods - I don't yet know.

(Meanwhile Chris Baird who was the factory manager for Sharpe's, making nets and reels, has set up independently making nets. He supplies Sharpes and others. Nice guy and the nets are great so I hope that works well.)

I've seen and fondled the new Lamsons - stunning. Briefly tried a couple of new Guideline rods - excellent. Its down to the makers and distributors if and when I get a chance to review stuff.

Magnus

Ps it's Reacter not Reactor - http://www.sharpes.net/flashfiles/home.html

[Rob Brownfield]

And to confuse the Sharpes name even more, There is a southern based company that bought the right to use the Sharpes name and Scottie dog logo to use on Cane rods.

http://www.scottierods.co.uk/sharpes-scottie.html

They have a VERY loyal following and make perhaps the best cane carp rods ever produced..beter than my original Sharpes "The Carp" I have, made in the 1950's.

[Derek McLaren]

Hi Guys

Lets not get confused - Curran is a biofibre or composite material developed by the guys behind Cellucomp. The material is a reinforced resin/fibre composite - same as most modern composites - except they extract cellulose fibres from carrots to use as the reinforcing fibre. As far as that goes these guys have something rather exciting and I like that its a British and Scottish based innovation. The cheap-shots taken at carrot rods was partly in reaction to the advertising used to introduce the material which emphasised the source of the fibre and gained a huge amount of exposure for the material. I'm more than sceptical about the way their PR company introduced Curran because it was simply not taken seriously thanks to their actions.

Their first rods were actually hybrids, they had a carbon fibre tube at the core and Curran was built (moulded) around that. Carbon fibre for rods comes as a sheet material. Curran is a gel or liquid. IMHO the reason the tackle industry hasn't jumped on it is they don't need to, it involves a complete change in how rods are made and the marketing could be tough. The thinking is something like 'if it ain't broke why fix it?' with a seasoning of 'what will the market reaction be if we introduce a Carrot fibre rod?'

Again imho the material may have mileage but their first rods did not show that potential very well - that's about design and build not the material. The shrug/question at the end of that is right. Put it this way, I could take a Helios blank and make a heavy dull rod by means of build alone. In their marketing blurb Orivs emphasise the blank because they use an innovative material. But we cast with rods. As it happens Orvis also do a rather fine job of building a rod. The taper design needs to exploit the material and then the build needs to be thought out and designed to get the best from the blank.

Sharpe's were based at Glass, the company went through very tough times due to a program of over-ambitious expansion - buying other companies - among other things. It was then sold to a company called Seoul Nassau. Now it's with Cellucomp. I don't know the exact situation but I think they bought the brand and have some ex-Sharpe's management. That has allowed them to reintroduce Sharpe's rods - which are good. Hopefully the combination of an ambitious company with a radical material plus guys with industry experience will lead to them having better designs and build for their Curran based rods - I don't yet know.

(Meanwhile Chris Baird who was the factory manager for Sharpe's, making nets and reels, has set up independently making nets. He supplies Sharpes and others. Nice guy and the nets are great so I hope that works well.)

I've seen and fondled the new Lamsons - stunning. Briefly tried a couple of new Guideline rods - excellent. Its down to the makers and distributors if and when I get a chance to review stuff.

Magnus

Ps it's Reacter not Reactor - http://www.sharpes.net/flashfiles/home.html

Thanks for such an informative post ,I thought a lot more info would be available to try and promote this technology,It has worked for the Helios 

cheers

Derek

[Derek McLaren]

And to confuse the Sharpes name even more, There is a southern based company that bought the right to use the Sharpes name and Scottie dog logo to use on Cane rods.

http://www.scottierods.co.uk/sharpes-scottie.html

They have a VERY loyal following and make perhaps the best cane carp rods ever produced..beter than my original Sharpes "The Carp" I have, made in the 1950's.

Thanks for the link Rob, thats a great site
 

[Rob Brownfield]

Pleasure...if you ask nicely I might let you see the original Sharpes "The Carp" ..I need 3 weeks warning to get it from the secret swill bank vault I keep it in ....

[Black Pennell]

I had a cast of an unlabeled reacter at loch Insch fishery the year before last at the Sharpe's six's. I think it was first prise. I thought it was very nice to cast and very light but I don't know much to compare it by as I just stick to my Bloke rods.
I noticed they are now selling them in the tackle shop there though. The cost is very high as stated but at least its British based technology and build. Same old argument if you want British you have to pay for it I guess. 

[Rob Brownfield]

Same old argument if you want British you have to pay for it I guess. 

Unless you go to Harrison

Would be interested to see these...have seen some lure rods in the States but was not impressed at all, especially the colour! Very similar to these http://www.deloscustomtackleshack.com/rods/e21_carrotstick.htm


And there is more.....
"But they are not stopping there. The pair now plan to move on to make snowboards and car parts and say the material could also be used to make engineering components and even battleships. "

A carrot battleship...what next, potatopedos to sink them?

"The inventors said they used carrots because they were common and had qualities that meant strong and tough materials could be created. They were also cheap to buy in large numbers."...so hopefully the prices will come down if the materials are "cheap to buy"...

I like the idea of it all 

[Mike Barrio]

I contacted them via email a few times when they were developing these blanks, as I was very interested in the concept ...... but in true "British" form, they failed to find the time to reply

I tried an early one and was more than a bit disappointed in the build quality I'm afraid

Best wishes
Mike

[Jim Doyle]

Unless you go to Harrison

Would be interested to see these...have seen some lure rods in the States but was not impressed at all, especially the colour! Very similar to these http://www.deloscustomtackleshack.com/rods/e21_carrotstick.htm


And there is more.....
"But they are not stopping there. The pair now plan to move on to make snowboards and car parts and say the material could also be used to make engineering components and even battleships. "

A carrot battleship...what next, potatopedos to sink them?

"The inventors said they used carrots because they were common and had qualities that meant strong and tough materials could be created. They were also cheap to buy in large numbers."...so hopefully the prices will come down if the materials are "cheap to buy"...

I like the idea of it all 

I guess if one sinks they will all be in the soup!!!...I,ll get my coat lol  jim