Good question...hopefully someone will know if that's the case or not. Does quality of the blank come in to it?...have to wait and see on responses. Cheers, R.

 

Its a time/use thing. All rods soften with use, the more the fibres stretch and flex the softer a rod gets.
I've had brand new rods that felt poker stiff when I got them but softened over a year or two with use.
I don't believe rods continue to soften over an extended period of time, more like they soften to a point.

 

Not sure if they soften or people get used to them,I have a 1982 dream machine sport still feels as stiff today as when I first got it but i bend it better than I could when I was 15 as casting lessons have improved my style..
Rods should not change much especially in a couple of years and especially with today's material...
If you look at the average angler on the beach the rearly get in to meat of the rod anyhow,not like the tournament boys do.

Rich

 

Just as a car only has so many miles in it, a rod only has so many 'bends' in it, and like a car the exact number depends on how harsh the treatment is. However in normal use you'll never get to the point where a rod has had enough and fails. You might get to the point where it develops a slight 'set' though. In reality most rods don't get to that point though simply because we get bored of them after a few years and start using something else. I own old rods which I can tell have softened a little but, and its a big BUT, I suspect what most people report as softening is actually just them getting used to the rod. As you gradually learn to cast the rod your timing improves and casts feel sweeter, smoother, and the rod a little more tame.

 

I have an original zziplex blue tournament bullet that has been used to death. Terry made a run of them a few years ago for the company i build zippys for
and when i bent the new tip with my old blue one i couldn't tell the difference between the two.
I think most rods just have a natural breaking in point

 

Not sure if they soften or people get used to them,I have a 1982 dream machine sport still feels as stiff today as when I first got it but i bend it better than I could when I was 15 as casting lessons have improved my style..
Rods should not change much especially in a couple of years and especially with today's material...
If you look at the average angler on the beach the rearly get in to meat of the rod anyhow,not like the tournament boys do.

Rich

I totally agree.

I had a Century CME that I was convinced had softened. Took it over to a friend's and compared it to his lesser- used one and they were identical.

Depending on how well you're casting rods can feel softer or stiffer and a mis-timed hit can make any rod feel like a poker.

 

Iv had carp rods go floppy and they were only used for 40yd chucks I think it depends on resin vs carbon ratios in blanks more carbon less micro cracks in resin making them soften a decent rod will retain most of its action almost indefinitely

 

Perhaps rather than hearsay and opinion I think a scientific experiment could be carried out. I can't see how a Sunday torny caster can make a rod go "softer" than some one who fishes from a beach. I woulda thought (as I don't go) in a casting event you wouldn't get that many casts out in a day compared to someone fishing a 5 hour match, and reeling in, working the rod over snags, treble shots of dogs etc etc. With a tourny caster the rod is fully compressed for what, a second? 2 seconds at a push?
Not bashing anyone before you all get excited but just saying, do rods go soft? Or is it in the mind?
Simple test would be lock the butt in a vice attach a 2lb lead and measure the bend of the rod. Go fishing for 6 months and repeat the test... If the curve increases then the rod has gone "soft" ????

 

needs a scientific answer really , as said getting used to a rod can maybe give the impression its not as stiff as once was , personally I cannot see the modern carbons being the type of material that could/would soften at all

 

I agree with you John, don't think modern carbon/resin mixtures do soften over time...I have a PTX Bass tip that has developed a 'set', slight curve towards the tip, always laid flat after use...but doesn't appear any softer than its twin, bought and built at the same time (4 years ago), which is still dead straight.

 

Daiwa AWBs softened with use. I had quite a few and they softened very quickly.

My last one was very stiff for about three casts and then softened very noticeably. They are still a nice rod through, even when soft.

 

The awb126's I had were very soft, they wrapped round you like a bloody scarf when you hit the lead.

 

I can remember seeing a rod "Testing Machine", bending a Diawa (?) Carbon carp rod to destruction as a demo of how far the rod will bend until a loud bang, but they didn't do a repetition loading test, which would have given a better result for users. Hardy have a similar set-up, and there are a couple of clips on Utube, which I haven't found (yet).

PTR

 

Ive got two carbon metals, both mk1 one is an l series reg & the other a k reg.
The k being older & has a fair bit more use is definitely 'softer' than the other. You wouldnt be able to see when pulling in fish etc but it is properly noticeable by 'feel' when casting.

 

i think use softens rods and the more extreme the use the faster it softens. so a rod used for whacking out huge cod baits would soften faster than one used for lobbing small flatty baits. also how the rod is built plays a large part in how it softens. i have a komp s and a vmax f1 origanally the vmax was stiffer than the komp s but now the vmax has noticiably softened while the komp has stayed the same (actually feeling a bit stiffer than the vmax now). this cant be down to getting used to the rod, as the komp gets a lot more use than the vmax.