Part of the appeal of the first rod I built was the fact that so many other people had a barrio 3wt and were pleased with it. If I buy a blank from Mudhole unless it's a blank from a well known brand then how do you know what you're getting. Whilst Mudhole has a huge selection it's quite often stabbing in the dark!
Is it not the same if buying in the UK? Mudhole only sell well known brands so for me, I don't think it would become an issue.
Its not like we can pop into a shop and have a waggle of a Sage or PacBay blank anywhere near Aberdeen. Every blank I have bought I have had to take a risk with, even UK blanks, but it is normally easy enough to get some info before ordering from various rod building forums or fellow anglers.
Sometimes you come up with a gem of a rod
Actually, I did buy a blank off Mike which I waggled...
